Classical Sociological Canon Includes a

¶ … classical sociological canon includes a look at the theories of Marx, Durkheim and Weber and what they felt were the key social drivers in society as a whole. The economy is a fundamental part of any society. The dynamic of this relationship and its determination for all three is in dispute. Marx, Durkheim and Weber were the first investigators to explore the relationship between the economy and society. Each of them developed their different viewpoints based on their social theories.

Marx viewed the economy as the very base of the social structure. Durkheim saw the economy as one of a number of social institutions making up the society. In part, Weber viewed the economy at least in part as an extension of societal religious beliefs. For Marx, the economy is the foundation of all of the subsequent social phenomena. For him, it is the ruling bourgeois class that owns the means of production and exploits the proletariat working class via the division of labor and via wage-slavery.

The result is class warfare whose historical culmination is capitalism. Capitalism is a necessary stage that in turn prepares the way for communist revolution where the means of production are no longer privatized and the division of labor is abolished. Based upon this, Marx predicts the liberation of the proletariat and the abolition of private property (Morrison, pp. 4-8). Durkheim views the relationship between the economy and society as more positive. The economy and labors social division of both have a beneficial effect on society enabling social solidarity.

He measures societies not in terms of economy like Marx. Rather, he deals in terms of health and illness. Social phenomena such as suicide and insanity are more of a concern for him than the modes of production and worker alienation. At best, he suggests the reformation of society to reduce the negative effects of suicide and other illness in society. However, he does not agree that such illnesses are economically determined or that a communist revolution is necessary or inevitable. He is more in agreement with Weber.

Weber analyses religious determinants for capitalism (ibid). Weber disagrees considerably with Marx by claiming that ideology was a legitimate determinant for social organization. On the other hand, Marx felt that ideology was almost exclusively the result of economic determinants where Weber considered such a view simplistically naive. Rather, he analyzed the relationship between economy and society in terms of religious belief. He therefore opened the way for analyses of other ideological phenomena such as law, politics, and culture.

Although he did not reduce religion to an economic determinant, he did consider it to be a fundamental social phenomenon. From this, he traced its roots to the very beginnings of society in the forms of animism, naturalism and totemism. In totemism, he finds the ultimate origin of social structure. Weber appears to follow his lead by a further analysis of the Protestant religion and its relationship to capitalism.

As he makes very clear, spiritual ideology, asceticism as well as the concept of the "calling" (vocation) are all Protestant religious phenomena that can be found at work in capitalism (ibid). To recap this short synopsis Marx, Durkheim.