ABSTRACT
We are concerned here with four traditions of thought, each of which is built around a particular set of assumptions, concerns and categories, and each of which addresses a series of important social questions. The traditions chosen tap real divisions between social scientists both now and in the past. They constitute an important set of alternative frameworks with which to make sense of the contemporary world. They are not the only packages of ideas available to us. Much creative thought goes on outside the traditions as specified here, and the dividing lines between them are now under review. Traditions of thought need to be distinguished from the political ideologies that share their names. All traditions of thought are workings out of basic assumptions about human nature and human knowledge.
