The Rise of Social Theory (Contradictions of Modernity)

A brilliant account of the origins of social theory and sociology, which provides a vivid portrayal of intellectual culture between the Enlightenment and the age of romanticism. The Rise of Social Theory is a methodologically innovative work, combining social and intellectual history to examine changes in the social sciences, along with the conditions under which these changes occurred. Heilbron discusses the work of early theorists such as Montesquieu and Rousseau, as well as the Scottish moral philosophers. He argues that it was the natural sciences, rather than moral philosophy or natural l. Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 Part I: The Rise of Social Theory......Page 26 Introduction......Page 28 1 Intellectuals between Academy and Salon......Page 35 2 Conflict over Reason......Page 56 3 French Moralists and the Social Order......Page 74 4 The Construction of Social Theory......Page 87 5 Theoretical Models Compared: France and Scotland......Page 103 Part II: From Social Theory to Social Science......Page 116 Introduction......Page 118 6 Reform, Revolution and the Napoleonic Era......Page 124 7 Intellectual Transformations around 1800......Page 128 8 Natural Science and Revolution......Page 140 9 The Literary Opposition......Page 157 10 Models for a Social Science......Page 173 Part III: Foundations of Sociology......Page 202 Introduction......Page 204 11 The Interrupted Career of Auguste Comte......Page 214 12 Politics, Science and Philosophy......Page 226 13 The Shift to the Theory of Science......Page 238 14 Response and Resistance......Page 259 Conclusion......Page 276 Notes......Page 283 B......Page 318 C......Page 319 E......Page 320 H......Page 321 L......Page 322 N......Page 323 S......Page 324 W......Page 325 Z......Page 326
This book is a detailed and wide-ranging account of the birth of social theory as a distinctive and modern intellectual genre, providing a brilliant account of the "pre-history" of sociology and a vivid portrayal of intellectual culture between the Enlightenment and the age of Romanticism.