Chance, Character, and Change - 9781138507968

Taylor & Francis

Chance, Character, and ChangeAuthor(s): John Mattausch\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781138507968, 978-1138507968\nSynopsis\nChance is real. Not only is it a cause of societal change, but we as individuals are chance-given characters who discover and build our character in chancy circumstances. Chance is also expressed as coincidence and contingency, expressions which have episodically been of undeniable historical importance. Mattausch asserts the conventional picture of societal change is incorrect. Societal change is not a linear succession with each phase of change replacing its predecessor. Instead, the process is one of accumulative change in which chance plays various roles. Chance, Character, and Change develops the idea of chance, situating it within the history of thought and social change.\n\nBy focusing strictly on manifestations of chance and of luck that can be seen and explained, Mattausch is able.