Research Paper on:
Durkheim, Weber & Marx

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
overview of the beliefs and methodologies of each of these sociologists, discussing how they interact and how they affected each other. This discussion will show that there is a gradual  evolution in his development of sociology that goes from the macrocosm to the microcosm, that is, first focusing on society overall and then more specifically on the individual. Karl  Marx (1818-1883) was chiefly concerned as a philosopher with the plight of the working class, not only with the working class obtaining its material needs, but also in regards to  how human beings develop their "essential human powers" and enjoy "free activity" (Honderich, et al 1995: 524). According to Marx, society is comprised of a perpetually changing balance of "antithetical  forces," which serve to generate social change through their interactive tension and conflicts (Cosner 1999: Marx). Marxs basic viewpoint is based on the idea that struggle, rather than peaceful growth,  is the impetus for progress, as individuals compete with each other in order to wrestle the means for survival from nature (Cosner 1999: Marx). As this suggests, historical specificity  is a principal characteristic to Marks approach for understanding society. For instance, when Marx postulates that all prior historical eras were characterized by classic struggles, he immediately interjects the stipulation  that these struggles differed within each historical stage (Cosner 1999: Marx). In contrast to his predecessors, who saw the struggles between rich and poor, powerless and powerful, as remaining essentially  the same from one era to the next, Marx contended that the nature of the contenders in such struggles had changed over the course of time (Cosner 1999: Marx). Departing  from both Comte and Hegel, Marx argued that it was not the evolution of the human spirit or ideas that propelled development, but rather how humanity met the need for