SAMPLE Sociology
E. Overview of Influential Sociological Theorists The following table summarizes the influential theories that contributed to sociology. The specific theories or concepts are spread throughouttherelevantchapters. Pleaseseethe Appendix sectionfor more in-depth details. Table 5 - 1: Influential theories that contributed to sociology
Theorists
Famous Theories or Concepts
Key Points
Roots of Sociology
Social scientists should conduct studies of society that use the same methods as the natural sciences and identify scientific laws that govern society. Comte proposed three stages of society:
Auguste Comte “Father of Sociology”
Theory of Positivism
● Theological Stage ● Metaphysical Stage ● Scientific Stage
Individuals are not meant to serve society; a society’s purpose is to fulfill the needs of individuals living in that society. Society is like the organs in the human body, and parts of society work together to function properly. Proposes that only the powerful and rich will sustain their wealth.
Harriet Martineau’s Illustration of Political Economy
Harriet Martineau
Social Darwinism Survival of the Fittest Three Systems of Society
Herbert Spencer
Conflict Theorists
Social Conflict Theory Class Consciousness The Communist Manifesto
All history is the history of class struggle in which a group would oust an oppressive group.
Karl Marx
The Power of Elite Personal Troubles Public Issues
Upper classes of society had positions in the military, the economy, and the government, all of which exercised the most influence over others. Ability to place one’s own experiences in the larger sociopolitical context.
Charles Wright Mills
Sociological Imagination
Weberian Theory
● Bureaucracy ● Verstehen ● Anti-positivism ● The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Society needs a more formal, impersonal, and inflexible form of organization, which is characterized by rules, legal authority, and competence.
Max Weber
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