The Rise of Social Theory

This book is a detailed and wide-ranging account of the birth of social theory as a distinctive and modern intellectual genre, providing a brilliant account of the "pre-history" of sociology and a vivid portrayal of intellectual culture between the Enlightenment and the age of Romanticism.

Foreword. Introduction. Part I: The Rise of Social Theory:. 1. Intellectuals Between Academy and Salon. 2. Rivalry for Reason. 3. French Moralists and the Social Order. 4. The Construction of Social Theory. 5. Theoretical Models Compared: France and Scotland. Part II: From Social Theory to Social Science:. 6. Reform, Revolution and the Napoleonic Era. 7. Intellectual Transformations Around 1800. 8. Natural Science and Revolution. 9. The Literary Opposition. 10. Models for a Social Science. Part III: Foundations of Sociology:. 11. The Interrupted Career of Auguste Comte. 12. Politics, Science and Philosophy. 13. The Turn to the Philosophy of Science. 14. Response and Resistance. Summary. Notes. Index.