This is a revised edition of a classic work, first published in 1977, by a distinguished scholar on how he perceives social theory ought to be constructed and conducted. The book has established itself as a standard text for courses in social theory and methodology all over the world. It offers a cogent critique of schools of social thought that continue to occupy a central place in debates and controversies today, and it outlines the basic notions of philosophies of action, existential phenomenology, hermeneutics, and critical theory. This edition of New Rules has been thoroughly re-edited and revised. Though the basic structure of the arguments has not been changed, some sections that have become dated have been either eliminated or rewritten. The book has been the focus of various debates since it first appeared and for this reason, Giddens has written an extensive Preface for this revised edition of New Rules that engages a number of questions consistently raised by critics.