• search hit 37 of 36277
Back to Result List

Erich Fromm

  • This descriptive summary of sociological theories is a text, designed primarily for use in undergraduate sociology courses, and presented in 11 Chpts, with an author's Preface. Emphases are on the interplay between theory and methodology and the range of theories of social structure. Chpt (1) What Is Sociological Theory? – defines six different meanings of theory, explains their diverse characteristics, and differentiates between speculative vs grounded and macro vs micro types of theory; also examined are theoretical models and theoretical functions. (2) Theory and Sociological Inquiry – describes the lasting conflict between theory and empiricism, the reciprocal interplay between theory and research, and emphasizes the value of middle-range theories in encouraging research. (3) System Theory – discusses mechanistic, organismic, and structural models of systems theory and their use in research, explaining the contributions of Vilifredo Pareto, Claude Levi-Strauss, Pitirim A. Sorokin, and others; it presents Talcott Parsons's typology of systems, ie, social, cultural, personality, and behavioral. (4) Functionalism – offers historical and critical perspectives on functionalism, and summarizes Robert K. Merton's postulates in functional analysis, eg, of the functional unity of society and of the indispensibility of established patterns. (5) Conflict Theory – identifies the competitive-economic and political power traditions, the theories of Karl Marx, Ralf Dahrendorf, and C. Wright Mills, the contributions of the Frankfurt school to critical theory, and radical positions. (6) Exchange Theory – relates the origins of exchange theory in anthropology, economics, and psychology, and points to the essential roles of James Frazer, Bronislaw Malinowski, Marcel Mauss, and Claude Levi-Strauss; the behavioral approach of George Homans and Peter Blau's structural analysis of social exchange are compared, and norms of justice and reciprocity are illustrated. (7) Theories of Anomie and Alienation – uses classic texts, eg, Emile Durkheim's Suicide and Merton's Social Structure and Anomie to explore the relation between anomie and class structure, and examines theories of alienation of Karl Marx, Erich FROMM, Richard Schact, and others. (8) Symbolic Interactionism – defines interaction in relation to the individual and society, and summarizes the part played by Charles Horton Cooley in focusing theoretical attention on the individual and the primary group; basic notions in George Herbert Mead's social psychology are defined, and interactionist perspectives of Herbert Blumer, Manfred Kuhn, and Erving Goffman are summarized. (9) John H. Morgan – Phenomenological Sociology – characterizes the interpretive function of phenomenology and ethnomethodology, which are focused on the individual social actor's perspective. The original views of Edmund Husserl and Karl Mannheim, later synthesized by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann and others in a sociology of knowledge, are explained. (10) Continuing Debate on Behaviorism, Structuralism and Quantitativism – describes four general categories of theories of the individual's relationship with society, ie, nominalism, interactionism, neo-nominalism, and realism. Also included are attempts to integrate psychological and structural views, eg, by Alex Inkeles; neopositivism, and the reaction against its exclusive use in social analysis, are characterized. (11) Two Macro Theoretical Approaches – traces the origins and development of ecological and evolutionary views of society. The pioneering work of the Chicago school in articulating ecological/environmental views is noted. Within a typology of evolutionary theories, the ideas of Herbert Spencer, Lewis Henry Morgan, Emile Durkheim, Oswald Spengler, Pitirim Sorokin, and others are elaborated. 3 Tables, 6 Figures, Notes. (Copyright 1984, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.)

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:J. Abra
Parent Title (English):J. Abra Assaulting parnassus: Theoretical views of creativity, Lanham (University Press of America) 1988, pp. 481-493.
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:1988
Release Date:2012/12/13
Format:PDF-scan to download
IdNo:Abra_J_1988
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Articles / Artikel
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
Einverstanden ✔
Diese Webseite verwendet technisch erforderliche Session-Cookies. Durch die weitere Nutzung der Webseite stimmen Sie diesem zu. Unsere Datenschutzerklärung finden Sie hier.