Prologue: what can we know about the world? -- The scientific parameters of social existence -- Economy -- The economy -- The consumer as economic dynamic: the subjective preference theory of value -- The producer as economic dynamic: the cost-of-production theory of value -- The citizen as economic dynamic: the abstract labour theory of value -- Environment -- Environment -- The environment as a source of pleasure: egocentrism -- The environment as a productive resource: ecocentrism -- The environment and social evolution: sociocentrism -- Development -- Development -- Development as the fulfillment of individuals' potentials: modernization -- Development as fulfilling the technical potentials of cooperation: structuralism -- Development as the fulfillment of people's social potentials: class struggle -- Knowledge -- Knowledge -- What? Identifying events: positivism -- How? Explaining systems: paradigms -- Why? Understanding processes: praxis -- Intellectual panorama, ideological vision, and political view -- Epilogue: what do we know about the world?