Classical Horizons

Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim, the fathers of sociology, are shown to share a worldview informed by their training in the classics, according to this intriguing study by McCarthy (sociology, Kenyon College). Aristotle, Dionysian tragedy, and notions of the Greek political system are linked to key ideas of the three sociologists, based on McCarthy's study of their training, education, and influences. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

George E. McCarthy is the National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Teaching Professor of Sociology at Kenyon College. His books include Objectivity and the Silence of Reason: Weber, Habermas, and the Methodological Disputes in German Sociology; Romancing Antiquity: German Critique of the Enlightenment from Weber to Habermas; and Dialectics and Decadence: Echoes of Antiquity in Marx and Nietzsche.