'Nature' is perhaps the most contested term in the social sciences. It has a huge variety of possible meanings, and an equally great number of implications as to what human life 'is' and how it should be studied. Questions raised here include: What is 'nature'? What is 'human nature'? How does mankind act upon, change, manipulate and otherwise alter the 'natural world', and what might the consequences be thereof? How does the 'natural world' impinge upon human life? What are the moral and ethical issues involved in the areas just mentioned. Many influential stances within the social sciences regard 'nature' in one of two ways: either as none of their concern (which is with the 'social' and 'cultural' aspects of human existence), or as wholly a social and cultural fabrication. But there is also another strand of social scientific thinking, which seeks to understand the interplay between social and cultural factors on one side and 'natural' factors on the other. These volumes contain the main contributions that have been made within each of these streams of thought.
The selections illustrate to the reader the complexity of the various positions within these streams, and the strengths and limitations of each perspective. A new introduction places these articles in their historical and intellectual context and the volumes are completed with an extensive index and chronological table of contents.