Modern sociological theories

Sociology as a science began to develop in the 19th century thanks to the works of the French scientist Auguste Comte. The founder of sociology, O. Comte, first stated the need to create a science about society. He is the founder of the positivist trend.

Stages of sociology development

   Problems related to the social system were considered by Plato and Aristotle in Ancient Greece, T. Moore, F. Bacon and Machiavelli in the Renaissance, T. Hobbes, J. Locke, J. Russo, and Montesquieu in Modern Times.

In the 19th century, sociology began to develop actively. There are works by G. Spencer, O. Comte, K. Marx, F. Engels. This time can be called the first stage in the development of sociological science (1840-1880 gg.).

The second stage (1890-1920) of the evolution of the science of society was associated with the development of methods of sociological analysis and the development of a categorial apparatus. The positivist concept of G. Spencer and O. Comte continued to develop in the works of the French scientist E. Durkheim, the author of a theory based on a functional analysis of social institutions. Approximately at this time, the scientific school of M. Weber, the founder of "understanding" sociology, which, in his opinion, should understand social action and try to explain its development and results begins to take shape.

The third stage (from 1920 to 1960) is characterized by the beginning of the active development of sociology in the United States, and its empirical component. The most significant at this stage was the theory of T. Parsons, which allowed to represent society as a kind of dynamic functional structure. C. Mills created the so-called "new sociology", which gave the development of the sociology of action and critical.

The fourth stage in the development of science, which began in the 1960s, is represented by a wide variety of approaches, concepts, a multitude of authors: R. Merton's theory, Garfinkel's ethnomethodology, G. Mead and G. Blumer's theory of symbolic interactionism, Others.

Modern sociological theories

A. Radcliffe-Brown was the first to apply structural-functional analysis to the study of society. He viewed society as a kind of superorganism that has all the necessary conditions for existence, because of what, in fact, social institutions are emerging . B. Malinowski clarified the concept of function and applied a functionalist approach to the study of culture. T. Parsons is considered the founder of the system-functional concept. It was developed further by R. Merton, who introduced the concept of middle-level theories.

Modern sociological theories also include the theory of symbolic interactionism, which was developed by JG Mead and C. Cooley. Personality, as C. Cooley believed, is the result of communication. Person becomes a person through interaction (interaction) between individuals. JH Mead proposed the idea that the individual, as well as social action, should be formed with the help of symbols acquired by individuals in the process of their socialization.

Modern sociological theories can not be imagined today without the phenomenological sociology of A. Schütz, who says that phenomena exist directly in consciousness and are not connected with logical conclusions. P. Berger and T. Lukman became known for their work on the social construction of reality. According to P. Berger and T. Lukman, society can simultaneously exist as an objective and subjective reality.

The leading representatives of neo-Marxism were T. Adorno, G. Marcuse, J. Habermas, E. Fromm. The main methodological principles of neo-Marxists: adherence to humanism, the denial of positivism with its division of values and facts, the liberation of the individual from the most diverse forms of exploitation.

P. Bourdieu, the founder of constructive structuralism, made an attempt to avoid confrontation between theoretical and empirical sociology.

These are the main modern sociological theories.