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Sociological Theories

Using the major sociological and historical traditions as a backdrop, the sociologist C. Wright Mills criticized and amplified some of the major arguments against trends in modern thought (Mills, 1959). In his work, Mills identified two major traditions that he believed were vital in the development of a modern, workable theory of society. The first was the tendency, particularly from the implications of the writings of Max Weber, to manipulate the evidence of history in such a way as to make initial theories "fit" into a preconceived notion of society (Mills, 1959, p. 22). The second, identified as an even larger block to progress in the identification and elaboration of sociological theory, was called the Grand Theory. In this, Mills likely meant that the primary goal of the social disciplines should be that of the identification and further development of a "systematic theory of the nature of man and society" (Mills, 1959, p. 23).

Within this paper, two contrasting materials will be analyzed along varying lines of criteria. The two works under review here, Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1958), and Emil Durkheim's The Division of Labor in Society (1984), both represent different approaches to similar, contemporaneous problems within sociological theory. This paper will begin with a summary of each book, and will then compare and contrast the books using a myriad of social, theoretical, and historical components.

Emile Durkheim was born in 1858 and was a French sociologist and philosopher. Deciding not to follow the rabbinical teachings of his family, he went to Paris to pursue his education, but was dissatisfied with the educational trends of the time. After a time, Durkheim's studies led him to the desire to establish an autonomous, and relatively specialized science of sociology that would view humans as irreducible entities. From that point, he moved structurally into what has become ...

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Sociological Theories. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:34, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1684556.html