Rationality

Rationality contains a selection of the best contemporary writing on one of the central issues in the philosophy of social science.

Acknowledgements vi A Sociologist's Introduction vii 1 The Idea of a Social Science 1 2 Concepts and Society 18 3 Explaining Cargo Cults 50 4 Is Understanding Religion Compatible with Believing? 62 5 Understanding a Primitivb Socibty 78 6 The Idea of a Social Science 112 7 African Traditional Thought and Western Sciencb 131 8 The Problem of the Rationality of Magic 172 9 Some Problems About Rationality 194 10 The Limits of Irrationality 214 11 Reason and Ritual 221 12 On Understanding Ritual 240 Bibliography 269 Index of Names 273