Del i serien Classical and Contemporary Social Theory

Roots of Sociology

Nyhet

Scottish Enlightenment and the Civilising Process

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

AvAlex Law

2 749 kr

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This book argues that of today’s ‘core’ social scientific disciplines, it is sociology that has inherited the capacious ambitions of the Scottish Enlightenment. Departing from the practice of classifying thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment using modern disciplinary categories that they themselves would not have recognised – categories that obscure the fact that these figures were engaged in what they considered to be a wide-ranging, historical science of society – it argues that sociology continues to explore many of the central themes in their work: historical processes, relations of power, societal differentiation and integration, morality, jurisprudence, violence, civil society and the state, as well as social divisions of class, gender, race and nation that are often overlooked in characterisations of ‘Enlightenment reason’.A critical, qualified introduction to the precocious effort of the Scottish Enlightenment to create a theory of ‘the civilising process’, The Roots of Sociology assesses the contribution and continuing relevance of the enlightened intellectuals to sociology as an intergenerational process. As such, it will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, social theory and intellectual history.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-03-23
Mått156 x 234 x 16 mm
Vikt560 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieClassical and Contemporary Social Theory
Antal sidor210
FörlagTaylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN9780367491819

Tillhör följande kategorier

Introduction: Sociology and Enlightenment Part I: Sociology and the Scottish Enlightenment 1. Sociogenesis of Sociology 2. Sociologists and the Scottish Enlightenment 3. Eighteenth-century Marxist Sociology 4. Political economy before Sociology 5. Adam Smith’s sociological ambivalence Part II: Sociology of the Scottish Enlightenment 6. Scottish Enlightenment and the civilising process 7. State formation as a civilising offensive 8. An enlightened figuration 9. Intellectuals and the field of power 10. Position-taking in the academic field 11. Symbolic exchange Conclusion: In the end, a beginning

'Intellectually, sociology has lost its way. In this scholarly book, Alex Law charts how it might regain its bearings. He does so by making a thorough re-evaluation of the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, pointing the way forward to a sociology relevant to a broader understanding of the structure of processes in the turmoil we are living through – processes, as Norbert Elias put it, "From plans arising, yet unplanned / By purpose moved, yet purposeless".'Professor Stephen Mennell, University College Dublin, Ireland.'This book brilliantly argues the case for interpreting the intellectual corpus of the Scottish Enlightenment—most notably, Adam Ferguson, David Hume, John Millar and Adam Smith—as the collective precursors of classical sociology. Offering an abundance of historical detail, lucid analysis of Enlightenment works and a profoundly sociological approach to their thought, this is a particularly original contribution to the sociology of knowledge that combines the conceptual frameworks of both Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu. Law undertakes a theoretically innovative departure into the lost intellectual microcosms of the last half of the 18th Century, illuminating both the Enlightenment’s achievements and, crucially, their social conditions of formation.'Professor Bridget Fowler, University of Glasgow, UK.