What is a person? This fundamental question is a perennial concern of
philosophers and theologians. But, Christian Smith here argues, it also
lies at the center of the social scientist.s quest to interpret and explain
social life. In this ambitious book, Smith presents a new model for social
theory that does justice to the best of our humanistic visions of people,
life, and society.

Finding much current thinking on personhood to be confusing or misleading,
Smith finds inspiration in critical realism and personalism. Drawing on
these ideas, he constructs a theory of personhood that forges a middle
path between the extremes of positivist science and relativism. Smith then
builds on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens, and William Sewell
to demonstrate the importance of personhood to our understanding of social
structures. From there he broadens his scope to consider how we can know
what is good in personal and social life and what sociology can tell us
about human rights and dignity.

Innovative, critical, and constructive, What Is a Person? offers an
inspiring vision of a social science committed to pursuing causal
explanations, interpretive understanding, and general knowledge in the
service of truth and the moral good.

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