Concepts and Society (RLE Social Theory)

<p>The main concern of Dr Jarvie’s book is the relation of belief to action. He argues that people act in society because of beliefs because of ‘the way they see things’. There is the world of physical and social conditioning – where fixed roles tropisms adaptations seem to operate; there is the world of mind – where action alternatively seems to originate; but then there is Karl Popper’s ‘third world’ – where dwell the objects of thought (ideals theories beliefs values) which ‘directly affect how people act and thus affect the way the world is’. Reform change improvement modification all proceed from the competitive interaction between our private beliefs about the world and their ‘third world’ brothers. Jarvie contends that the struggle of privately held beliefs to realize themselves in the world through the actions of their believers is a fundamental force behind social change.</p>