Seven theories of human society - Tom Campbell

The social sciences cover a wide field, and in this introductory book Professor Campbell presents seven contrasting theories of significance for sociology, politics, economics, law, psychology, and history. The author’s concern is to clarify the logical structure, methodological assumptions, and practical implications of the different theories, with the aim of encouraging informed and critical study of social thought. Accordingly the book commences in Part I with a discussion of the nature of social and political theory and an outline of the ways in which different theories may be compared and assessed. In Part II seven major theories are examined and contrasted. Although the seven theories are presented in terms of individual thinkers, each theorist provides a vehicle for the study of a particular important type of theory. Against the historical perspective of Aristotle’s idea of the good man, Hobbes’s egoistic theory, and Adam Smith’s idea of the social system, are set the more modern theories: Marx and conflict theory, Durkheim and consensus theory, and Weber’s theory of social action. Finally, Alfred Schutz serves as a bridge to such recent developments as Ethnomethodology. The chronological order of presentation illustrates the development of social theory and the way in which it is affected by social change. The book concludes in Part III with a consideration of some of the philosophical issues which underlie the main differences between the seven types of social theory. The combination of analysis plus information, and the selection of theories of significance for a wide range of social sciences, make this book an invaluable introduction to the study of human society and historically important types of social theory.