Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
The purpose of this course is to make students think and to theorize, and to do so in
sociological ways, by engaging with the classics. As part of this enterprise, students will be
introduced to the main ideas, concepts and studies of the classics. While the category of the
classics is flexible, we will focus on the works of Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, Max Weber,
Emile Durkheim and Georg Simmel. We will also look at Montesquieu, Comte and Saint-Simon.
The grade will be based on presence during the lectures and participation in the
discussions towards the end of each class (10%) and on three tests (3x30%=90%). Each test will
consist of an essay question. At the end of this handout you will find three questions for each of
the three tests; and one of these three questions will be chosen on the day of the test. Note that
the third test is on the material from the whole term. Attendance, as noted above, is important
and too much absence will result in a lower grade.
Readings should be done for each class and will not exceed the habitual 100 pages per
week. At the end of each class, the lecture and the readings of the day will be discussed; you
should also feel free to ask questions about the lecture and the readings.
A number of books need to be bought for this course, and they are listed below. Copies of
these have been ordered for the Cornell Bookstore. My advice is that you get your own copies,
mark them up and keep them for future use. Copies of the required course literature can also be
found on reserve at Uris Library.
Several of the articles that are obligatory reading can be found on JSTOR, and this means
that you can find them (and download them) by going via Cornell Library on the internet.
Remaining articles and excerpts from books (which do NOT say JSTOR afterwards) are also
available on-line - from the course reserve list for this course at Uris Library.
Powerpoints shown in class will be posted on the Cornell Blackboard and students are
expected to draw on these when preparing for the tests. (If you do not have Microsoft
PowerPoint, you can download and use the free program Open Office).
Each student in this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of
Academic Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be
the students own work.
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REQUIRED BOOKS
Simmel, Georg (ed. Donald Levine), On Individuality and Social Forms. University of Chicago
Press.
Weber, Max (eds. Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills), From Max Weber. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Any ed e.g. Routledge.
Zunz, Olivier and Alan Kahan (eds.), The Tocqueville Reader. Oxford: Blackwell.
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SCHEDULE
Always read the text under Read for each class. You may also read Additional Readings if
you are interested in the topic (but it is not required).
13. Tu Oct 3 Weber, Part 2: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
(1 of 2).
Read: Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Part 1 (Up till and
including Ch. 3).
Additional Readings: Gordon Marshall, In Search of the Spirit of Capitalism;
Max Weber, The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism in From Max Weber.
14. Th Oct 5 Weber, Part 3: The Protestant Ethic (2 of 2) and Its Critique.
Read: Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Part 2 (Ch. 4 and
onwards [skip the notes]); Max Weber, Class, Status, Party, pp. 180-95 in From Max
Weber.
Additional Readings: Max Weber, Economy and Society, Ch. 2 in particular; Richard
Swedberg, Max Weber and the Idea of Economic Sociology; Randall Collins, Webers
Last Theory of Capitalism, American Sociological Review 1980:925-42 (JSTOR).
18. Tu Oct 24 Emile Durkheim, Part 1: Introduction: Work, Life and Context.
Read: Talcott Parsons, The Life and Work of Emile Durkheim, pp. xliii-lxx in
Durkheim, Sociology and Philosophy (e-reserve list).
Additional Readings: Steven Lukes, Durkheim; Anthony Giddens, Emile Durkheim.
27. Tu Nov 28 The Status of the Classics Today and How They Are Used
Read: Arthur Stinchcombe, Should Sociologists Forget Their Mothers and Fathers?, pp.
347-63 in Stratification and Organization (e-reserve list).
Additional Readings: C. Wright Mills, On Intellectual Craftmanship on the web at:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~psargent/Mills_Intell_Craft.pdf; Charles Camic (ed.),
Reclaiming the Sociological Classics; Jeffrey Alexander, Sociology and Discourse: On
the Centrality of the Classics in Structure and Meaning.
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TESTS
There will be three tests, and for each you will be asked to answer and discuss one of three
questions in writing. Part of the answer should be based on what you have learned and part of
what you have thought. The question will be chosen by myself from the three questions below.
Question # 1: How Did the Early Thinkers View Sociology (Montesquieu, Comte, Saint-
Simon, Marx and Tocqueville)?
Question # 1: How Should You Carry Out Sociological Research according to Weber and
Durkheim?
Question # 3: Present and Discuss the Key Ideas in The Protestant Ethic
Test # 3: (Place and time will be announced later [when Cornell has issued its schedule for
the final tests])
Question # 2: Compare the Programs for Sociology of Tocqueville, Marx, Weber, Simmel and
Durkheim
Question # 3: Present and Discuss Durkheims Rules for How to Do Research in Sociology