John Rawls is widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, and his work has permanently shaped the nature and terms of moral and political philosophy, deploying a robust and specialized vocabulary that reaches beyond philosophy to political science, economics, sociology, and law. This volume is a complete and accessible guide to Rawls' vocabulary, with over 200 alphabetical encyclopaedic entries written by the world's leading Rawls scholars. From 'basic structure' to 'burdened society', from 'Sidgwick' to 'strains of commitment', and from 'Nash point' to 'natural duties', the volume covers the entirety of Rawls' central ideas and terminology, with illuminating detail and careful cross-referencing. It will be an essential resource for students and scholars of Rawls, as well as for other readers in political philosophy, ethics, political science, sociology, international relations and law.

This 1985 book studies the relation between the individual and collective processes, which is central to the social sciences.

The authors show how the cultural values underlying the ideology of Western society have determined the structure and authority of the modern nation-state. This Western culture also suggests the form of various social institutions, legitimizes and limits the development of social movements, and provides for the place of the individual in society.

In Modernization and the Structure of Societies, Marion Levy shows the interdependencies of societies as a systematic whole in matters that are relevant for international affairs. He distinguishes different types of societies while simultaneously showing elements common to all societies. In a new epilogue being added to this edition, titled "Modernization Exhumed," the author alleges that criticism of modernization theory has generally been ideological or otherwise nonscientific. He provides a strong defense of his hypothesis. In his new introduction, he concentrates on the concept of interdependency. Modernization and the Structure of Societies is crucial to the understanding of contemporary international problems. It is a necessary addition to the personal libraries of sociologists, political scientists, and scholars of international affairs., Levy writes so as to produce strong reactions, but this does not obscure his real contribution. Because of his ambitious effort to synthesize a tremendous amount of available scholarship, the study is certain to last for a long time as a standard reference in the field of comparative sociology."—Morris Janowitz, American Journal of Sociology, "A giant book raising innumerable problems, often an exasperating book, yet important and likely to be much referred to by writers on comparative politics and administration."—Fred W. Riggs, American Political Science Review.

Anthony Giddens has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade. In The Constitution of Society he outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form. A particular feature is Giddens's concern to connect abstract problems of theory to an interpretation of the nature of empirical method in the social sciences. In presenting his own ideas, Giddens mounts a critical attack on some of the more orthodox sociological views. The Constitution of Society is an invaluable reference book for all those concerned with the basic issues in contemporary social theory.