Synopses & Reviews
In this book Mazlish examines the historical origins of sociology, looking closely at how what he terms the "cash nexus"--the omnipresent substitution of money for personal relations--was perceived as changing the nature of human relations in the 19th century and led to the development of sociology as a means of dealing with this condition. Mazlish also considers the breakdown of connections in modern society: how the orderly 18th century world in which God, humanity, and nature were closely connected to one another came to be replaced with one of felt disconnection, and how individualism then came to be seen as replacing a sense of community in modern society. He investigates the work of a number of 19th-century English writers who were concerned with this breakdown of connections, including Adam Smith, William Wordsworth, Edmund Burke, Thomas Carlyle, and particularly novelists such as Benjamin Disraeli, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot. He also explores the influence of Darwin, presents Engels and Marx as precursors of the science of sociology and discusses at length the major founding figures of modern classical sociology: Ferdinand Tönnies, George Simmel, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber.
Review
"Although numerous able interpreters have attempted syntheses of the sociological tradition, Mazlish is the first to search so boldly for its ultimate intentions....Stimulating, wittily written introduction to the history of sociology."--American Historical Review
"The book is an accessible, fascinating, erudite, and provocative tour de force with a memorable, even gripping, conclusion. It is a must for both college and general libraries."--Choice
"Well written, well argued, drawing on a wealth of information and insights, that is at nce superbly informative and a challenge to conventional sociological perceptions."--The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
"This is a stimulating attempt to view the multiple predicaments of modernity through the double lens of major literary figures and the founding fathers of sociology. It documents the fallacy of believing that there are no bridges between the world of the humanities and that of the social sciences."--Lewis A. Cosner, SUNY, Stony Brook
"Progress in scholarship is a continuum that lies in breaking down the barriers separating disciplines....This book studies that development and bristles with insight and erudition."--G. S. Rousseau, University of Pennsylvania
Synopsis
In this book, the author attempts to further the reader's understanding of the social sciences, in this case specifically sociology, and to do so by examining, historically, some aspects to its origins especially in relation to the humanities.