ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the ideas of some major classical social theories – especially the quartet of Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, Georg Simmel and Max Weber – while highlighting some recurring themes and debates that feature in classical sociology. It explains how classical sociology emerged through a debate with the Enlightenment, in which the concept of the ‘social’ took shape. This was constructed around various themes emphasizing contrasting components of social life – including material, cultural, rational and moral factors. These divergent theorizations set the scene for the play of theoretical oppositions that characterize much subsequent theoretical dispute. For the particular theorists mentioned this is a brief introduction and my intention is to show how what has been passed on to us as the ‘classical tradition’ contains diverse attempts to address certain core and abiding themes.
