Foundations of Social Theory
Published in September 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-19-541986-3 (ISBN)
Description
"Foundations of Social Theory" is an introduction to social thought beginning with the intellectual transformation of the western world at the end of the first Christian millennium and ending with the rise of critical social thought in the 20th century. The narrative is organized thematically, and places intellectual history in social, political, and economic context. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the author uses the unique approach of introducing works of art or literature as examples of social thought in order to show the pervasiveness of ideas in works not normally considered 'theoretical'. In doing so, the author demonstrates - with great pedagogical thought - to students that recognisable social ideas can be found in unlikely places.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Undergraduate first year students studying social theory and social thought in departments of sociology.
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 178 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-541986-3 (9780195419863)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Anthony Thomson, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Acadia University, Canada
Content
PART I - FROM REASON TO REVOLUTION; CHAPTER ONE: TRADITIONAL SOCIETY AND SOCIAL THEORY; Gerbert and his times; Abelard, Heloise and the status of women; The intellectual revolution; Thomas Aquinas; The decline of the west; Conclusion; CHAPTER TWO: THE REVOLUTION IN NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE; The scientific revolution; Economic and Social Change; Thomas Hobbes; Social change and radicalism in England; John Locke; Adam Smith; Thomas Malthus; Conclusion; CHAPTER THREE: LIBERALISM AND REBELLION; Liberalism and culture; The American revolution; The status of women; Natural Law and slavery; Rural nostalgia and social satire; The Philosophes; Conclusion; CHAPTER FOUR: ROSSEAU AND REVOLUTION; Jean-Jacques Rosseau; The French Revolution; Women, enlightenment and revolution; Olympe De Gouges; Mary Wollstonecraft; Jane Austen; Conclusion; PART II FROM CONSERVATISM TO SOCIALISM; CHAPTER FIVE: THE CONSERVATIVE REACTION AND ROMANTICISM; Philosophical Foundation; Conservatism in France; Edmund Burke; Romanticism; English Romanticism; French Romanticism; Romantic subjectivism; Conclusion; CHAPTER SIX: POSITIVISM AND DEMOCRACY; Saint Simon; Augusta Comte and positivism; Harriet Martineau; Alexis De Tocqueville and American democracy; Thoreau and civil disobedience; Conclusion; CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL LIBERALISM; Jeremy Bentham and utilitarianism; John Stuart Mill; Gender politics; Social Liberalism in culture; Conclusion; CHAPTER EIGHT: HEGEL, FEUERBACH AND MARX; German society and politics; G. W. F. Hegel; Ludwig Feuerbach; Karl Marx; Historical Materialism; Conclusion; PART III TURN OF THE CENTURY SOCIAL THOUGHT; CHAPTER NINE: EVOLUTION AND SOCIOLOGY; The theory of evolution; Jean-Baptiste Lamarck; The conservative reaction; Darwin and natural selection; Naturalism; Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism; Social Darwinism in America; Imperialism and racism; Conclusion; CHAPTER TEN: EMILE DURKHEIM; Emile Durkheim; Conclusion; CHAPTER ELEVEN: MAX WEBER; Max Weber; The predominance of the West; Western captialism; Social stratification and class; Conclusion; CHAPTER TWELVE: PROGRESSIVISM AND EMANCIPATION; Meliorism in American Sociology; Thorstein Veblen; African-American Emancipation; Booker T. Washington; Ida Wells; W. E. B. Dubois; Conclusion; CHAPTER THIRTEEN: DESIRE, DISORDER AND DANGER; Henrik Ibsen; First wave feminism; The birth of the modern; Fin de Siecle Decadence; Friedrich Nietzsche; Georg Simmel; Sigmund Freud; Conclusion; CHAPTER FOURTEEN: SOCIAL THEORY AND THE MIND; American Pragmatism and social theory; G. H. Mead; Karl Mannheim; Conclusion; CONCLUSION; Dominant ideologies in Twentieth century society; Critical social thought