The Origin of Values: Sociology and Philosophy of Beliefs
“[T]he book has much to offer . . . Written by an outstanding theorist in characteristically assertive fashion,The Origin of Valuesis likely to provoke heated debate across a number of social science subfields.”—Pieter Vanhuysse,Acta Sociologica“This book is a collection of Boudon’s essays. . . .[It] builds on ideas presented in his earlier work,The Art of Self-Persuasion, extending its analysis of positive beliefs to that of values, which are defined here as explicitly held normative beliefs. . . . His cognitivist model essentially expands the conventional one to encompass both noninstrumental and instrumental reasoning. . . . Boudon delves into an impressively wide range of sources, including many that are not typically considered.”—Sun-Ki Chai,Contemporary Sociology“Raymond Boudon is the most thoughtful sociologist in France, and his thoughts are always commanding.The Origin of Valuesis a masterly review of one of the crucial questions in social thought, and Boudon’s own theory will be a major statement on the issues of value and rationality.”—Daniel Bell, Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences, Emeritus, Harvard University