Sociology 782: Classical Sociological Theory

Professor: James Moody

Overview:

This class provides a foundation in the central ideas of social theory for academic sociologists.Social theory is broad, and we unfortunately haven't the time to cover all aspects and approaches.Instead, I focus the class substantively on the problem of order, which looms large behind the works of the founding theorists in our discipline (and much current work), and methodologically on theory construction and evaluation.The problem of order relates to how society as a whole is held-together.Why, in the face of innumerable pressures to the contrary, doesn't society descend into anarchy?Theorists' solutions to the problem of order (necessarily?) imply limits to human action and knowledge, which we will explore.We start in the 17th century with social contract theory (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau), through the industrial revolution (Marx, Weber and Durkheim), finishing at the end of World War II with Hannah Arendt.At the end of the course, I hope that you can articulate a solution to the problem of order and apply the resulting principles to your own work.Each of these theorists also used different theory construction and evaluation principles, ranging from philosophical deduction resting on divine right to statistical evaluation of suicide rates across France.At the end of this course, you should be able to identify and defend different methods for evaluating and constructing social theory.

The goal of this course is not to complete your theoretical education, but to whet your theoretical appetite for further reading.Over the course of your career, you will continuously read (and contribute to) social theory. The purpose of empirical sociology -- all the stuff we as professional sociologists spend most of our time doing -- is to build a solid understanding of the principles that shape social life, that is, to build social theory.

A note on reading The reading for most weeks contains more than you can reasonably finish.This is deliberate.Throughout your career, you will find that you have more to read than you can complete.You will be forced to budget your time, and develop the ability to read selectively to grasp the meaning of an argument quickly.Develop a strategy.For example, it is oftentimes better to read a little carefully than a lot poorly, and once you get the main idea of an author's work, your reading should speed considerably.Because this class is a prelude to your own independent work as theorists, it is more important that you learn how to use social theory in empirical analyses and how to critically evaluate theory, instead of blithely memorizing parts of theorist's arguments.To this end, I encourage you to use secondary sources to help guide your understanding.

A note on writing While the majority of your Ph.D. training will focus on methods and particular substantive issues, the life-bread of a professional sociologist is writing.It is, therefore, of paramount importance that you develop your writing skills.Never turn in a draft that is not copy-edited, and always give yourself time to re-write.I should never see a first draft of your work.I expect all material turned in for this course to be well written, within the standards of professional sociology.If you have trouble with writing, independent of the sociological content of the work, go to the university writing center.You may also want to purchase and read one of a number of writing style guides, such as:

Corder, Jim W. and Ruszkiewicz, John J. (1989)The Handbook of Current English
Elbow, Peter. (1981)Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process. Oxford University Press.
Lamott, Anne.(1994)Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Doubleday

Strunk and White (2000). The Elements of Style. Boston : Allyn and Bacon
Thomas, F. N. and Mark Turner (1994) Clear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press
Zinsser, William. (1990)On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Harper Perennial

A note on class participation

This course is a seminar.It is not a lecture course.Unlike undergraduate courses, where the purpose is (often) to master a definitive set of "facts," the purpose of this course is to develop your independent thinking skills in preparation for a career as a social scientist.What matters most is developing the critical thinking skills needed to evaluate theory.As such, I will lecture as little as possible.Instead, I intend to moderate an active discussion centered on key questions from the readings.This format mimics in miniature what you will be doing as professional sociologists, actively engaging in theoretical debates with colleagues.I expect discussion to be professional and polite (no personal attacks, please), but engaged.Do not shy away from points.Do push arguments. Do not accept two logically inconsistent points as "equally valid perspectives."Do seek to integrate alternative perspectives and understand the basic assumptions that drive different conclusions.We seek to develop a deeper understanding of social theory by confronting alternative positions.I will push you on your arguments, and I trust you will do the same for each other.For this format to work, you must be active participants.If discussion does not emerge spontaneously, I'll ask you to answer questions directly and push for your point of view.

Theory briefs The bulk of your grade comes from four ‘briefs’ of roughly 5 to 7 pages that summarize and critique the week's reading.Styled after a legal brief, a person should be able to read your brief and get the central argument of the reading you are writing about.The brief should have 6 parts:

1. Proper bibliographic citation, including original date of publication.
2. An indication of how this work fits into the overall intellectual career of its author, and the social-historical context of its creation.
3. A statement of the key problem addressed by the work.
4. A summary of its essential argument.
5. An account of the kind of support given for that argument.
6. A critical response, including a statement of what you found most interesting.

   There are two special types of brief that everyone must write.First, at least one of your briefs must be on the substantive theories of either Marx, Weber or Durkheim (you can, of course, write on each.The work on sociological method from Weber and Durkheim do not count toward this requirement).Second, one of your briefs must be on the contemporary use of one of the substantive theories we are reading.That is, you should find a piece of current sociological work -- preferably from one of the major journals such as ASR, AJS or Social Forces, that cites the theorist we are reading.As with the general briefs, this would should summarize the paper's main argument, but with particular attention to how the classical theory is being used in the paper.The best way to find relatively current work that draws on the theory would be at www.jstor.org

   Texts:

   The main text for the course will be Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff, Schmidt, and Virk, Classical Social Theory (Blackwell publishers, 2001. Referred to as "CST" below).The book is available from the bookstore. We will also use a course packet, listed as CP in the schedule below.

   In addition, we will be reading most of:

   • Arendt, Hannah (1957) The Human Condition. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
   • Durkheim, Emile (1951 [1997]). Suicide
   • Abbott, Andrew (2001) Chaos of Disciplines
     Which you should be able to find at the bookstore, or online.

   • Suggested Extensions, Background& Secondary Texts:
   • Alexander, J. C. 1987. Twenty Lectures: Sociological Theory Since World War II. New York: Columbia University Press.
   • Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff and Virk. 2002. Contemporary Sociological Theory. Blackwell
   • Collins, R. 1994. Four Sociological Traditions . New York: Oxford University Press.
   • Heilbroner, R. L. 1986. The Worldly Philosophers. New York: Simon and Schuster.
   • Ritzer, G. 1992. Sociological Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
   • Turner, J. H. 1978. The Structure of Sociological Theory. Homewood, Illinois: The Dorsey Press.

   Online resources

   Class web page http://www.soc.sbs.ohio-state.edu/classes/Soc782/Moody/index.htm This page will include:

   • An up-to-date copy of the syllabus, that will reflect any changes in the course as we progress (if, for example, we discover we need to spend more time on a particular subject or to move on to another topic).Links from the syllabus will take you to my notes on the reading (posted after the class).
   • Links to alternative sources for the reading, background, etc.