Big Ideas in Social Science

David Edmonds · Nigel Warburton

Nov 2015 · SAGE

About this ebook

Are human beings less violent than before? Why do we adopt certain moral and political judgements? Why is the gap between rich and poor getting bigger? How do we decide which criminal policies are effective? What is the Population Challenge for the 21st Century? What is social science?

In Big Ideas in Social Science, David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton put these and more of our society’s burning questions to 18 of the world’s leading social scientists including Steven Pinker, Ann Oakley, Lawrence Sherman, Kate Pickett, Robert J. Shiller and Doreen Massey.

The result is a collection of thought-provoking discussions that span the fields of sociology, politics, economics, criminology, geography and many more.From the people who brought us the Philosophy Bites series, Big Ideas in Social Science is a fascinating and accessible introduction to the key ideas and findings of the social sciences.

The interviews for this book are based on a series of podcasts, Social Science Bites, sponsored by SAGE. Social Science Bites was inspired by the popular Philosophy Bites podcast (www.philosophybites.com), which was founded by David and Nigel in 2007 and has so far had 26 million downloads. Philosophy Bites has spawned three books, Philosophy Bites, Philosophy Bites Back and Philosophy Bites Again.

About the author

David Edmonds is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at Oxford University and a former BBC radio journalist. He is the author or editor of many philosophy books (and one on chess) which together have been translated into over two dozen languages. These include (with John Eidinow), Wittgenstein’s Poker and, most recently, a biography, Parfit: A Philosopher and his Mission to Save Morality. As well as Social Science Bites, David also hosts a couple of philosophy podcasts. Philosophy Bites, which he makes with Nigel Warburton, has had over 47 million downloads.

Nigel Warburton is a freelance philosopher, podcaster and writer, described by Julian Baggini as ′one of the most-read popular philosophers of our time′. He is the interviewer for the popular Philosophy Bites podcast which he makes with David Edmonds and which has been downloaded over 28 million times is also the co-producer of the Social Science Bites podcast and co-edited the book Big Ideas in Social Science (SAGE) that was based on this series. He was previously Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University and Lecturer in Philosophy at Nottingham University. He regularly teaches courses on aesthetics at Tate Modern.