This article presents an in-depth interview with John Levi Martin (University of Chicago) concerning his book The Explanation of Social Action. It aims to situate the book within Martin's more overarching research interests, elucidate its linkages to earlier work, elaborate on central concepts (‘third-person causality’, ‘social aesthetics’, ‘social objects’, etc.) and address some common misunderstandings. In addition, Martin positions his own approach to other bodies of social theory, classical and contemporary, and expounds his vision of a ‘social aesthetics’, a sociological perspective that recognises the profoundly qualitative nature of human cognition.
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