The Philosophy of Philip Rieff

Philip Rieff's social theory is at once a crucial tool in understanding the movements of contemporary culture, and a challenging body of work that has often been overlooked. The Social Philosophy of Philip Rieff embraces the lessons that this calm-headed but controversial figure in 20th-century sociology can teach those trying to parse the contemporary 'culture wars' analytically and without fanaticism. Anyone with an interest in the religious, cultural and educational institutions of the West must grapple with how they have been, and will continue to be, transformed - this collection offers a wealth of routes into Rieff's analysis of those transformations. Mending the perceived rift between Rieff's early studies of Freud and his later commentaries on academia, culture and religion, each chapter looks at a particular facet of his work as it applies to a central topic in cultural theory. Alasdair MacIntyre described Rieff's work as 'a permanently valuable contribution to the human sciences', and this book assesses that value to endeavours from self-knowledge and religious practice to cultural criticism and rational debate. This interdisciplinary perspective gives a full and cohesive sense of how Rieff's responsible, deliberately unprophetic voice holds weight across the political spectrum.