Christianity and Sociological Theory: Reclaiming the Promise

Description

This book offers a history of sociological theory from a Christian perspective, tracing the origins of sociology from the beginnings of Western science as introduced by the Scholastics of the twelfth century, which, when combined with their emphasis on rationality, led to the Enlightenment "science of man"―an emphasis that eventually resulted in sociology, which combined empiricism and a Christian moral philosophy. With chapters focusing on the Scholastics, the Enlightenment, the rise of sociology in France, Germany, and the United States, and the legacy of Positivism, Christianity and Sociological Theory shows how the emphasis on moral philosophy was eventually lost as sociology rejected Christian underpinnings, resulting in what can only be described as an extremely limited sociology. A rigorous exploration of the trajectory of the discipline from its Christian origins, this volume reveals the potential that exists for sociology in an era of postmodern thought to reclaim its promise through a re-introduction of Christianity. Christianity and Sociological Theory- Front Cover Christianity and Sociological Theory Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Notes Chapter 1: The Scholastics and the Christian Humanists The influence of Aristotle’s natural philosophy Robert Grosseteste (1170–1253) Roger Bacon (1214–1294) Albertus Magnus (1205–1280) Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) William of Ockham (1288–1348) Christian Humanism Francesco Petarach (1304–1374) Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) Chapter 2: The Enlightenment and the Philosophes Issac Newton (1643–1727) John Locke (1632–1704) David Hume (1711–1776) Adam Ferguson (1723–1816) Charles-Louis de Seconat Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1775) Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) Voltaire (1694–1778) Denis Diderot (1713–1784) Paul Henri Thiry, Bason d’Holbach (1723–1789) Conclusion Notes Chapter 3: Sociology in the nineteenth century: Saint-Simon and Comte Claude Henri de Rouvroy Saint-Simon (1760–1825) Auguste Comte (1798–1857) A re-evaluation of Saint-Simon’s contribution to sociology Notes Chapter 4: Marx and the German influence Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Georg Wilhelm Friederich Hegel (1770–1831) Bruno Bauer (1809–1772) Ludwig Feuerbach (1802–1874) Karl Marx (1818–1883) Notes Chapter 5: Durkheim and the institutionalization of sociology Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) Durkheim’s sociology and its relation to religious belief Conclusion Notes Chapter 6: Max Weber and Christianity Max Weber (1864–1920) The sociology of Max Weber Lutheranism, The Protestant Ethic, and The Spirit of Capitalism Weber’s methodology Verstehen and ideal types Bureaucracy Power Notes Chapter 7: Christianity and early American sociology William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) Lester Frank Ward (1841–1913) Richard Theodore Ely (1854–1943) Albion Woodbury Small (1854–1929) Edward Alsworth Ross (1866–1951) Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) Franklin H. Giddings (1851–1931) The two poles of sociology Notes Chapter 8: Christianity and scientific sociology Theories of the self: Freudianism Theories of the self: behaviorism George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) Robert Ezra Park (1864–1944) William Fielding Ogburn (1886–1959) The Giddings men Charles Ellwood (1873–1946) Pitirim Sorokin (1889–1968) Notes Chapter 9: Contemporary sociological theories Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) C. Wright Mills (1916–1962) Herbert Blumer (1900–1987) Dorothy Smith (1926–) Patricia Hill Collins (1948–) Max Horkheimer (1895–1973) Jurgen Habermas (1929–) Notes Chapter 10: Reintroducing Christianity into sociological theory Postmodernism Critical Realism and Roy Bhaskar A Christian-based sociology? Notes Bibliography Index