With reference to examples of their published works assess respectively the work of Marx, Durkheim and Weber. Write one thousand words on each. In the final section, critically assess which of the three theorists has the most contemporary relevance.
The fathers of sociology are known as Karl Marx, Emilen Durkheim and Karl Weber they made profound contributions towards study of sociology. This essay will explore the key theoretical concepts for each theorist beginning with Marx thoughts on capitalism, class struggle, materialism, then followed by Weber’s ……………………………… and Finally Durkheim ideas on ………………. Further, a critical evaluation will be carried out in order to establish which of the three theories has more significance in today’s contemporary society.
Main body
Marx writings where influenced by Hegel’s theoretical concepts as he further developed his own ideas Marx began to criticize Hegel’s interpretations of society and history. Indeed, their interest remained commonly theoretical in social and economic region. However, Marx rejected Hegel’s idealist philosophy because Marx wanted to approach the studying of society and history through his own concept of materialism that involved thinking outside the boundaries of idealist philosophy (Morrison, 2006).
Materialism
Marx’s understanding of history was through his concept of ‘materialism’ the reason why Marx introduced this theoretical perspective because he wanted to overcome complications brought by idealist philosophy, the perception of society and history (Morrison, 2006) Marx’s idea of history is in relation to production which involves figuring out the relationships of people and their relation to each other and through this association they are socialized because t...
... middle of paper ...
...e several different types of capitalism he further assumes that each of these have its own suitable spirit here are the most important ones ‘booty capitalism, pariah capitalism, traditional capitalism, and rational capitalism’ ( Parkin, 1982, p41).
References
David Mclellan 1997 Karl Marx Selected writings London: Oxford University Press
Michael Evans 1975 Karl Marx Britain: The Aldine Press, Letchworth
Cohen and Kennedy 2007 Global sociology second edition New York: Palgrave Macmillan
Melvin Rader 1979 Marx’s Interpretation of history America: Oxford University Press Inc
Ken Morrison, 2006 Marx Durkheim Weber formations of modern social thought London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Tom Bottomore, 1981 Modern interpretations of Marx England: Basil Blackwell Publisher
Frank Parkin, 1982 Key Sociologists Max Weber Britain: Ellis Horwood Ltd
Karl Marx and Max Weber, were two great social scientists, who devoted much of their work to the defining of capitalism through understanding its creation, causes, workings, and destiny. In their evaluations of capitalism they arrive at two distinct conclusion caused by similar and distinctly different factors. Though Marx and Weber apply the concept of specialization in very different ways, the implementation and consequences specialization have much in common. What is important about these two sociologist is that they both studied the same and one capitalism but their approach is miles apart from each other and have reached on totally different conclusions? Marx says that class is determined by economic factors and grades class as related
"History is nothing but the succession of separate generations, each of which exploits the materials, capital, and productive forces handed down to it by all preceding generations." Marx resists any abstraction from this idea, believing that his materialistic ideas alone stand supported by empirical evidence which seems impossible to the Hegelian. His history then begin...
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.
Max Weber and Karl Marx, two prolific Sociologists who share different views with the origins and development of modern capitalism. They wanted to understand the rise of capitalism, the causes of it, as well as the direction it was heading. As they started to dissect capitalism they developed two separate conclusions generated from completely different factors. It’s hard to fathom the fact that Weber and Marx could arrive at two distinct conclusions while studying a similar event. They took two separate angles of approach, which caused them to have to opposing theories. Due too Weber and Marx approaching capitalism from different angles, their views of the dynamics, and the understanding of the origins differed.
Each of the four classical theorists Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Simmel had different theories of the relationship between society and the individual. It is the objective of this paper to critically evaluate the sociological approaches of each theory to come to a better understanding of how each theorist perceived such a relationship and what it means for the nature of social reality.
Desfor Edles, Laura and Scott Appelrouth. 2010. “Émile Durkheim (1858-1917).” Pp. 100 and 122-134 in Sociological Theory in the Classical Era. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Both have a sensation of the inner-self boredom wanting more than what they already have and will. never seem satisfied with what they get. Both Durkheim and Marx have many valid ideas, and their perceptions. provide a detailed insight into the nature of Anomie and Alienation. However, their work shows that their arguments are not always regular.
In his Manifesto of the Communist Party Karl Marx created a radical theory revolving not around the man made institution of government itself, but around the ever present guiding vice of man that is materialism and the economic classes that stemmed from it. By unfolding the relat...
Under this course of dialogue, Marx’s work is seen as speculations and possible reasons for certain patterns seen over history, but it concretes the idea of these patterns in such a way that they are finite and do not lend themselves to change or modification.
The first theorist to consider is Karl Marx. Marx has a uniqueness all of his own. His attention was normally directed towards capitalism in society. He studied the basis of inequality under capitalism. (Ritzer, 2004) When you look into Marx’s work on the dialectical method you can see one of the differences between his studies and Durkheim and Weber. It says, “ The dialectical thinker believes that it is not only impossible to keep values out of the study of the social world but also undesirable because to do so would produce a dispassionate, inhumane sociology that has little to offer to people in search of answers to the problems they confront.” (Ritzer, pg 46) I believe this is showing the depth of Marx because he is basically telling us that without your values when you study sociology you lose the passion of it.
British political economy was brought about by the social analysis of early capitalism by writers such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo. (Bilton, Bonnett, Jones, 2002, p.476) Using these concepts as a base to his theories, Marx further argued against the capitalist regime and was a firm believer of the revolution of the workers which would one day bring about the destruction of capitalism. Marx was also influenced by the philosophical ideas of Georg W.F. Hegel. However, unlike Hegel who was an idealist Marx was a materialist as he believed that the processes of reality as real, concrete existences in the social world. Hegel believed that although these processes were dynamic, they were an expression of development rather than being solid.
During the nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Max Weber were two of the most influential sociologists. Both of them tried to explain social change taking place in a society at that time. On the one hand, their views are very different, but on the other hand, they had many similarities.
Comparing Weber's and Durkheim's Methodological Contributions to Sociology This essay will be examining the methodological contributions both Durkheim and Weber have provided to sociology. It will briefly observe what Positivists are and how their methodologies influence and affect their research. It will also consider what interpretative sociology is, and why their type of methodology is used when carrying out research. It will analyse both Durkheim's study of Suicide and also Webers study of The Protestant work ethic, and hopefully establish how each methodology was used for each particular piece of research, and why. Emile Durkhiem, in sociology terminology is considered to be a Functionalist, in addition to also being a Positivist, however, strictly speaking, Durkheim was not a Positivist.
The social conditions that people lived in, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were of the greatest significance of the production of sociology, the different problems and social disorder that resulted from the series of political revolutions escorted in by the French Revolution in 1789 distressed many early social theorists, when they eventually came to the conclusion that it was impossible to return to the old order , they wanted to find new sources of order in societies that had been disturbed by the different dramatic political changes.
Marx defined historical materialism in the preface of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy that, “it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, on the contrary, their social existence that determines their consciousness.” In contrast to idealism, which prioritized the value of human ideas, historical materialism insisted that the existence of human kinds pushed the productions; and mode of production shaped human consciousness in return. The contradictory between Idealism and historical materialism lie between whether it was evolvement of consciousness steering for societal changes or the other way around. While choosing one of them as individual political philosophy, it was very similar of answering question, “which came first, chicken or egg?” Personally, I favor for historical materialism for “consciousness is determined by your beings” seems rational as well as logical.