Alexis de Tocqueville

the first social scientist

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Last edited by MARC Bot
November 30, 2023 | History

Alexis de Tocqueville

the first social scientist

"This book proposes a new interpretation of Alexis de Tocqueville that views him first and foremost as a social scientist rather than as a political theorist. Drawing on his earlier work on the explanation of social behavior, Jon Elster argues that Tocqueville's main claim to our attention today rests on the large number of exportable causal mechanisms to be found in his work, many of which are still worthy of further exploration. Elster proposes a novel reading of Democracy in America in which the key explanatory variable is the rapid economic and political turnover rather than equality of wealth at any given point in time. He also offers a reading of The Ancien regime and the Revolution as grounded in the psychological relations among the peasantry, the bourgeoisie, and the nobility. Consistently going beyond exegetical commentary, Elster argues that Tocqueville is eminently worth reading today for his substantive and methodological insights."--Jacket.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
202

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Alexis de Tocqueville
Alexis de Tocqueville: the first social scientist
2009, Cambridge University Press
in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

Introduction
Preference formation
Belief formation
Self-interest and individualism
Passions
Desires, opportunities, capacities
Patterns of social causality
Equality and mobility
Democratic government
Revolution
Conclusion.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Published in
New York
Genre
Biography.

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
300.92, B
Library of Congress
H59.T53 E47 2009, H59.T53E47 2009

The Physical Object

Pagination
p. cm.
Number of pages
202

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL17101966M
Internet Archive
alexisdetocquevi00elst
ISBN 13
9780521518444, 9780521740074
LCCN
2008036545
OCLC/WorldCat
244339608
Library Thing
8333409
Goodreads
7002166
6263520

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History

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November 30, 2023 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
August 1, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
April 16, 2010 Edited by WorkBot update details
February 1, 2010 Edited by WorkBot add more information to works
December 9, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page