Apostle of Human Progress: Lester Frank Ward and American Political Thought, 1841-1913

(Paperback)

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Although Lester Frank Ward's accomplishments are not as well known today, he is considered the father of American Sociology and his work profoundly influenced such important thinkers as Thorstein Veblen, John Dewey, Edward Ross, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In Apostle of Human Progress, Edward C. Rafferty presents the first full scale intellectual portrait of this important public thinker. Rafferty shows how Ward's thought laid the foundations for the modern administrative state and explores his contributions to twentieth century American liberalism. Ideal for anyone interested in the history of American intellectuals and ideas.

Reviews

Edward C. Rafferty has done an important service by writing this new intellectual biography of Lester Frank Ward, once known as the father of American Sociology. Rafferty presents the most comprehensive and balanced view of the life and work of this giant of American social thought of the late nineteenth and early-twentieth century that has appeared to date. * The Review of Politics *
A thorough biographical portrait of the whole span of Ward's life with very fair-minded coverage and evaluation of his social thought. Rafferty's major contributioneven beyond his impressive thoroughnessis his placement of Ward in the context of Washington and government intellectuals. The ideas of the leading theorist of 'Reform Darwinism' are routinely referred to abstractly; Rafferty portrays the living struggles that went into the making of his influential theories. -- Paul Jerome Croce, author of Science and Religion in the Era of William James

Author Bio

Edward C. Rafferty is assistant professor of social science at Boston University.