An ambitious theoretical undertaking worthy of serious attention. Among the book's scholarly contributions is the sustained effort by Lyng and Franks to establish John Dewey's transactional perspective (clothed in modern garb) as a central feature of sociological investigation.
Gideon Sjoberg, Professor of Sociology at University of Texas at Austin In this carefully reasoned and passionately argued theoretical essay, Stephen ... Read moreLyng and David D. Franks reclaim ideas - reality, objectivity, truth - that have become the dirty words of social thought. Drawing upon sources as diverse as postmodern theory, pragmatism, and neuroscience, they refuse to abandon these ideas to those who would put them to mindless rhetorical use in defense of a discredited positivism. Rather, they reconstruct the meaning of reality, objectivity, and truth in ways that will usefully reconnect sociology with the world it wants to study and influence. This is fresh, insightful theorizing outside the boxes in which so much contemporary social thought is confined.
John P. Hewitt, Professor of Sociology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst This is a useful and thoughtful book.
American Journal of Sociology
This book should be read by all sociologists and social scientists who are serious about understanding human group behavior, and who know full well that most questions invite 'it depends' kinds of answers.
Contemporary Sociology
Lyng and Franks bring us back from the brink of postmodernist nihilism and through the murky temptations of formula sociology with the eternal promise of pragmatism. By focusing on transactions, the authors brilliantly show us a way to think about truth, objectivity, and reality that is both interesting and consistent with what we know about the human species. This fine volume will help us all in the move toward pragmatism that general sociology already displays.
David R. Maines, Professor and Chair of Sociology at Oakland University Show Less