Founders, Classics, Canons : Modern Disputes Over the Origins and Appraisal of Sociology's Heritage

Founders, classics, and canons have been vitally important in helping to frame sociology's identity. Within the academy today, a number of positions―feminist, postmodernist, postcolonial―question the status of "tradition." In Founders, Classics, Canons , Peter Baehr defends the continuing importance of sociology's classics and traditions in a university education. Baehr offers arguments against interpreting, defending, and attacking sociology's great texts and authors in terms of founders and canons. He demonstrates why, in logical and historical terms, discourses and traditions cannot actually be "founded" and why the term "founder" has little explanatory content. Equally, he takes issue with the notion of "canon" and argues that the analogy between the theological canon and sociological classic texts, though seductive, is mistaken. Although he questions the uses to which the concepts of founder, classic, and canon have been put, Baehr is not dismissive. On the contrary, he seeks to understand the value and meaning these concepts have for the people who employ them in the cultural battle to affirm or attack the liberal university tradition. "Founders, classics, and canons have been vitally important in helping to frame sociology's identity. Within the academy today, a number of positions? feminist, postmodernist, postcolonial? question the status of "tradition."In Founders, Classics, Canons, Peter Baehr defends the continuing importance of sociology's classics and traditions in a university education. Baehr offers arguments against interpreting, defending, and attacking sociology's great texts and authors in terms of founders and canons. He demonstrates why, in logical and historical terms, discourses and traditions cannot actually be "founded" and why the term "founder" has little explanatory content. Equally, he takes issue with the notion of "canon" and argues that the analogy between the theological canon and sociological classic texts, though seductive, is mistaken. Although he questions the uses to which the concepts of founder, classic, and canon have been put, Baehr is not dismissive. On the contrary, he seeks to understand the value and meaning these concepts have for the people who employ them in the cultural battle to affirm or attack the liberal university tradition."--Provided by publisher Dedication Contents Foreword to the Second Edition • Steven Lukes Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 Founders of Discourse 3 Founders of Institutions 4 The Utility, Rhetoric, and Interpretation of Classic Texts 5 Classicality: Criteria and Reception 6 Canons 7 A Concluding Look at the Three Concepts 8 The Politics of Founders: A Practical Guide to Shaping the Collective Memory of a Discipline • Adomas Pūras 9 Sociology and Classicality: Texts, Borders, and Borderline Classics • Philip Walsh 10 Canons Round Again • William Outhwaite Bibliography Contributors Index Introduction -- Founders Of Discourse -- Founders Of Institutions -- The Utility, Rhetoric, And Interpretation Of Classic Texts -- Classicality: Criteria And Reception -- Canons -- A Concluding Look At The Three Concepts -- The Politics Of Founders: A Practical Guide To Shaping The Collective Memory Of The Discipline -- Sociology And Classicality: Texts, Borders, And Borderline Classics -- Canons Round Again. Peter Baehr. First Paperback Printing 2016. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 251-279) And Index.