10721 Classical Sociological Theories 1
Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Sociology & Anthropology
Prerequisites: Introduction to Sociology, one additional course in Sociology and Anthropology, and one in the Humanities or Social Sciences
Recommended: The Age of Revolution: 1760-1830
The course is based on a translation of Main Currents in Sociological Thought, by Raymond Aron, and on a collection of articles (most in English) edited by Yael Enoch.
The course deals with the theoretical approaches of seven of the founding fathers of sociology: Comte, Marx, Tocqueville, Pareto, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel. It presents the key issues, intellectual and methodological, that surround debates in classical sociology and the thinking of the most important (early) classical sociologists, as well as the social and intellectual background against which modern society, and specifically sociology, developed. It also describes and explains the concepts and theoretical ideas developed by the classical sociologists in an attempt to understand and explain the processes of change and the modern society that was coming into being. The course helps students to understand the theoretical basis underlying many of the modern studies they encounter in the course of their studies, as well as the classical roots of competing schools in contemporary sociology.
1There is some overlap in the content of this and other courses. For details, see Overlapping Courses.