Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of selected essays by Werner J. Cahnman brings together out of scattered dispersion his writings about Max Weber, Ferdinand Toennies, and historical sociology. The great theoretical range and depth of his intellect and mastery of sociological thinking is apparent as he discusses the impact of romanticism on modern thought, and how Weber and Toennies both analysed and reacted to modernity.
Cahnman places Weber (1864-1920), the dominant figure in twentieth-century sociology, in the midst of the methodological controversies so characteristic of contemporary social science, and he fully discusses the overarching importance of Weberian ideal-type theory. Although less well-known than Weber, Toennies (1855-1936) was also a sociologist of the first rank. He is best remembered for his enormously influential twin concepts, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, which contributed to our understanding of the historical and sociological basis for the change from
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I Perspectives on Max Weber
1 Max Weber and the Methodological Controversy in the Social Sciences
2 Ideal-Type Theory: Max Weber's Concept and Some of Its Derivations
3 Notes on The Sociology of Religion by Max Weber
4 A Review: Mitzman's Iron Cage
Part II Comparative Approach to Toennies
5 Toennies and Marx: Evaluation
6 Toennies and Spencer: Evaluation
7 Toennies and Weber: Comparison
8 Toennies and Durkheim
9 Toennies and Social Change
10 Toennies, Durkheim, and Weber
11 Toennies in America
12 A Research Note on Phenomenology and Symbolic Interactionism
Part III Essays in Historical Sociology Pure, Applied, and Empirical
13 Historical Sociology: What It Is and What It Is Not
14 Vico and Historical Sociology
15 Starting Points in Sociology: Hobbes, Toennies, Vico
16 The Historical Sociology of Cities: A Critical Review
17 How Cities Grew . . .
18 The Rise of Civilization as a Paradigm of Social Change
Part IV Religion, Race, and Ethnicity
19 Religion and Nationality
20 Adolph Fischhof and the Problem of the Reconciliation of Nationalities
21 Nature and Varieties of Ethnicity
22 The Mediterranean and Caribbean Regions: A Comparison in Race and Culture Contacts
Appendix: Rudolf Hess; or, An Introduction to the Emergence of German Geopolitics: An Autobiographical Account
Index
