Comparison of Three Views of Sociology

1337 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Marx alienation theory

Each of the three main theorists, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber have significantly different aspects on how society is held together. Some things about their theories are related in few ways. Marx was quoted, “The origins of change are all materialistic, not based on ideas.” This aspect focuses on how material items are the basis of society. Durkheim focused on the dependence of others to make society work. Weber used the focus of religion affecting all aspects of life. This is known as social cohesion.

Marx’s theories became known as “Marxism.” Marxism is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “theories and practices of socialism including the labor theory… dialectical materialism, the class struggle, and the dictatorship of the proletariat until the establishment of a classless society.” The goal of Marx was to have an all equal society, or as we know it today Communism or Socialism. The labor theory incorporates the idea of alienation. Alienation is directly related to the working class. As the workers work, they begin to realize they gain no fruits of their own labor. Because the idea is not their own, they have no sense of creativity. Without this sense of creativity they are given the feeling of being alienated from the world, the workers are reduced from an active human being to a passive result or object. (AnthroBase.com)

I think that even though Marx saw alienation as a problem with the people that this is what kept the society going. The dependence on others kept the society in constant function. The capitalists need the workers to complete the job so that money could be made; they passed a bit of the money back down to the workers for making the goods made. To achieve a society without any struggles would be ideal for Marx....

... middle of paper ...

...y never got to see what it has become today. If they only knew how influential they were in this science.

Reference

Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 19, 2010 (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marxism).

AnthroBase. Retrieved March 19, 2010 (http://www.anthrobase.com/Dic/eng/pers/marx_karl.htm).

Ritzer, George 2008. “Karl Marx.” P 61 in Sociological Theory New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Bartle, Phil 2007. “Emile Durkheim.” Retrieved March 19, 2010 (http://www.scn.org/cmp/modules/soc-dur.htm).

Radford University. Retrieved March 19, 2010 (http://www.radford.edu/~junnever/law/onDurkheim.htm).

New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 20, 2010 (http://www.newworldencyclpedia.org/entry/Sociology_of_religion).

Ritzer, George 2008. “Max Weber.” P 119 in Sociological Theory New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Show More
Related

  • Marx Alienated Labor Analysis

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marx, discuss a certain concept of alienated labor as an unavoidable result of capitalist system. The framework that he tries to draw in the book is that capitalist system should be blamed to have class strafication and alienated labor in the society. In a capitalist society people suffer from class conflict and property ownership of bourgeoisie. Bourgeoisie owns the big factories and businesses so then, small manufacturers have to shut down and basically have to join the labors in the big businesses. Workers in capitalist system are obligated to work for long hours under unhealthy conditions for really low salaries. In order to feed a family provide just basic needs, they have to accept those conditions otherwise they would be down the street without any source of income. While bourgeoisie class is enjoying large profits and luxuries life that has been provided by the effort of labors, they can barely themselves and the family.

    Read More

  • The Gender Politics of Work Exposed in The Yellow Wallpaper

    2465 Words  | 5 Pages

    With the emergence of an industrial working class that arrived from the farms and countryside new theories and ideologies about the political economy began to appear. Karl Marx, a political philosopher during this time, introduced the idea of "alienation of labor". His theory proposed that labor has the ability to create a loss of reality in the laborer because the laborer himself becomes a commodity or object due to the nature of work. In terms of the roles of women it can be argued that the effect is even greater due to the limited choices of work available. This theme is expressed in literature through the writings of Gilman and Alcott.

    Read More

  • The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marx’s ideals of communism were drawn from the realization that the cycle of revolutions caused by the class struggles throughout history led society nowhere. Society as a whole was more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes that were directly facing each other—bourgeoisie and proletariat. According to Marx, in order for society to further itself, a mass proletarian revolution would have to occur. The bourgeois, who were the employers and owners of the means of production, composed the majority of the modern capitalists. It was these individuals that controlled the capitalist society by exploiting the labor provided by the proletariats.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Weber And Emheim Durkheim

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Three thinkers form the foundations of modern-day sociological thinking. Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Each developed different theoretical approaches to help us understand the way societies function, and how we are determined by society. This essay will focus on the contrasts and similarities of Durkheim and Weber’s thought of how we are determined by society. It will then go on to argue that Weber provides us with the best account of modern life.

    Read More

  • Disagreements On Marxism And Karl Marx's Views On Capitalism

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    Karl Marx lived from 1818-1883 and was alive during the Industrial Revolution which was a time that moved Europeans to cities from rural farming.. Marx observed the economy he lived in and saw the huge flaws with capitalism. Poverty, class conflicts and private property were all flaws of capitalism that Marx thought we could avoid if historical change took place. Capitalism according to Marx is an extremely unsatisfactory government system that gives power to the upper class landowners and keeps the proletariat exploited. The proletariat in a Capitalist society are continually exploited for their labor and don’t receive any of the profits for the item they produced for their firm. Shareholders of the firm end up being the ones who reap the rewards from the company even though they have nothing to do with manufacturing the good expect investing money. Marx insists that society would be better off if working class individuals controlled and owned all of the capital in the economy. In a capitalist society the bourgeoisie make huge amounts of money off the proletariat which is something that can’t last forever. Marx argued that as time passes increasing tensions between classes will surface and end capitalism altogether. Essentially, the lower class will revolt and force the government to abolish the capitalist system by putting in place socialism. Socialism doesn’t support alienated labor or employees as commodities for sale. Alienation of labor occurs in a capitalist society according to Ma...

    Read More

  • Wage-Labor and Capital by Karl Marx

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of the conditions that the wage-workers worked in, Marx described it as exploitation. Marx felt that the wage workers were being exploited. The capitalist, also known as the bourgeoisie, were exploiting the wage workers, the proletariats, because of their cheap labor. They were essentially using them to create and increase their own profit. This in turn brought up alienation. Basically, alienation, also known as estrangement, is when a person is separated from their work, what they produce, themselves, and their environment. Marx’s theory of alienation was used to describe workers laboring under the capitalist society. The workers, also known as wage laborers, were commodities—things that are bought, sold, or exchanged in the market. They were selling their labor which means that they were being alienated from what they were doing.

    Read More

  • Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel: The Relationship between Society and the Individual

    3473 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the Communist Manifesto it is very clear that Marx is concerned with the organization of society. He sees that the majority individuals in society, the proletariat, live in sub-standard living conditions while the minority of society, the bourgeoisie, have all that life has to offer. However, his most acute observation was that the bourgeoisie control the means of production that separate the two classes (Marx #11 p. 250). Marx notes that this is not just a recent development rather a historical process between the two classes and the individuals that compose it. “It [the bourgeois] has but established new classes, new conditions of oppression, and new forms of struggle in place of the old ones. Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie ...

    Read More

  • Emile Durkheim and Max Weber Comparison

    477 Words  | 1 Pages

    Emile Durkheim and Max Weber both appealed to me in the reading of chapter 1. They both have similarities and differences on their approaches to sociology. While reading the background of Emile, I found it fascinating how he studied sociology in a way that he put together the individual dimensions and added them together to better understand a society or social group. The case of suicide rates and religion. This one case can be analyzed through other elements, such as careers. For instance, the type of profession can be studied. I am really into statistics and like to break down information. The way he broke down the information to analyze a society or social groups interested me. Max Weber, I chose to write about because I felt he had a refined understanding of his teacher, Karl Marx.

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting Sociological Theorists Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx

    1584 Words  | 4 Pages

    Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber are all important characters to be studied in the field of Sociology. Each one of these Sociological theorists, help in the separation of Sociology into its own field of study. The works of these three theorists is very complex and can be considered hard to understand but their intentions were not. They have their similarities along with just as many of their differences.

    Read More

  • Rousseau's Theory Of Alienation

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marx’s theory of alienation describes the separation of things that naturally belong together. For Marx, alienation is experienced in four forms. These include alienation from ones self, alienation from the work process, alienation from the product and alienation from other people. Workers are alienated from themselves because they are forced to sell their labor for a wage. Workers are alienated from the process because they don’t own the means of production. Workers are alienated from the product because the product of labor belongs to the capitalists. Workers do not own what they produce. Workers are alienated from other people because in a capitalist economy workers see each other as competition for jobs. Thus for Marx, labor is simply a means to an end.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Main Strengths and Weaknesses of Marx’s Sociological Thought

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    To Marx, history d... ... middle of paper ... ... 67 Jon Elster, Making sense of Marx, Cambridge University press 1985 C.Slaughter, Marxism and the class struggle, New Park Publications LTD 1975 Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones etc.. Introductory Sociology 4th edition, Palgrave Macmillan 2002 Gregor McLennan, The Story of Sociology Ken Morrison, Marx Durkheim Weber, Sage publications LTD 1995 Fulcher&Scott, Sociology 2nd edition, Oxford university press 2003 --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] German Ideology, pp.8-13 [2] Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy, p.150, Pelican books 1963 [3] ibid, p107 [4] Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy, p.177, Pelican books 1963 [5] Essential writings of Karl Marx; p176; Panther Books Ltd ,1967

    Read More

  • Marxism and Leninism

    1618 Words  | 4 Pages

    Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire. The political philosopher believed that communism could only thrive in a society distressed by “the political and economic circumstances created by a fully developed capitalism” With industry and capitalism growing a working class develops and begins to be exploited. According to Marx, the exploiting class essentially is at fault for their demise, and the exploited class eventually comes to power through the failure of capitalism:

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Karl Marx and Max Weber

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    He thought Marx’s view of history was too focused on economics and was not considering the role of ideas and values as causes. Weber felt that scientific, historical, and philosophical causation was so connected with economic development that they can not be considered separately as causes of change in the society. He used the relationship between society and the individual to explain the causes of change in terms of social development. Weber also thought there was a link between capitalism and the Protestant work ethic. Specifically, he looked at Calvinism.

    Read More

  • The Law of Karma

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Weber, Max. 1947. Essays in Sociology. Translated by Gerth and Mills. London: K.Paul, Trench, Trubner

    Read More

  • The Sociological Contribution of Karl Marx to an Understanding of Contemporary Society

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Sociological Contribution of Karl Marx to an Understanding of Contemporary Society. This essay will discuss how the Karl Marx contributed his knowledge to the understanding of contemporary society. Karl Marx is often referred to. as the ‘intellectual father of modern day Marxist economics’.

    Read More

More about Comparison of Three Views of Sociology

Open Document