About the Author xi Acknowledgements xiii Chapter 1: Society as the Walls of Our Imprisonment 1 On the Concept of Natural Kinds in Science 4 The Road to Sociology 6 Conclusion: On Perspective 9 Chapter 2: Science and Sociology 10 Science and Morals 12 The Ethos of Science 13 Chapter 3: Founders and Founding Ideas 19 Origins 20 Intervention on the Study of Culture 26 Ibn Khaldun Again 27 The Founding Ideas of the Sociological Imagination 28 Themes 33 The Role of Women in the Founding Moments of the Sociological Imagination 37 Modern Era in Sociology and Anthropology 38 Chapter 4: Key Literary Moments in My Sociological Biography 48 Flashback 52 Intervention: A Note on Numbers and Economics 57 An Era of Crisis 59 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) 61 Conclusion 62 Chapter 5: Tolstoy''s Perspective on Human Being and Conduct 63 Capturing the Life of a People 64 Interlude: Physics Intervenes 69 Tolstoy Again 70 Free Will 70 Conclusion 77 Epilogue: On Power 78 Chapter 6: Humans Among the Social Species 81 The Decline of Face-to-Face as an Existential Threat 85 Conclusion 92 Caveat 93 Epilogue: The Bonobos Natural Experiment 93 Chapter 7: Gumplowicz and the Myth of the Individual 96 Morals 103 Basic Principles of Human Being and Conduct 103 Rights 107 Rights and the State 108 Rights and Morals 109 Conclusion 112 Coda 113 Chapter 8: The Social Origins of God 114 How Can We Know A God Outside of Space and Time? 117 A Case Study in Christian Philosophy 119 I Discover God 122 Moments of Awakening 125 The Career of the Mythic Hero 128 Sacred and Profane 130 Collective Effervescence 131 The Awakening Continues 132 Conclusion: Religion, God, and the Sociological Imagination 135 Chapter 9: The Social Brain 137 Connectomes 138 Genius, and Social Networks: Einstein and John Coltrane 139 The Woman in Einstein''s Social Brain 141 The Social Brain 142 The Sociology of Improvisation: John Coltrane 143 The Work Itself 145 Not Anything Goes 146 Networks of Jazz 150 The Jazz Machine 153 Conclusion: Creativity and the Anarchist Brain 156 Chapter 10: Institutional Walls of Imprisonment 158 The Concept of Total Institution 160 A Methodological Intervention: The Ideal Type 161 Institutions Once More 161 Society and Survival 162 Chapter 11: Social Class, Sex, and Gender: Case Studies in Walls of Imprisonment 165 Social Class 165 Ragged Dick 168 Sex and Gender 168 Are Escape Tunnels Illusions? 172 Conclusion 173 Epilogue on Non-Binary Concepts 174 Definitions in Common Use 174 Transgender and Transsexual 175 Some Terms to Avoid 176 Chapter 12: Race and Racism: A Case Study in Walls of Imprisonment 177 Systemic Racism/Institutional Racism 178 The Credential Society: Education and Social Stratification 179 The Souls of Black Folk 181 Intersectionality 183 Racial Capitalism 183 Critical Race Theory 184 Culture Wars 185 DEI and Affirmation Action 187 Epilogue: Terms of Reference 188 Chapter 13: Escape Tunnels in the Walls of Our Imprisonment 190 The Story of a Wall of Imprisonment 191 The Great Wall of China 192 The Lesson of Concrete Walls 193 Escape Tunnels in the Walls of Our Imprisonment 196 Chapter 14: The Ultimate Wall: The Sociology of Death and Dying IT''S a Mystery 202 Sex and Death: Where Walls of Imprisonment Meet 205 Growing Old and Facing Death 207 What is Life? 210 The Pleasure of Death 213 Enter Victor Frankl and Bruno Bettelheim 215 The Medicalization of Dying 216 When you and Others DIE 217 Tolstoy Redux 217 Enter Stage Right, David Brooks, 2025 219 Exit Stage Left, Sal Restivo, 2025 220 The Meaning of Life 221 Ernest Becker (1924-1974) 222 References 224 Bibliography 231 Index 000.