This is the first full study of the development of the idea that human social behaviour is governed by laws comparable to the laws of natural science. The author sets out to provide a clear account of the arguments put forward from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries about the nature and possibility of social laws. Professor Brown's work makes a significant contribution to understanding the debate between those who believe that such laws can apply to society, and those who believe a different methodology and understanding is appropriate in the social sciences.
