Download SOC201

Course Title
Course Code
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Exemption Requirements(s):
Classical Sociological Theory
SOC201
2 and 3
3
Lecture-Tutorial
Three hours per week
Discipline Concentration-required
Sociology
(a) SOC101 Introduction to Sociology, or
(b) Grade D or above in AL Sociology, or
(c) CUS106 The Marking of Modern Culture
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Brief Course Description
This course will discuss the four major sociologists and their major works. The four
sociologists include Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and George Simmel.
Their works will be discussed in relation to social conflict, solidarity and social
change. This course is a counterpart to the course “Contemporary Sociological
Theory”.
Aims
This course aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of the major concepts
and arguments in classical sociological theories.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should have a better understand of the core
contents of major classical sociological theories. These theories will help students to
better comprehend the various sociological courses offered in the programme.
Indicative Content
1. Introduction--- the rise of sociological theory
a. Social forces in the development of sociological theory
b. Intellectual forces and the rise of sociological theory
2. Karl Marx: economic structure, class conflict, and social change
a. The origin of Karl Marx’s thought
b. Central issues in Marx’s work
c. Historical materialism
d. Economic infrastructure and sociocultural superstructure
e. Social classes, class consciousness, and social change
f. Seeing thing differently
g. Legacies and unfinished business
3. Max Weber: the problem of rationality
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b.
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d.
The origin of Max Weber’s thought
Central issues in Weber’s work
Weber’s methodology: the problem of values, and ideal types
Substantive Sociology
i. What is Sociology?
ii. Social action
iii. Structure of authority
iv. Rationalization
v. Religion and the rise of capitalism
e. Seeing things differently
f. Weberian legacies
4. Emile Durkheim: establishing sociology as a science of social integration
a. The origin of Emile Durkheim’s thought
b. Central issues in Durkheim’s work
c. Sociology and science
i. Social facts
ii. The relationship between the individual and society
iii. Suicide and social currents
d. Solidarity
i. Solidarity and types of social structure
ii. Religion
e. Seeing things differently
f. Legacies and unfinished business
5. Georg Simmel: society as interaction
a. The origin of Georg Simmel’s Thought
b. Central issues in Simmel’s work
c. Simmel’s methodological approach to the study of society
d. The web of group affiliations
e. Conflict
f. The philosophy of money
6. Conclusion
Teaching Method
Lectures are supported by tutorials. Students are required to comment on some
articles on particular sociological issues or answer a question provided by the
instructor. Their answers will be presented in tutorials for discussion and revision. The
final product of the presentation will be submitted to the instructor in the form of a
group term paper.
Measurement of Learning Outcomes
In presentations, students are expected to illustrate theoretical concepts with practical
cases. Further, students are required to submit a term paper, which is based on their
presentation. Students are expected to integrate theoretical concepts with empirical
evidence in the paper. Finally, the final examination aims to measure students’
knowledge and understanding of these classical theories.
Assessment
Continuous Assessment 40%； Examination
60%
Required/ Essential Reading
Turner, Jonathan, Leonard Beeghley & Charles H. Powers, The Emergence of
Sociological Theory, 5th ed., Belmont: Wadsworth, 2002.
Recommended/ Supplementary Readings
Aron, Raymond, Main Currents in Sociological Thought, Vol.1 & 2, Hammondworth:
Penguin, 1967.
Frisby, David, Sociological Impressionism: A Reassessment of Georg Simmel’s Social
Theory, London: Routledge, 1992.
Giddens, Anthony, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1981.
Knapp, Peter, One World, Many Worlds: Contemporary Sociological Theory, New
York: Harper Collins, 1993.
Mouzelis, N.P., Back to Sociological Theory: The Construction of Social Orders, New
York: St. Martin’s Press, 1991.
Ritzer, George, Classical Sociological Theory, 2nd ed., N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Scott, John, Sociological Theory: Contemporary Debates, London: Aldershot, 1995.
Stones, Rob (ed.), Key Sociological Thinkers, London: Macmillan Press, 1998.
Turner, Jonathan, The Structure of Sociological Theory, N.Y.: Wadsworth Company,
1986.
Wallace, Walter L., A Weberian Theory of Human Society: Structure and Evolution, N.
J.: Rutger University Press, 1994.