✨ Featured Offer
Used, Very Good
$6.93
List Price: $27.00
🚚
See all 5 offers from $5.89 FREE standard delivery by: 01 Apr 2026
Overview
Are there any "laws of nature" that influence the ways in which humans behave and organize themselves? In the seventeenth century, tired of the civil war ravaging England, Thomas Hobbes decided that he would work out what kind of government was needed for a stable society. His approach was based not on utopian wishful thinking but rather on Galileo's mechanics to construct a theory of government from first principles. His solution is unappealing to today's society, yet Hobbes had sparked a new way of thinking about human behavior in looking for the "scientific" rules of society. Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Auguste Comte, and John Stuart Mill pursued this idea from different political perspectives. Little by little, however, social and political philosophy abandoned a "scientific" approach. Today, physics is enjoying a revival in the social, political and economic sciences. Ball shows how much we can understand of human behavior when we cease to try to predict and analyze the behavior of individuals and instead look to the impact of individual decisions-whether in circumstances of cooperation or conflict-can have on our laws, institutions and customs. Lively and compelling, Critical Mass is the first book to bring these new ideas together and to show how they fit within the broader historical context of a rational search for better ways to live.
| ISBN-13 | 9780374281250 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0374281254 |
| Weight | 1.85 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 6.50 x 1.75 x 9.50 In |
| List Price | $27.00 |
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| Format | Hardcover |
|---|---|
| Pages | 528 pages |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Published On | 2004-06-01 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Greenworld Books
Arlington, TX, USA
Good condition. It may show normal signs of use such as light writing highlighting or library markin...
Free delivery by: 01 Apr 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Book is considered to be in good or better condition. The actual cover image may not match the sto...
Free delivery by: 01 Apr 2026
✨ Used, Very Good
Seller details
More Than Words
Waltham, MA, USA
A bright, square, and overall a nice copy.
Free delivery by: 01 Apr 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
HPB-Diamond
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 01 Apr 2026
Used, Very Good
Seller details
HPB-Ruby
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and ...
Free delivery by: 01 Apr 2026