Essay - The Philosophy of Social Science Introduction There are a Number...

The Philosophy of Social Science

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There are a number of concepts associated with the sociological theories of Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Michel Foucault. Among these concepts ***** ones such as power, control, capitalism and economics, bureaucracy, the division ***** labor, social stratification, religion, and authority. So too, struggles between society ***** individualism, freedom and authority, ***** the elite class and working class are a focus in their writ*****gs *****nd theories.

Emile Durkheim is argued by many to be the founder of sociology. One of *****'s most important works was The Division of Labour in Society, *****cluding one of his most significant concepts, anomie. Durkheim viewed the division ***** ***** as ***** chief guiding force of human societies and their progress. He felt that this ***** extended past economics and also guided political, administrative and judicial institutions. Durkheim did not ********** that the division of labor stemmed from any propensity in human nature, but was ra*****r a process of signific*****nt generality.

Max ***** is also considered a ***** of modern sociology. In his ***** signific*****nt work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber ***** that the Puritan tendency to eschew worldly materialism actually served as a driving force of material acquisition. ***** humility within Protestantism and its focus on acceptance of mundane t*****ks and duties provided no evidence of upward-mobility or desire for acquisiti*****. However, ***** argued it ***** these ***** ***** ***** permitted a work ********** acquire ethic that manifested itself in capitalism. The focus on pride ***** one's work gave rise to productivity, according to Weber.

Michel Foucault is considered more of a philosopher th*****n a sociologist, but ***** views on the his*****rical organizati***** of power demonstrate the ***** elements of knowledge. In one of his most important *****, Discipline and Punish, Foucault traces the development ***** prisons ***** argues that pre-modern forms of ***** (i.e. executions, tortures, etc.) have given way to ***** psychological ***** of control. To ***** what amounts to truth is something ***** is manufactured by the processes ***** power in society. Power is orchestrated through social ***** ***** a way that manufactures a form of truth ***** Foucault.

Despite the differences in their theories and views on society, labor, economics, power and *****, all three of these sociological theorists' writings express the following contention: Reality is a social construction that is reinforced by class distinctions, a re*****lity whose norms, values and codes ***** behavior are imposed by ********** on the working class through institutions, a working class that is locked in ***** conflict with the elite class for control, power, and share of resources.

Emile Durkheim

In his ***** significant work The Division of Labour, Durkheim (1964) attempted to identify the social impact of the division of labor in modern society. He arrived at two main conclusions based on such specialization. ***** first was ***** the ***** of labor changes the nature ***** the binds that unit society. The second ***** that ***** division of labor encourages individualism at the