January 2012
Intermediate to advanced
536 pages
18h 9m
English
Prior to the advent of the social sciences, our understanding of society was guided by the perception of sages and savants, who mixed descriptions of ‘actually existing social situations’ with prescriptions regarding a desirable social structure, norms of behaviour, and cultural patterns. These native philosophers did not make a distinction between ‘what is’ and ‘what ought to be’. In fact, the treatises, particularly of the Indian sages, were couched in terms of a ‘desirable’ future for our culture. They can also be seen as a set of prescriptions and proscriptions to be followed by the people at a given time. These writings cannot be treated as dependable descriptions even of ...
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