INTRODUCTION TO EARLY MODERN SOCIAL THEORY
Write essay-type answers to two of the following questions:
1. Compare and contrast Marx’s and Weber’s understandings of capitalism. How does Marx’s ‘law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall’ reflect the differences between these two understandings? (Devote about half your answer to the latter question.)
2. Discuss Durkheim’s analysis of modern pathologies in the division of labour in society and his proposed solutions to those pathologies. How might a Marxist and a Weberian social theorist,respectively, critique Durkheim’s ideas? (Devote about half your answer to the latter question.)
3. Summarize the differences between dialectical-monist and dualistic social ontologies. How do these differences find expression in the analysis of capitalist economic crises, gender inequality and ecological issues? (Devote about half your answer to the latter question.)