Peter Winch

This is the first introduction to the ideas of the British philosopher Peter Winch (1926-97). Although author of the hugely influential The Idea of a Social Science (1958) much of Winch's other work has been neglected as philosophical fashions have changed. Recently however philosophers are again seeing the importance of Winch's ideas and their relevance to current philosophical concerns. In charting the development of Winch's ideas Lyas engages with many of the major preoccupations of philosophy of the past forty years. The range of Winch's ideas becomes apparent and his importance clearly underlined. Lyas offers more than an assessment of the work of one man: it introduces in a sympathetic and judicious way a powerful representative of an important and demanding conception of philosophy.