Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought

by Kenneth Morrison

This Second Edition is a thoroughly revised, expanded version of the bestselling student text in classical social theory. Author Kenneth Morrison provides an authoritative, accessible undergraduate guide to the three pivotal figures in the classical tradition. Readable and stimulating, the Second Edition of Marx, Durkheim, Formations of Modern Social Thought explains the key ideas of these thinkers and situates them in their historical and philosophical contexts.  

Genres: Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Theory, Nonfiction

480 pages, Hardcover

First published December 29, 1995

Reviews

[David Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful and readable, if slightly repetitive introduction to the most notable theorists in the early development of modern social thought, clearly designed for the benefit of undergraduates, that covers all their main ideas, and approaches these through analytical sections on their important texts with appropriate quotations and references.
The main fault of the book is the poor understanding of the historical background, particularly with regards to the French Revolution and pre-industrial societies, perhaps a symptom of the author's own Marxist historiographical approach and the result of common misunderstandings about the nature of feudal society by non-historians, although this is as much a fault of the three theorists as of Morrison. In addition, there is no objective critique of the theories propounded by the three thinkers provided by Morrison beyond those made by Durkheim and Weber of Marx in their own texts, although the reader will develop such for his/herself. The part on Marx is the weakest, covering his huge works and multitude of economic and political theories in a very brief and overly non-critical manner, particularly in view of the enormous and often baleful impact they have upon later theory within the social sciences, but the last on Weber is considerably better, particularly as it more effectively contextualises his ideas within the intellectual milieu of his time and in association with those of his contemporaries, especially Windelband and Rickert.
This work has value with regards to the three writers' principle theories, although the paucity of the historical contextualisation and absence of historical analysis are weaknesses, but as a means of entry into the original texts, the reading of which is to be recommended, for the neophyte in social theory it can be cautiously recommended.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sociology 101

[Peter Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I studied this book in my first year of sociology in uni, it is a good introduction to these three thinkers and the influence of their ideology on modern society.

[Sarah]

dry and dense, as most textbooks are- but a good detailed overview