The rational society and its enemies. Person-islands, human behavior, and the decay of communal joie de vivre

Abstract

The serious, probably devastating problems with which all cultures of the world are grappling are discussed, and the question of what sorts of scientific knowledge are needed to resolve these problems is considered. The knowledge now available in the behavioral and social sciences is insufficient, and the kinds of inquiry pursued by those disciplines should be extended. The possibilities of such extensions are examined with reference to areas of knowledge usually considered disparate, including political philosophy, physics, behavioral psychology and sociology, institutional history, and ecology. It is concluded that if we are to save ourselves we must put together any knowledge that is relevant but scattered under different heads.