Morality in Classical European Sociology. The Denial of Social Plurality

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Pages:172
ISBN:0-7734-8757-3
978-0-7734-8757-4
Price:$159.95 + shipping
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First comprehensive study to show the significance of the acceptance or rejection of universal moral authority in the classical sociology of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. Appeal to such an authority, whether it be Durkheim's social order, Marx's historical progress or Weber's genuine individual, leads immediately to a set of insoluble dualisms such as freedom/determinism, agency/structure, and is/ought, problems which have plagued classical European sociology. The writings of Nietzsche and Anderson are utilized to draw out what it means to take morality as problematic.

Reviews

"This monograph addresses a fascinating issue - the extent to which in classical sociological thought morality has been 'quarantined' from investigation by being classified as 'above' social life. . . . he is to be congratulated on the clarity which he brings to a complicated subject. . . . Thiele has identified a significant problem; traced the history of this problem through a sequence of classic thinkers (with some rather interesting digressions); but has no solutions to offer, merely pointing in the direction of possible solutions. It is hoped that scholars will accept the challenge and further the enquiry begun in this monograph." - Australian Religion Studies Review

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