“Interpreting the world is one thing. Changing it quite another. Thought, insufficient on its own to bring about change, must always be accompanied by action. How do we think change? Smith and Hayslip offer us a challenge to think better as well as instruction in how to do so. Thinking Systematics is nothing less than a guide to thinking better, to conceiving the world in ways that liberate socialist possibility from the ‘mind forg’d manacles’ capitalism has imposed on the ‘brain of the living.’ Read this book and think socialism’s promise. Then act to realize a better world, one that frees humanity from the precariousness created by the profit system.”
— Bryan D. Palmer, professor emeritus of history, Trent University

“The 21st century is an age of fake news, of opinion over fact, of lies over truth, of relativism over objective reality, of faith over reason. We are in desperate need of rational and logical thinking to cut through this morass of confusions and illusions. In this book, Smith and Hayslip show that we can substantially improve how to think and act rationally so that a world scarred by deep social inequalities, material privation and pervasive injustices can be transformed.”
— Michael Roberts, author of The Long Depression and co-author of Capitalism in the 21st Century

“This book is a powerful antidote to current intellectual fashions that question the possibility of approximating objective truth. Demonstrating the power of rational ideas and displaying an unalloyed optimism about human beings’ ability to create a new and better social-ecological order, Thinking Systematics is a feast in philosophy and social theory. It provides an accessible and synoptic history of the major controversies in Western philosophy from antiquity up to the modern era and advocates a dialectical mode of thinking about the human world and its relation with nature. The book will be of benefit to anyone who wishes to scientifically understand the world with all its contradictions and to contribute to its radical transformation.”
— Raju Das, professor of geography, York University

Murray E.G. Smith (Author)
Murray E.G. Smith is professor emeritus in sociology at Brock University, with interests in social theory, political economy, health and illness, social movements, philosophy and dialectical methodology. His previous books include Twilight Capitalism and Invisible Leviathan.

Tim Hayslip (Author)
Tim Hayslip is a PhD student in sociology at York University. His research focuses on the intersection of the sociology of knowledge and economic sociology, seeking to explain the popularity of the Austrian School of Economics and its remedies for economic malaise: higher interest rates, less market regulation and allowing the bankruptcies of “zombie companies.”

Preface:
Prologue I: : On Human Thinking, Society and a Decaying Culture
Prologue II: : Alarming Facts about Our Perilous Age
Prologue III: : Observations on Human Potential
Introduction :
Part I: : Thinking Systematics (TSS 1)
Chapter One: : The Need in Human Thinking
Chapter Two: : Dialectical Reason: A Brief Historical Survey
Chapter Three: : TSS and Dialectical Logic
Chapter Four: : TSS and the Environmental Crisis – A Case Study
Part II: : Taking the Social Seriously (TSS 2)
Chapter Five:: From Philosophy to Social Theory
Chapter Six: : Faith, Reason and Morality
Chapter Seven: : Evald Ilyenkov: Dialectics of the Ideal
Chapter Eight:: Dialectical Monism versus Dualism
Part III: : Taking Socialism Seriously (TSS 3)
Chapter Nine: : Marxist Socialism and TSS Dialectical Materialism
Chapter Ten: : Arguments for Socialism
Epilogue: : TSS and Human Progress
Appendix: A TSS Seminar