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Social work rests on complex philosophical assumptions that should be central to practice, education, and training. Frederic G. Reamer explores how these issues bear on the purpose, methods, and perspectives of social work and their far-reaching implications. This second edition is revised and updated throughout to address contemporary challenges.
List of contents
Preface
1. Political Philosophy
2. Moral Philosophy
3. Logic
4. Epistemology
5. Aesthetics
Afterword
Notes
References
Index
About the author
Frederic G. Reamer is professor at the School of Social Work at Rhode Island College. His recent Columbia University Press books include Boundary Issues and Dual Relationships in the Human Services (third edition, 2020), Social Work Values and Ethics (fifth edition, 2018), and On the Parole Board: Reflections on Crime, Punishment, Redemption, and Justice (2016).
Summary
Social work rests on complex philosophical assumptions that should be central to practice, education, and training. In this book, Frederic G. Reamer explores how these issues bear on the purpose, methods, and perspectives of social work and their far-reaching implications for practice and scholarship.
Reamer examines major themes across the domains of moral and political philosophy, logic, epistemology, and aesthetics. He raises questions such as: How can ethical theories inform social workers’ moral judgments? In what ways are canons of inductive and deductive logic relevant to social workers’ thinking about their work? To what extent can scientific inquiry help social workers understand the nature and effect of their interventions? How can concepts related to aesthetics shed light on the nature of social work? Reamer’s nuanced inquiry never loses sight of the concrete applications of philosophy to social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, or to broader goals of social change.
This second edition of The Philosophical Foundations of Social Work is revised and updated throughout to address contemporary challenges. It focuses especially on newer thinking about the role of non-Western philosophical perspectives and the relevance of philosophy to social workers’ commitments to multiculturalism, feminism, and antiracism.
