The first is, Max Weber who was a German Conflict theorist who in part responsible for the development of the Symbolic Interactionist paradigm because he argued that meaning requires understanding. He is also recognized for the importance of economic conditions in producing inequality and conflict in society. Weber felt that sociologists should not let their own personal biases affect the research process. He stressed that researchers should stay neutral and objective, or “value-free.” He added power and prestige to inequality which I think also falls under Functionalism with power being evenly distributed among his own society. My second choice is Emile Durkheim, he was a French order theorist who argued that society is characterized by stability and strong integration based on mutual benefit.
The ideas of Social Darwinism and Social Gospel were a form of justification brought on by Americans in the late 1800s and 1900s. Social Darwinism was created by using Charles Darwin's theory of natural evolution and natural selection, 'the survival of the fittest'. Social Gospel was a moral reform movement promoted by Protestant clergy such as Walter Rauschenbusch and Washington Gladden. It was a liberal movement within the American Protestantism that applied to biblical teachings and Christian ethics to a variation of social and industrialization problems. Especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, crime, racial tensions, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war.
Compte argues that sociology should be based on the methodology of the natural sciences and that it would result in 'invariable laws' within society. The patterns that are observed whether they are in nature or in society can all be explained the same way through finding facts that cause them. According to Compte sociology is therefore a science as like science it consists of gathering information about the social world, analysing data and making conclusions on the social laws which govern society. Durkheim although a positivist criticised Compte, he argued that in sociology could only be considered a natural science if it was studied objectively and so social facts were studied as objects. Though this is often difficult as social facts tend to be unnoticeable therefore sociologists must avoid being bias when developing their theories and concepts.
Socialists, therefore, endorsed collectivism to strenghten the idea of fraternity - society is desired to work together while being bounded by sympathy and comradership, that are believed to symbolise the the bonds of common humanity. In contrast to liberalism, whereby liberals draw a clear distinction between 'the individual' and 'society', socialists do not recognise the 'individual' as a term separeted from society. This reflects on the idea of collectivism because the ability to pursue goals comes from working together rather than self-reliancy. Collectivists argue that human nature has a social core, regardless of social groups which have been formed. Thus, all 'classes', 'nations' and 'races' are meaningful political entities.
In the work The Spirit of Capitalism and the Iron Cage, Max Weber examines the connection between the values of Protestant asceticism and the emergence of the capitalist spirit. It is not easy to discern whether Weber aims for a correlational or causal tie between these two phenomena. In one section Weber states the spirit of capitalism, “expresses a type of feeling which is closely connected with religious ideas,” but later goes on to say, “the spirit of modern capitalism…was born…from the spirit of Christian asceticism,” (Weber, 112). Whatever Weber’s intended claims, his theory only succeeds in presenting a correlational relationship between Christian asceticism and the birth of the capitalist spirit. The lack of depth in Weber’s argument is displayed in the facts that only two Protestant groups are consistent with his theory and that there were early emergences of capitalistic structure in predominantly Catholic areas before the (Protestant) Reformation.
Lutheranism was expressed in the recent doctrines, which were the ideology behind the revolts of 1520. The sympathy was shown in documents 1, 3, and 6 where the beliefs were more of Protestants in order to show that the revolts were appropriate. In Doc 1, in the official report, there was writing by Leonhard von Eck saying that the demands were more related religiously of “brotherly love” and that was the conflict. Coming from a noble Chancellor of Bavaria, this is surprising in that it shows support for the class and their reasons for the uprising, despite him being a target. Another example is valid in document 3, in the Articles of Peasants of Memmingen where the Peasant Parliament concur with the Chancellor that the religious aspect was major in this part.
He can be compared to Karl Marx with the analyzes of capitalism and its instability; though Weber rejects Marx’s historical materialism theory and takes a religious approach, both sociologist conclude society is moving towards an unfit way of life. Weber strove to interpret the rationality of the social actions in economic society by studying religious influence. His analyses of Western society dates back to Martin Luther and the early principles of Protestantism. Weber studied the effects Luther’s concept of a religious ‘calling’ had on motivating people to pursue worldly success. He explains the Protestant calling belief;
Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire by William T. Cavanaugh. Michigan (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 2008), is a book that reflects upon the ways in which Christian faith can be accepted, not only by consumer habits, but also on a market framework within which habits can be imparted and nurtured. Cavanaugh is not deliberating as to whether or not ‘the free market’ is right and suitable, nor does he ‘rework’ the myths about the synchronisation between Christian principles and the ‘spirit of capitalism’ or griping against any contrived union between the two, but Cavanaugh wishes to alter the terms of the debate. Despite his determination, his book is neither provocative nor is it intended to be, but rather, using the writings of Augustine, Cavanaugh’s debates are neither pro- nor con- free market, but asks instead whether such an economy is truly free.
Fundamentally, Rousseau and Marx refuted the theories of their predecessors; namely Hobbe’s insistence that man’s original state of nature was terrifying and disadvantageous to individuals and Locke’s championing of the protection of an individual’s right to private property. Rousseau precisely writes, “[A]ll the subsequent progress has been in appearance so many steps toward the perfection of the individual, and in fact toward the decay of the [human]species” (Rousseau 65). Both argued for what they considered to be best for the community of humanity, not the specific interests of a minority collective of wealthy individuals (Marx 168). Both find the establishment and exploitation of private property, as well as labor, to be the origins of social inequality (Marx 162-163) (Rousseau 65). In his Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau states that the origin of inequality was the foundation of a political system that gave “new forces to the rich,” and thus, “destroyed natural liberty, [and] established forever the law of property and of inequality” (Rousseau 70).
The difference between ideology and science, "false and truth’ is highlighted and therefore crucial to his usage of the term. Karl treated ideology as a fleeting actuality. Ideology is also related to the class scheme, a scheme that Marx believed to reflect the interests of the ruling class in society. Liberalism is considered the standard example of ideology because it depicts the rights exclusive to the privileged as universal rights. Ideology is a demonstration of power.