Cited by 929Critical Realism in SociologyPhilosophical Ethics and TheoryContemporary Sociological Theory and Practice

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 1 of the 1 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Why Things Matter to People: Social Science, Values and Ethical Life

Sayer, Andrew·2011·Cambridge University Press eBooks

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Andrew Sayer undertakes a fundamental critique of social science's difficulties in acknowledging that people's relation to the world is one of concern. As sentient beings, capable of flourishing and suffering, and particularly vulnerable to how others treat us, our view of the world is substantially evaluative. Yet modernist ways of thinking encourage the common but extraordinary belief that values are beyond reason, and merely subjective or matters of convention, with little or nothing to do with the kind of beings people are, the quality of their social relations, their material circumstances or well-being. The author shows how social theory and philosophy need to change to reflect the complexity of everyday ethical concerns and the importance people attach to dignity. He argues for a robustly critical social science that explains and evaluates social life from the standpoint of human flourishing.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/cbo9780511734779

Cites

0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

The publisher hasn’t deposited this paper’s reference list.

Sorted by citations

Items 701–800 of 915

Book review: Fair Trade and the Citizen-Consumer: Shopping for Justice?
Herman, A., & Goodman, M. K. (2014) · Cultural Sociology · doi:10.1177/1749975514545584
Assisted dying: promoting a palliative care approach. A response to Gay Lee
Connolly, M., & Larkin, P. J. (2011) · International Journal of Palliative Nursing · doi:10.12968/ijpn.2011.17.3.149
Technicolor foods: The everyday biopolitics of Cuba
Goodman, M. K. (2015) · Dialogues in Human Geography · doi:10.1177/2043820615586690
Entrepreneurial capability and the Capabilities Approach
Wilson, N., & Martin, L. (2015)
Comment on Hermann Kocyba. The Regime of Esteem, or Recognition as Affirmation
Henning, C. (2011) · Analyse & Kritik · doi:10.1515/auk-2011-0119
Fair Game? User Evaluations of Social Media Data Mining
Kennedy, H. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-35398-6_7
Culture as Meaning
Inglis, T. (2014) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137413727_2
Theory
Blum, D. W. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781316424193.003
Riflessività e identità nella società morfogenetica: ipotesi su una nuova paideia
Maccarini, A. M. (2016) · SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI · doi:10.3280/sp2016-002002
MARTYROLOGY AND CONCEPTIONS OF TIME IN HIZBULLAH'S WRITING PRACTICES
Saade, B. (2015) · International Journal Middle East Studies · doi:10.1017/s0020743815000951 · Cited by 1
Ethical consumption as a Subjective Life Project: Reflexive Construction of an Ethical Self in the Contexts of Objective Reality
Manyukhina, Y. (2016) · White Rose eTheses Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York)
Ethics in Climate Economics: Balance or Bias?
Kowarsch, M. (2016) · Boston studies in the philosophy of science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43281-6_8
The Social Production and Distribution of Risk: Theorizing Class and Risk Society
Curran, D. (2013) · QSpace (Queen's University Library)
Introduction: The Happiness Riddle
Cieslik, M. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-31882-4_1
Philosophy and the History of Happiness
Cieslik, M. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-31882-4_2
Conclusions: Making Sense of the Happiness Riddle
Cieslik, M. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-31882-4_11
The ‘Thirty Somethings’: Happiness in the Late Twenties and Thirties
Cieslik, M. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-31882-4_8
Contact Over Time
Högbacka, R. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-52476-8_8
Introduction: The Global in the Family
Högbacka, R. (2016) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-52476-8_1
RESPECT AND DIGNITY
HODGSON, D. R., & Watts, L. (2017) · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-48784-1_7
Użyteczność krytycznej analizy dyskursu politycznego dla socjologicznych analiz nowoczesnych zmian instytucjonalnych i moralnych (recenzja z: Isabela Fairclough i Norman Fairclough: Political Discourse Analysis. A Method for Advanced Students)
Pawliszak, P. (2015) · Studia Socjologiczne
Introduction: Capabilities and Society: Renegotiating Social Justice in Times of Crisis
Otto, H., Ziegler, H., Pantazis, S., et al. (2017) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-57213-4_1
Embodying Ethics: Harmonics of Living
Bannon, F. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91731-3_2
Insegnanti e assistenti sociali: assieme per una migliore tutela dei minori.
Cabiati, E., & Corradini, F. (2018) · SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI · doi:10.3280/sp2018-001008
Human Rights and Autonomy
Watts, L., & HODGSON, D. R. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-13-3621-8_9
Introduction
Tsoukas, H. (2018) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198794547.003.0017
Formations of the Secular. Transcendence in a Closed World
Maccarini, A. M. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-13624-6_7
Die Mitte als klassenloser Ort? Wie Jugendliche moralisieren und Prekarisierung rechtfertigen
Seehaus, A., & Trappmann, V. (2019) · Wissen, Kommunikation und Gesellschaft · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-22978-8_13
The Human System, the Person and Human Nature
Axelsson, J., Karlsson, J. C., & Skorstad, E. J. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-19190-0_5
Meeting the ethical consumers
Yana, M. (2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315179476-6
AGENCY, STRUCTURE AND VALUES: A CRITICAL HUMANIST INTERVENTION
Rutar, T. (2018) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals)
What is humanity?
Elder‐Vass, D. (2019) · Distinktion Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1080/1600910x.2019.1687097
“Not for him the cryptonormativity criticized by Sayer: ‘much of [critical social science] just gives the reader a vague negative feeling about the phenomena being analysed, but does not attempt to say in what particular respects and for what reasons they are problematic’ (Sayer, 2011, 229).”
Background
Agency and Adaptiveness: Navigating Change and Transformation
Patterson, J. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108688277.012
Agency and Norms: Who Defines What Ought to Be?
Angstadt, J. M., & Möller, I. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108688277.010
Bildung als emanzipatorische Befähigung
Ziegler, H., & Otto, H. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-23230-6_129
The Ethics of Reciprocal Communication
Velkova, J. (2020) · Global transformations in media and communication/Global transformations in media and communication research · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-44389-4_8
An Unfolding TechKnowledgy: Technology and Knowledge in Open Digital Fabrication
Schneider, C. M. (2020) · Sociology of the sciences/Sociology of the sciences yearbook · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-43965-1_16
Aesthetics in a persecutory time: introducing Aesthetic Critical Realism
Wilson, N. (2020) · Journal of Critical Realism · doi:10.1080/14767430.2020.1771014
Agents of transition? Young workers experiences of using private employment agencies in three Midlands cities
Mizen, P., & Robertson, A. (2020) · Journal of Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/13676261.2020.1800610
Dialectics of homophily in the formation of friendship groups in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Dutta, S., & Kundu, A. (2020) · Group Analysis · doi:10.1177/0533316420959746
¿Qué es la Humanidad?
Elder‐Vass, D. (2020) · Theorein Revista de Ciencias Sociales · doi:10.26807/theorein.v5i01.48
Feeling of Happiness in Self-Assessments of Ukrainians
Бороденко, О. В. (2019) · Visnyk V N Karazin Kharkiv National University Series Sociological studies of contemporary society methodology theory methods · doi:10.26565/2227-6521-2019-43-05
Personal autonomy and educational justice
England, C. M. (2021) · cIRcle (University of British Columbia) · doi:10.14288/1.0398118
Jay G. Blumler – An intellectual legacy: Wanting better
Coleman, S. (2021) · European Journal of Communication · doi:10.1177/02673231211043177
“Sayer (2011) has shown that most of the concepts that are of interest to social scientists are both descriptive and evaluative at the same time.”
Background
Learning from Intellectual History: Reflection on Sen’s Capabilities Approach and Human Development
Naz, F. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-15-4106-3_7-1 · Cited by 1
Capitalism and the media: moral, economy, well-Being and capabilities
Hesmondhalgh, D. (2021) · Revista Extraprensa · doi:10.11606/extraprensa2021.189152
Theoretical Resources for Routine Dynamics Research
Feldman, M. S., Pentland, B. T., D’Adderio, L., Dittrich, K., Rerup, C., & Seidl, D. N. (2021) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108993340.003 · Cited by 1
Qualitative research imagination
Popay, J., & Baum, F. E. (2021) · doi:10.1093/med/9780198816805.003.0031
Publications Received
(2011) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.1177/0094306111412521
ESG–Agency Harvesting Database
Betsill, M. M., Benney, T. M., & Gerlak, A. K. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108688277.016
Index
Betsill, M. M., Benney, T. M., & Gerlak, A. K. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108688277.017
Introduction
Wilson, M. (2013) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118302040.ch1
Conclusion
Lamb‐Books, B. (2016) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-31346-7_9
Utopia Denied
Levitas, R. (2013) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137314253_5
Critical Realism
Kerr, M., & Morgan, J. (2017) · The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology · doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosc164.pub2
References
The Foundation Economy Collective (2020) · Manchester University Press eBooks · doi:10.7765/9781526158727.00013
Moral Economy of Decent Work
Bolton, S. C., & Laaser, K. (2020) · Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71058-7_115-1
References
de Matos, P. A. (2020) · Manchester University Press eBooks · doi:10.7765/9781526134998.00016
Conclusion
Wilson, M. (2013) · doi:10.1002/9781118302040.ch7
Conclusions
Sanghera, B., & Satybaldieva, E. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-76303-9_11
OntologyPreprint
Al‐Amoudi, I., & O’Mahoney, J. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2566915
The things that matter: Remembering Paul Onyango
Jentoft, S. (2022) · MAST. Maritime studies/Maritime studies · doi:10.1007/s40152-022-00277-y
Institutions Between Culture and Agency
Weik, E. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-89895-3_3
Book Review: Rentier Capitalism and Its Discontents: Power, Morality and Resistance in Central Asia by Balihar Sanghera and Elmira Satybaldieva
Flores, R. (2022) · Critical Sociology · doi:10.1177/08969205221120131
Twenty-five Questions
Dahler‐Larsen, P. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-18246-4_2
Analytische Dualismen bei Tönnies und deren Relevanz für eine kritische Wirtschaftswissenschaft
Herrmann‐Pillath, C. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-39243-7_4
Fazit
Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-658-37713-7_11
Me-to-We Design: A Blueprint for Enriching Welfare Technologies
Hertzum, M., & Yasuoka, M. (2023) · Studies in health technology and informatics · doi:10.3233/shti230223 · Cited by 1
Speaking My Mind: A Teacher’s Moral Argument against Over-Testing
Collin, R. (2022) · The English Journal · doi:10.58680/ej202231940
In praise of functional morals and ethics
Richards, H. (2023) · Journal of Critical Realism · doi:10.1080/14767430.2023.2225330
Ethik, Wissenschaft und Alltagserfahrung in den Klima- und Umweltdebatten
Siep, L. (2023) · Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie · doi:10.1007/s42048-023-00146-1
2. Kritik
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-004
3. Kritiken politischer Gefühle
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-005
5. Ausblick: Kritik politischer Gefühle als gefühlspolitische Selbst-Bildung?
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-007
Vorwort
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-001
Frontmatter
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-fm
4. Vier Impulse: ein Fazit auf dem Weg zu einer Kritik politischer Gefühle
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-006
Einleitung
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-002
Inhalt
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-toc
Gefühlspolitische Selbst-Bildung
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.1515/9783839467480 · Cited by 1
Literatur
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-008
1. Gefühl
Metje, F. (2023) · Edition Politik · doi:10.14361/9783839467480-003
There is a life before activism: embodied emotions during the childhood and youth of activists related to gender, racism, and climate change matters in Portugal
Sarrouy, A. D. (2023) · Etnografica · doi:10.4000/etnografica.14634
The Harm Reduction Subject and Demarginalisation
Yates, K. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-45968-9_3
Approaches to assessing autonomy in behavior and self-report
Zey, E. (2023) · Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) · doi:10.21248/gups.79490
Masks, Lay Moralities, and Moral Practice
Abbott, O., May, V., Woodward, S., Meckin, R., & Gilman, L. (2023) · Consumption and public life · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-45781-4_4
Care and COVID 19: Lessons for liberals and neoliberals
Lynch, K. (2023) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/cfs.13119 · Cited by 2
Student Learning at the Interface of University and Industry Relating to Engineering Professionalism
Gwynne-Evans, A. J. (2018) · Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning · doi:10.14426/cristal.v6i2.1954
Two Types of Agency, But Are They Not Related?
Archer, M. S. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009405430.013
Structure
Archer, M. S. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009405430.006
Misrepresenting SAC as Dualism
Archer, M. S. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009405430.007
Agency
Archer, M. S. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009405430.010
Agents as Individuals and Dispositions as Plural
Archer, M. S. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009405430.012
Social Choice and Capabilities in Action
Comim, F., Anand, P. B., & Fennell, S. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009232678.017
Drama in Drammen:
Olsen, C. S. (2024) · DRAMA · doi:10.18261/drama.61.1.5
A Critical Realist-Behavioural Economics Hybrid Theory of Sports Attendance Demand: The View from the Other Side of the Dividing Line in Economics
Embery, J. (2024) · Palgrave Pivots in Sports Economics · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-60040-1_4
Do Social Sciences Threaten the Autonomy of Ethics? Reconstructing the Marxian Metaethical Response
Dimitrakos, T. (2024) · The Journal of Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10892-024-09482-9
“For instance, it seems to me that a neo-Aristotelian view that appeals to human nature (Sayer 2011), a Hegelian view that appeals to the notion of practical crisis (Pippin 2008), or even a Deweyan pragmatic view (Gregoratto et al. 2022) can all be compatible with the Marxian liberal naturalism.”
Doing the right thing
Quadrelli, I., & Uboldi, A. (2024) · Oñati Socio-Legal Series · doi:10.35295/osls.iisl.1992
Ahlâki Paniğin Müzikteki Yansıması Üzerine Bir Örnek Olay İncelemesi: “Kâinatın Aynasıyım”
ERDOĞAN, G. (2024) · Uluslararası Ekonomi Siyaset İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Dergisi · doi:10.59445/ijephss.1500657
Patterns of intellectual spokespersonship for the nation in contemporary Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
(2020) · Discourse approaches to politics, society and culture · doi:10.1075/dapsac.88.c7

Authors: Sayer, A.
Affiliations: Lancaster University (GB)
Corresponding author: Sayer, Andrew
ORCID: Sayer, Andrew
Venue: Cambridge University Press eBooks
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011-01-20
DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511734779
OpenAlex: W3188963984
Cited by: 929
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 73 · 2025: 72 · 2024: 69 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 55 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 84 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 65 · 2017: 63 · 2016: 76 · 2015: 66 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 49 · 2012: 22
FWCI: 44.69
Type: book
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 502 d)
Locations: Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Critical Realism in Sociology
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice
Keywords: concern, values, critique of modernism, eudaimonia, human dignity, everyday ethics, social theory, philosophy of social science, well-being, interpersonal relationships, critique of social science

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

Why Things Matter to People: Social Science, Values and Ethical Life

Abstract

Overview

Integrity signals

Verification

Claims the paper makes

Claims other papers make about this one

Citations

Cites

Cited by

Related

Metadata

Record

About these checks