From political philosophy to social theory

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.

Bourgeoisie · Epistemology · Marxist philosophy · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Social change · Social order · Social philosophy · Social relation · Social science · Social theory · Sociology · Transition (genetics) · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

• The invisible hand of Adam Ferguson

  Lisa Hill•The European Legacy•1998

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• Theory and Method in Comparative Research

  C C Ragin, Charles Ragin et al.•Social Forces•1983

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