1 The Rise of Theoretical Sociology
The Enlightenment and New Ways of Thinking
Early Sociological Theory, 1830-1930
2 The Origin and Context of Auguste Comte’s Sociology
The Strange Biography of Auguste Comte
The Intellectual Origins of Comte’s Thought
3 The Sociology of Auguste Comte
Comte’s Course of Positive Philosophy
4 The Origin and Context of Herbert Spencer’s Thought
Biographical Influences on Spencerian Sociology
The Political Economy of Nineteenth-Century England
The Scientific Milieu of Spencer’s England
Spencer’s Synthetic Philosophy and the Sociology of Comte
5 The Sociology of Herbert Spencer
Spencer’s Moral Philosophy: Social Statics and Principles of Ethics
Spencer’s First Principles
Spencer’s The Study of Sociology
A Note on Spencer’s Descriptive Sociology
Spencer’s Principles of Sociology
The Analysis of Societal Institutions
6 The Origin and Context of Karl Marx’s Thought
Biographical Influences on Marx’s Thought
G. W. F. Hegel and Karl Marx
Ludwig Feuerbach and Karl Marx
Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx
7 The Sociology of Karl Marx
8 The Origin and Context of Max Weber’s Thought
Biographical Influences on Weber’s Thought
The Methodenstreit and Max Weber
Wilhelm Dilthey and Max Weber
Heinrich Rickert and Max Weber
Weber’s Theoretical Synthesis
9 The Sociology of Max Weber
Weber’s Methodology of the Social Sciences
Weber’s Image of Social Organization
Weber’s Analysis of Domination
Weber on Capitalism and Rationalization
Weber’s Study of Religion
Weber’s Outline of the Social System
10 The Origin and Context of Georg Simmel’s Thought
Biographical Influences on Simmel’s Thought
Intellectual Influences on Simmel’s Thought
11 The Sociology of Georg Simmel
Simmel’s Methodological Approach to the Study of Society
The Web of Group Affiliations
12 The Origin and Context of Émile Durkheim’s Thought
Biographical Influences on Durkheim’s Thought
Charles Montesquieu and Durkheim
Jean Jacques Rousseau and Durkheim
Auguste Comte and Durkheim
Alexis de Tocqueville and Durkheim
Herbert Spencer and Durkheim
Anticipating Durkheimian Sociology
13 The Sociology of Émile Durkheim
The Division of Labor in Society
The Rules of the Sociological Method
The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
14 The Origin and Context of George Herbert Mead’s Thought
Biographical Influences on Mead’s Thought
Mead’s Synthesis of Schools of Thought
Charles Horton Cooley and Mead
John Dewey and Mead
15 The Sociology of George Herbert Mead
Mead’s Broader Philosophy
The Philosophy of the Act
16 The Emergence of Contemporary Theoretical Perspective
Nine Theoretical Traditions and Perspectives