Why Things Matter To People

Andrew Sayer undertakes a fundamental critique of social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. As sentient beings, capable of flourishing and suffering, and particularly vulnerable to how others treat us, our view of the world is substantially evaluative. Yet modernist ways of thinking encourage the common but extraordinary belief that values are beyond reason, and merely subjective or matters of convention, with little or nothing to do with the kind of beings people are, the quality of their social relations, their material circumstances or their well-being. The author shows how social theory and philosophy need to change to reflect the complexity of everyday ethical concerns and the importance people attach to dignity. He argues for a robustly critical social science that explains and evaluates social life from the standpoint of human flourishing.
ANDREW SAYER is Professor of Social Theory and Political Economy
in the Department of Sociology at Lanc,aster University. His most recent
publications include The Moral Significance of Class (2005) and Realism
and Social Science (2000).
"This is an outstandingly well-written text, clear and accessible but without oversimplification. Given recent assaults on the human/non human distinction, Sayer's sturdy defence of what is distinctively human in our liability to suffering and our ability to thrive is more than welcome.' MARGARET S. ARCHER, University of Warwick
'This is a fascinating book. It challenges disciplinary boundaries, and encourages us to rethink the way we explain human behaviour and
construct social theories.'
INGRID ROBEYNS, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Cover illustration: Three People by the Sea, 2007 (oil on canvas) by Robin Rae (Contemporary Artist) Private Collection/ The Bridgeman Art Library.