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From political philosophy to social theory
Author(s) -
Zaret David
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(198104)17:2<153::aid-jhbs2300170202>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - marxist philosophy , epistemology , bourgeoisie , sociology , social order , politics , social philosophy , political philosophy , social science , social change , social theory , transition (genetics) , social relation , positive economics , political science , philosophy , law , chemistry , economics , gene , biochemistry
Critical accounts of the origins of sociology stress both continuity and change as they are related to previous styles of political and social thought. This article further extends these accounts. It analyzes substantive as well as formal continuities and changes in the transition from political to social conceptions of order. Both intellectual and societal factors are responsible for this theoretical transition. Explicitly political and social conceptions of order reflected two stages in the development of European society. But purely internal, intellectual factors, involving the refinement of empirical analysis, called into question political theories of society. Finally, the article makes explicit and defends the distinction between bourgeois and Marxist varieties of theoretical reflection with reference to the transition from political philosophy to social theory.