Social Action

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

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2. Part I

   1. Analytical Action Theory: Breakthroughs and Deadlocks

      • Irving Thalberg

      Pages 1-41

   2. One Action — Two Theories?

      • Anton Leist

      Pages 43-52

   3. The Contradictory Aims of Action Theory

      • Steven Lukes

      Pages 53-59

3. Part II

   1. The Concept of ‘Action’ in Sociological Analysis

      • Jonathan H. Turner

      Pages 61-87

   2. Comments on Jonathan H. Turner, ‘The Concept of “Action” in Sociological Analysis’

      • Hans Joas

      Pages 89-94

   3. Action, and Social Action

      • Don Locke

      Pages 95-102

4. Part III

   1. Social Action

      • Raimo Tuomela

      Pages 103-127

   2. Analytical Action Theory as a Conceptual Basis of Social Science

      • Gottfried Seebass

      Pages 129-137

   3. We-Intentions and Process-Oriented Problems of Social Action

      • Max Miller

      Pages 139-147

   4. Reply to Seebass and Miller

      • Raimo Tuomela

      Pages 149-150

5. Part IV

   1. Remarks on the Concept of Communicative Action

      • Jürgen Habermas

      Pages 151-178

   2. Habermas on Communicative Action

      • Ernst Tugendhat

      Pages 179-186

   3. Understanding as an Aim and Aims of Understanding

      • Michael Baurmann

      Pages 187-196

   4. Critique of Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action

      • Hans Haferkamp

      Pages 197-205

6. Part V

   1. Max Weber’s Distinction Between Means-End Rationality and Value-Rationality — Rationale, Scope, Difficulties

      • Johannes Weiss

      Pages 207-223

   2. Value-Rationality and the Distinction Between Goal-Oriented and Value-Oriented Behavior in Weber

      • Ansgar Beckermann

      Pages 225-233

   3. Value-Rationality in Weber

      • Dagfinn Føllesdal

      Pages 235-241

7. Part VI

   1. Rationality and Valuation

      • Robert Audi

      Pages 243-277

   2. Epistemology and the Rationality of Beliefs and Valuations

      • Wilhelm Vossenkuhl

      Pages 279-283

The papers contained in this volume are based on the contributions to an international, interdisciplinary Symposium entitled 'Analytical and Sociologi­ cal Action Theories' which took place in Berlin (West) on September 1-3, 1982. Each part comprises a main paper followed by two (in Part IV three) papers commenting on it. On the whole there is an equal division into philo­ sophical and sociological papers. In particular each main paper receives both inter- and innerdisciplinary comments. The Berlin Symposium was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn) and, to a smaller extent, by the Freie UniversiHit Berlin; both grants are acknowledged gratefully. Berlin and Helsinki, May 1984 GOTTFRIED SEEBASS RAIMO TUOMELA vii GOTTFRIED SEEBASS INTRODUCTION I. It is a striking fact that the extended efforts of both sociologists and analytical philosophers to work out what is termed a 'theory of action' have taken little, if any, account of each other. Yet of the various reasons for this that come to mind none appears to be such as to foil any hopes for fruitful interdisciplinary exchange. Being concerned, apparently, with the same set of phenomena, viz. individual and social actions, the two theories can reasonably be expected to be partially overlapping as well as competitive and complementary. Accordingly each can eventually be shown by the other to need completion or revision. Whether or to what extent this is the case is subject to inquiry and discussion.

• Action
• Max Weber
• mind

• Institute of Philosophy, The Free University, Berlin, Germany

  Gottfried Seebass

• Department of Philosophy, University of Helsinki, Finland

  Raimo Tuomela

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