Abstract
Although a subfield called sociology of morality – of “moral phenomena,” more aptly – may seem a new departure for sociologists, the topic has in fact been central to sociological inquiry since its pre-disciplinary days.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Although Structure has often been thought to mark the starting point of Parsons’s publishing career, it actually followed a substantial series of significant published papers (Camic ed. 1997).
- 2.
As must not be forgotten, the ways that Parsons used the concepts of positivism (and utilitarianism) reflect historical misunderstandings that have produced confusions based on semantic conflations. The term positivism, as Comte and is followers have defined it, designates only a methodological principle, not a particular view of human action (and indeed, Comte’s view of motivation included the elements of valuation, sentiment, and altruism–another term he coined–as well as instrumental rationality). See Levine (1980:xii–xv).
- 3.
The epigraph to this volume consists of a quotation from Max Weber: “Jede denkende Besinnung auf die letzten Elemente sinnvollen menschlichen Handelns ist zunächst gebunden an die Kategorien ‘Zweck’ und ‘Mittel’” (Any thoughtful reflection on the ultimate elements of meaningful human action is initially bound to the categories of “ends” and “means.”)
- 4.
Since some readers may be inclined to dismiss this exposition on grounds that employs the notion of societal evolution is necessarily suspect if not illegitimate, the author emphasizes the importance of those revisions. In making them, Parsons was aided substantially by a seminal paper of Robert Bellah, “Religious Evolution” (1964) – and in fleshing out his evolving conception, by the assistance of Victor Lidz. Bellah’s forthcoming volume on Religious Evolution will provide the most comprehensive realization of this conception to date.
- 5.
- 6.
For a translation of its Table of Contents, see Appendix.
- 7.
For an important pioneering treatise in this vein, see Patterson (1991).
- 8.
The first English translation of this work is to be published by the University of Chicago Press in Autumn 2010.
- 9.
Late in the sense that it was the last of Simmel’s original treatments of forms of association, and reprinted in his 1917 reprise of the sociological enterprise.
- 10.
Besides Merton, who acknowledged his deep indebtedness to Simmel, one may include work by two of his prominent students, Coser (1956) and Caplow (1968). For a full account of Simmel’s influence, see Levine et al. (1976).
References
Alexander, J. 1993. “‘Formal Sociology’ is not Multidimensional: Breaking the ‘Code’ in Parsons' Fragment on Simmel.” Teoria Sociological 1/3:101–114.
Bellah, R. 1964. “Religious Evolution.” American Sociological Review 29(3):358–374
Camic, C. 1989b. “Structure after 50 Years: The Anatomy of a Charter.” American Journal of Sociology 95:38–107.
Camic, C., ed. 1997. Reclaiming the Sociological Classics: The State of the Scholarship. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Durkheim, E. 1984 (1893). The Division of Labor in Society. New York: The Free Press.
Frisby, D., ed. 1994. Georg Simmel: Critical Assessments. 3 vols. New York: Routledge.
Hirschman, A. O. 1977. The Passions and the Interests. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Levine, D. N. 1980. Simmel and Parsons: Two Approaches to the Study of Society. With a new Introduction. NY: Arno Press.
Levine, D. N. 1991. “Simmel and Parsons Reconsidered.” American Journal of Sociology 96(5):1097–1116.
Levine, D. N. 1994a. “Simmel e Parsons riconsiderate/Simmel und Parsons neu betrachtet.” Annali di Sociologia/Soziologisches Jahrbuch 10. (Translations of 1991.)
Levine, D. N. 1994b. “Further Comments Regarding Parsons’s Chapter on Simmel and Tönnies: A Response to Teoria Sociologica 1/93, 13–156.” Teoria Sociologica 2/94: 360–374.
Levine, D. N. 1995. Visions of the Sociological Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Levine, D. N. 2005. “Putting Voluntarism back into a Voluntaristic Theory of Action.” In Die Ordnung der Gesellschaft: Festschrift Geburtstag von Richard Münch, edited by H.-J. Aretz and C. Lahusen. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Levine, D. N. 2006. “Merton’s Ambivalence Towards Autonomous Theory – and Ours.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 31(2):235–243.
Lidz, V. 1993. “Parsons and Simmel: Convergence, Difference, and Missed Opportunity.” Teoria Sociologica 1/3:130–142.
Merton, R. K. 1968 (1938). “Social Structure and Anomie.” Reprinted in Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press.
Merton, R. K. 1973 (1942). “The Normative Structure of Science.” In The Sociology of Science,” edited by N. Storer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Merton, R. K. 1973 (1957). “Priorities in Scientific Discovery.” In The Sociology of Science,” edited by N. Storer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Merton, R. K. 1976. Sociological Ambivalence. New York: Free Press.
Parsons, T. 1935. “The Place of Ultimate Values in Sociological Theory". International Journal of Ethics 45:282–300. Reprinted in Camic, ed.
Parsons, T. 1949 (1939). “The Professions and Social Structure.” In Essays in Sociological Theory. New York: Free Press.
Parsons, T. 1951. The Social System. New York: Free Press.
Parsons, T. 1966. Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Parsons, T. 1971. The System of Modern Societies. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Parsons, T. 1968 (1937). The Structure of Social Action. 2 vols. New York: Free Press.
Parsons, T., and N. Smelser. 1956. Economy and Society. New York: Free Press.
Parsons, T., with G. M. Platt, and N. J. Smelser. 1973. The American University. MA: Harvard University Press.
Patterson, O. 1991. Freedom in the Making of Western Culture. NY: Basic Books.
Sidgwick, H. 1892. Review of Simmel, Einleitung in die Moralwissenschaft. Mind 1:434. Reprinted in David Frisby, ed. 1994. George Simmel: Critical Assessments, Vol. 1. London: Routledge.
Simmel, G. 1971 (1910). “Sociabiility.” In Georg Simmel: On Individuality and Social Forms, Edited by D. N. Levine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 1971. Translation of “Soziologie der Geselligkeit.” GSG 12.
Simmel, G. 1989 (1890). “Uber sociale Differenzierung.” Georg Simmel Gesamtausgabe [GSG] 2. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Simmel, G. 1991 (1892–1893). Einleitung in die Moralwissenschaft, 2 vols. GSG 3. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Simmel, G. 1992 (1898). “Die Selbserhaltung der Socialen Gruppe.” GSG 5. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. English version in Wolff 1950.
Thilly, F. 1893. Review of Simmel, Einleitung in die Moralwissenschaft. Philosophical Review 3: 637–640. Reprinted in David Frisby, ed. 1994. George Simmel: Critical Assessments, Vol. 1. London: Routledge.
Weber, M. 1968. Economy and Society, edited by G. Roth and C. Wittich. 3 vols. New York: Bedminster Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Levine, D.N. (2010). Adumbrations of a Sociology of Morality in the Work of Parsons, Simmel, and Merton. In: Hitlin, S., Vaisey, S. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Morality. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6896-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6896-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-6894-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-6896-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)