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The Elusive and Pluriform French Left

resistance to his intuitive explanations and his penchant for paradoxes and antinomies. They could not absorb Simmel into their systematic work because, says Levine, in him one encounters "a persona that is profoundly, inescapably, essentially ambiguous." The author's effort to recover this lost sheep of modern theory is not simply to gain recognition for Simmel's place in history, but to promote an enriched basis for a sociology of "interpretation" (Verstehen) generally. This volume consists largely of previously published pieces written as long ago as the late 1960's. Inevitably, this distance and the variety of topics produces some unevenness along with an occasionally quaint echo of a bygone stage of discussion. However, the thematic motif that unifies the collection does undergo development and refinement as the chapters proceed. Although the issue of ambiguity in its own right tends to fade as the careful analysis of his chosen authors expands, Levine concludes with an effort to locate where and when indeterminacy can be beneficial even if the notion itself still evades his grasp. This parting epilogue suggests that the real achievement of the book was not to disaggregate the intellectual problems that flow from condensation, implication and complexity, but to propose that the "flight from ambiguity" be balanced with a capacity and a willingness to enter into a mode that transcends full rational articulation. In this sense, Levine invites to a new plateau of understanding, leaving behind him a serviceable if imperfect ladder for those who would follow.