An inquiry into how social cohesion, psychological development, religion and attitudes to violence have shaped the course of civilisation.

An examination of New England reform movements, considering their ambitions, limitations, social experiments, and Emerson’s emphasis on individual moral development.

An exploration of beauty in nature, people and art, considering how form, proportion, character and perception shape aesthetic experience.

An examination of civilisation as social progress, considering cooperation, institutions, technology, labour, moral development and the conditions that support collective life.

An analysis of how ruling elites gain, maintain and lose power, and how new groups replace declining elites.

A wide-ranging study of social behaviour, examining non-logical action, belief, elite rule, political change and the forces sustaining social systems.