Rene

His Contribution to Mathematics

In mathematics, his contribution lies chiefly in geometry that’s why today he is known as father of analytical
geometry. His main achievement was to bridge the gulf between algebra and geometry. Thus he is widely acclaimed
as first mathematician who laid the foundation of modern geometry that resulted in development of analysis and
calculus. With regard to algebra, he explained in detail that how algebric equations can be expressed and explained
through use of geometrical shapes.He also sought to find out the systematic meaning of knowledge by application of
mathematical techniques. In this way, he broke from conventional scholastic-Aristotelian philosophy that used to
explain haphazardly the interrelationship between ideas. Thus, instead of following the tradition, he replaced this
casual explanation of nature of things with more scientific method. He intended to reach at mechanistic
rationalization of beliefs by providing a more concrete basis. This mechanistic principle is not only applied to
human or animal bodies but also plants. Thus, he embarked upon a quest to engage in a scientific enquiry as
contrary to his predecessors. He also changed the scholastic explanation of substantial forms in physics by his
mechanistic philosophy.Descartes also tended to apply geometric method to physics and also explained it by
deductive method that results can be inferred by perceptions of geometric properties of body. As Descartes
explained this“from what has already been said we have established that all the bodies in the universe are
composed of one and the same matter, which is divisible into indefinitely many parts, and is in fact divided into a
large number of parts which move in different directions and have a sort of circular motion; moreover, the same
quantity of motion is always preserved in the universe”His major contribution lies in bringing forth coordinate
system that also bears his name. This Cartesian coordinate system tended to explain the algebraic equations through
geometrical shapes. He “invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y and z”. It was his
work of calculus that was later used by Newton thus evolving a new branch of mathematics. Besides that, he also
invented rule of signs to establish the positive and negative roots of polynomial.

Other contributionIn his treatise “Discourses on Methods”, he called into question scholastic beliefs and put
forward a deductive method that implies inferring through generalization rather than sensation. As his famous
dictum isCogito, ergo sum or “I think, therefore I am.”He attempted to construct a system of knowledge based upon
rationalization and logical deduction by negating the principle of perception. He believed that reason is the only way
to attain higher knowledge. In optics, he also discovered laws of reflection and refraction. Rene Descartes also
advanced his views on motion of objects in his treatise “Principles of Philosophy”. His ideas influenced later
philosophers like Hobbes, Pascal, Locke and Kant.

Max Weber, 1864 - 1920

By the type of contributions that Weber made with his works of sociology, he is considered a
representative of the"third ways".

The third ways are political approaches that are neither Marxist nor anti-Marxist. This characteristic of his
work led Weber to be one of the most influential sociologists in history.

Weber's work has had a great impact on the subsequent development of different sociological issues.

These include religion, education, law, organization, family and even ethno-sociology.

Theoretical literature on sociology

The most important contributions that Weber made were the theoretical development of sociology in his
book"Economy and Society".

According to several scholars of this discipline, this book is the most representative of sociology of the
twentieth century.
Weber also published other books that are key in teaching any academic sociology program.

Among these books are:" Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism "," Sociology of Religion "Y" The
Methodology of the Social Sciences " .

Rationalism in sociology
Weber, in his account of human relations and the meaning of the world and history, makes a distinction
between the old interpretive conception and his explanation of the empirically rational world.

Accordingly, Weber developed concrete concepts for historical interpretation. These concepts contained,
in addition to empirical knowledge, a rational interpretation.

It was for this reason that Weber's theories differed from traditionally metaphysical interpretations.

Contributions to the policy

Many of Weber's contributions to sociology were in the field of politics.

According to Weber, the greatest political value was in the national state which generated several
criticisms later.

In several of his political ideas Weber was identified as a continuador of the thought of Machiavelli.

These ideas were not well received by European sociologists, but they led to important debates that led
to the further development of political sociology at the global level.

Sociology in religion
One of Weber's most recognized contributions to sociology is his work on sociology in religion.

His studies in the field led to the publication of his work" Sociology of religion ".

Some writers close to religious sociology have come to call Weber a"Christian sociologist".

This, based on Weber's work in this field and his respect for religiosity.

The above occurs despite Weber expressly saying that he does not have much affinity with religious
thought.

Influence on current Sociology

The contributions that Weber made to sociology from its scientific knowledge continue to have wide
reception for the development of modern sociological theories.

This is mainly explained by the confrontation that, without directly proposing it, Weber's theories
maintained with the old sociological tradition.It was this characteristic of his thinking that defined him as
representative of the"third ways".

Durkheim's body of work as a researcher and theorist focused on how it is that a society can
form and function, which is another way of saying, how it can maintain order and stability (See his books
titled The Division of Labor in Society and The Elementary Forms of Religious Life).

For this reason, he is considered the creator of the functionalist perspective within sociology. Durkheim
was most interested in the glue that holds society together, which means he focused on the shared
experiences, perspectives, values, beliefs, and behaviors that allow people to feel that they are a part of a
group and that working together to maintain the group is in their common interest.

In essence, Durkheim's work was all about culture, and as such, it remains deeply relevant and important
to how sociologists study culture today. We draw on his contributions to help make sense of what holds us
together, and also, and quite importantly, to help us understand the things that divide us, and how we
deal (or don't deal) with those divisions.

On Solidarity and the Collective Conscience

Durkheim referred to how we bind together around a shared culture as "solidarity." Through his research,
he found that this was achieved through a combination of rules, norms, and roles; the existence of a
"collective conscience," which refers to how we think in common given our shared culture; and through
the collective engagement in rituals that remind us of the values we share in common, of our group
affiliation, and our shared interests.

So, how is this theory of solidarity, crafted in the late 19th century, relevant today? One subfield in which
it remains salient is the Sociology of Consumption. In studying why, for example, people often make
purchases and use credit in ways that conflict with their own economic interests, many sociologists draw
on Durkheim's concepts to point out the important role that consumerist rituals play in our lives and
relationships, like giving gifts for Christmas and Valentine's Day, or waiting in line to be among the first
owners of a new product.

Other sociologists rely on Durkheim's formulation of the collective conscious to study how certain beliefs
and behaviors persist over time, and how they connect to things like politics and public policy. The
collective conscious--a cultural phenomenon premised on shared values and beliefs--helps explain why
many politicians are elected based on the values they claim to espouse, rather than on the basis of their
actual track record as legislators.

The Dangers of Anomie

Today, Durkheim's work is also useful to sociologists who rely on his concept of anomie to study the way
violence often crops up -- whether to the self or others -- in the midst of societal change. This concept
refers to how societal change, or the perception of it, can cause one to feel disconnected from society given
changes in norms, values, and expectations, and how this can cause both psychic and material chaos. In a
related vein, Durkheim's legacy also helps explain why disrupting everyday norms and routines with
protest is an important way of raising awareness of issues and of building movements around them.

There are more ways that Durkheim's body of work remains important, relevant, and useful to sociologists
today.

You can learn more about that by studying him, and by asking sociologists how they rely on his
contributions.

Comte first gave the name “Social Physics” to the science invented by him but later he coined the
word “Sociology a hybrid term compounded of Latin and Greek words to describe the new science.

The period during which Comte took his birth in France, was very critical. Because there was chaos in

France as the French World of thought was divided into two parts. One part was dominated by the
revolutionary thinkers while the other part was dominated by the religious thinkers. But Comte opposed

both these ways of thinking and gave emphasis to scientific outlook and scientific analysis. He organised

and classified the social thought prevailing before his times. Comte has many important works to his

credit.

An important work of Comte “A Programme of Scientific Work required for the Reorganization of Society”

was published in 1822 which contains an outline of his thoughts. He also wrote many books.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

1. Positive Philosophy (1830-42)

2. System of Positive Polity (1851 -54)

3. Religion of Humanity (1856)

Comte gave birth not only to a specific methodology of studying knowledge but also analysed the

evolution of human thinking and its various stages. He had developed a unilinear theory of evolution.

According to Comte individual mind and human society pass through successive stages of historical

evolution leading to some final stage of perfection. The principle developed by Comte in the study of

human thinking presumes gradual evolution and development in human thinking and is known as the law

of three stages of thinking.

The Law of Three Stages:

According to Comte it is the universal law of intellectual development. According to him “Each branch of

our knowledge passes through three different theoretical conditions; the theological or fictitious; the

metaphysical or abstract; and the scientific or positive.” This is known as the law of three stages because,

according to it, human thinking has undergone three separate stages in its evolution and development.
He opines, “The evolution of the human mind has paralleled the evolution of the individual mind”. He

focussed mainly on stages in the development and progress of human mind and stressed that these stages

co-related with parallel stages in the development of social order, social units, social organisation and

material conditions of human life.

Comte’s evolutionary theory or the law of three stages represents that there are three intellectual stages

through which the world has gone throughout its history. According to him, not only does the world go

through this process but groups, societies, sciences, individuals and even minds go through the same

three stages. As there has been an evolution in the human thinking so that each succeeding stage is

superior to and more evolved than the preceding stage. However, these three stages are as follows:-

(a) Theological or Fictitious Stage.

(b) Metaphysical or Abstract Stage.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

(c) Positive or Scientific Stage.

(a) Theological or Fictitious Stage:

This stage was the first stage of law of three stages. It characterized the world prior to 1300 A.D.

According to Comte in this stage “All theoretical conceptions whether general or special bear a super

natural impress”. It was believed that all the activities of men were guided and governed by supernatural

power. In this stage the social and the physical world was produced by God. At this stage man’s thinking

was guided by theological dogmas. It was marked by lack of logical and orderly thinking. Theological

thinking is characterized by unscientific outlook.

A natural event was the main subject matter of theological thinking. The usual natural events tend man

towards theological interpretation of the events. Unable to find the natural causes of different happenings

the theological man attributes them to imaginary or divine forces. This kind of explanation of natural
events in divine or imaginary conditions is known as theological thinking. Excess or absence of rain was

believed to be due to godly pleasure or displeasure. Magic and totemism were given emphasis.

This stage was dominated by priests. It implied belief in another world wherein reside the divine forces

which influenced and controlled all the events in this world. In other words at this theological stage all

phenomena are attributed to some super natural power. The concept of super natural power itself passes

through four sub-stages. In other words Comte had divided the theological stage into the following four

stages.

(i) Fetishism

(ii) Anthropomorphism

(iii) Polytheism

(iv) Monotheism

(i) Fetishism:

It is the first and primary sub-stage in theological thinking stage. In this stage men thought that in every

object or thing God resided. Fetishism is a kind of belief that there exists some living spirit in the non-

living objects.

(ii) Anthropomorphism:

It is the second sub-stage of theological stage. With the gradual development in human thinking there

occurred a change or improvement in the human thinking which resulted in the development of this

stage.

(iii) Polytheism:

With the passage of time human mind develops and there occurred a change in the form of thinking. A

more evolved and developed stage than fetishism and anthropomorphism appeared which is known as
Polytheism. As there were many things or many objects, the number of Gods multiplied. So men were

found to be engaged in the worship of a number of Gods. He believed that each and every God had some

definite function and his area of action or operation was determined. At this stage man had classified

God’s or natural forces.

(iv) Monotheism:

With the passage of time human mind further develops and there occurred a change and development in

the form of thinking. A more evolved and developed stage occurred which was known as Monotheism.

This is the last sub-stage of theological stage. This stage replaced the earlier belief in many Gods by the

belief in one God. ‘Mono’ means one. It implied that one God was supreme who was responsible for the

maintenance of system in the world. This type of monotheistic thinking marked the victory of human

intellect over irrational thinking.

(b) Metaphysical or Abstract Stage:

This is the second stage which occurred roughly between 1300 and 1800 A.D. This is an improved form of

theological stage. Under this stage it was believed that an abstract power or force guided and determined

all the events of the world. It was against the belief in concrete God. There was development of reason in

human thinking. By this man ceased to think that it was the supernatural being that controlled and guided

all the activities.

So it was the mere modification of the first one which discarded belief in concrete God. According to

Comte, “In the metaphysical state, which is only a modification of the first, the mind supposes instead of

supernatural beings, abstract forces, veritable entities (that is personified abstraction) inherent in all

beings and capable of producing all phenomena.” At this stage the position of supernatural power of the

first stage is taken over by the abstract principles.

(c) Positive Stage:

The last and the final stage of human thinking or human mind was the positive stage or the scientific stage

which entered into the world in 1800. This stage was characterized by belief in Science. People now
tended to give up the search for absolute causes (God or Nature) and concentrated instead on observation

of the social and physical world in the search for the laws governing them.

According to Comte observation and classification of facts were the beginning of the scientific knowledge.

It was governed by industrial administrators and scientific moral guides. So at this stage the priests or the

theologians were replaced by scientists. The warriors were replaced by” industrialists. Observation

predominates over imagination. All theoretical concepts become positive or scientific.

So it may be concluded that in the first stage the mind explains phenomena by ascribing them to

supernatural power or God. The second, metaphysical stage, is a mere modification of the first; in it the

mind suppresses that abstract forces produce all phenomena rather than supernatural beings. In the final

stage man observes nature and humanity objectively in order to establish laws.

Corresponding to the three stages of intellectual development there are two major types of society (i)

Theological military type of society; (ii) Industrial Society.

Criticism:

The theory of law of three stages of Comte is not free from criticisms.

According to Prof. Bogardus, Comte has failed to postulate a fourth thinking stage namely the specialized

thinking stage which would not merely emphasize the use of natural forces.

Franz Boas became the father of American anthropology. ... His primarycontribution to
anthropology was his theory of cultural relativism. The prevailing idea in the West at the time was that

Western culture was superior to other cultures.

Martineau's Contributions to Sociology

Martineau’s key contribution to the field of sociology was her assertion that when studying society, one
must focus on all aspects of it. She emphasized the importance of examining political, religious, and social
institutions. Martineau believed that by studying society in this way, one could deduce why inequality
existed, particularly that faced by girls and women.
In her writing, she brought an early feminist perspective to bear on issues such as marriage, children,
home and religious life, and race relations.

Her social theoretical perspective was often focused on the moral stance of a populace and how it did or
did not correspond to the social, economic, and political relations of its society.

Martineau measured progress in society by three standards: the status of those who hold the least power
in society, popular views of authority and autonomy, and access to resources that allow the realization of
autonomy and moral action.

She won numerous awards for her writing and was a rare successful and popular -- though controversial -
- working woman writer during the Victorian era. She published over 50 books and over 2,000 articles in
her lifetime. Her translation into English and revision of Auguste Comte’s foundational sociological
text, Cours de Philosophie Positive, was received so well by readers and by Comte himself that he had
Martineau’s English version translated back to French.

Early Life of Harriet Martineau

Harriet Martineau was born in 1802 in Norwich, England. She was the sixth of eight children born to
Elizabeth Rankin and Thomas Martineau. Thomas owned a textile mill, and Elizabeth was the daughter of
a sugar refiner and grocer, making the family economically stable and wealthier than most British families
at the time.

The Martineau family were descendants of French Huguenots who fled Catholic France for Protestant
England. The family practiced Unitarian faith and instilled the importance of education and critical
thinking in all of their children.

However, Elizabeth was also a strict believer in traditional gender roles, so while the Martineau boys went
to college, the girls did not and were expected to learn domestic work instead. This would prove to be a
formative life experience for Harriet, who bucked all traditional gender expectations and wrote
extensively about gender inequality.

Self-Education, Intellectual Development, and Work

Martineau was a voracious reader from a young age, was well read in Thomas Malthusby the time she was
15 and had already become a political economist at that age, by her own recollection. She wrote and
published her first written work, “On Female Education,” in 1821 as an anonymous author. This piece was
a critique of her own educational experience and how it was formally stopped when she reached
adulthood.

When her father’s business failed in 1829 she decided to earn a living for her family and became a working
writer. She wrote for the Monthly Repository, a Unitarian publication, and published her first
commissioned volume, Illustrations of Political Economy, funded by Charles Fox, in 1832. These
illustrations were a monthly series that ran for two years, in which Martineau critiqued the politics and
economic practices of the day by presenting illustrated tellings of the ideas of Malthus, John Stuart
Mill, David Ricardo, and Adam Smith. The series was designed as a tutorial for the general reading
audience.

Martineau won prizes for some of her essays and the series sold more copies than did the work of Dickens
at the time. Martineau argued that tariffs in early American society only benefited the rich and hurt the
working classes both in the U.S. and in Britain. She also advocated for the Whig Poor Law reforms, which
shifted assistance to the British poor from cash donations to the workhouse model.
In her early years as a writer she advocated for free market economic principles in keeping with the
philosophy of Adam Smith, however later in her career, she advocated for government action to stem
inequality and injustice, and is remembered by some as a social reformer due to her belief in the
progressive evolution of society.

Martineau broke with Unitarianism in 1831 for freethinking, a philosophical position that seeks truth
based on reason, logic, and empiricism, rather than believing in truths dictated by authority figures,
tradition, or religious dogma.

This shift resonates with her reverence for August Comte’s positivistic sociology, and her belief in
progress.

In 1832 Martineau moved to London, where she circulated among leading British intellectuals and
writers, including Malthus, Mill, George Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Thomas Carlyle. From
there she continued to write her political economy series until 1834.

Travels within the United States

When the series was completed, Martineau traveled to the U.S. to study the young nation’s
political economy and moral structure, much as Alexis de Tocqueville did. While there, she became
acquainted with Transcendentalists and abolitionists, and with those involved in education for girls and
woman. She later published Society in America, Retrospect of Western Travel, and How to Observe
Morals and Manners -- considered her first sociological research publication -- which expressed her
support for abolition of slavery, criticism of the immorality and economic inefficiency of slavery, its
impact on the working classes in the U.S. and in Britain, and fiercely criticized the state of education for
women. Martineau became politically active for the U.S. abolitionist cause, and sold embroidery in order
to donate the proceeds to it. Following her trip, she also worked as the English correspondent for
the American Anti-Slavery Standard through the end of the American Civil War.

Period of Illness and Impact on Her Work

Between 1839 and 1845, Martineau was ill with a uterine tumor and housebound.

She moved out of London to a more peaceful location for the duration of her illness. She continued to
write extensively during this time, but her experience of illness and with doctors prompted her to write
about those topics. She published Life in the Sickroom, which challenged the doctor-patient relationship
of total domination and submission, and was viciously criticized by the medical establishment for doing
so.

Travels in North Africa and the Middle East

After returning to health she traveled through Egypt, Palestine, and Syria in 1846. Martineau focused her
analytic lens on religious ideas and customs during this trip and observed that religious doctrine was
increasingly vague as it evolved. This led her to conclude, in her written work based on this trip -- Eastern
Life, Present and Past -- that humanity was evolving toward atheism, which she framed as rational,
positivist progress. The atheistic nature of her later writing, as well as her advocacy for mesmerism, which
she believed cured her tumor and the other ailments she had suffered, caused deep divisions between her
and some of her friends.

Later Years and Death

In her later years, Martineau contributed to the Daily News and the radical leftist Westminster Review.
She remained politically active, advocating for women’s rights during the 1850s and '60s. She supported
the Married Women’s Property Bill, the licensing of prostitution and legal regulation of customers,
and women’s suffrage.

She died in 1876 near Ambleside, Westmorland, in England and her autobiography was published
posthumously in 1877.

Martineau's Legacy

Martineau’s sweeping contributions to social thought are more often than not overlooked within the
cannon of classical sociological theory, though her work was widely lauded in its day, and preceded that
of Émile Durkheim and Max Weber.

Founded in 1994 by Unitarians in Norwich and with support from Manchester College, Oxford, The
Martineau Society in England holds an annual conference in her honor. Much of her written work is in the
public domain and available for free at the Online Library of Liberty, and many of her letters are
available to the public via the British National Archives.

Bronislaw Malinowski Contributions

Man and culture: An evaluation of the work of Bronisław Malinowski. London: Routledge and Kegan
Paul. A book of essays by former students and colleagues ofMalinowski evaluating his contributions to
functionalist theory, fieldwork methods, religion, and economic anthropology.

Marx's theories about society, economics and politics—collectively understood as Marxism—hold

that human societies develop through class struggle. ... His work in economics laid the basis for much of
the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, and subsequent economic thought.

Herbert Spencer was born in Derby, England, on 27th April, 1820. He was recognized as
one of the important social philosophers of the 19th Century. He had exerted a profound influence in the
development of modern Sociology. He was treated as the continuator of Comte's evolutionary approach.

An American sociologist named Talcott Parsons worked in the field of social action theories.
He was one of the most influential Sociologists during his time. He was welcomed into this world on 13th
December 1902 and passed away on 8th May 1979. He acquired his Ph.D. in economics and was the
first sociology professor. He was a professor at Harvard University and served for a long time. Parsons
looks at social stratification as both unavoidable and functional for the society.it is unavoidable because it
drives from the shared values which are the necessary part of all social systems. It is functional because
it serves to integrate various groups in society. Finally, inequalities of power and prestige benefit all
members of society since they serve to further collective goals which are based on shared values.
Parsons has been strongly criticized on all these points. Another sociologist has seen stratification as a
divisive rather than an integrated force.they have seen it as an arrangement whereby some gain at the
expense of others. They have questioned the view that stratifications systems drive ultimately from
shared values.

Talcott Parson on Education:

Drawing on Durkheim’s ideas, the American sociologist Talcott Parsons outlined what has become the
accepted functionalist view of education.writing in the late 1950s Parsons argues that after primary
socialization within the family, the school takes over as the focus socializing agency. Preparing the child
for future adult role school is an essential institution. It serves as a connecting point for society and
family.Parents treat the child as a particular child rather than judging him in terms of standards or
yardsticks which can be applied to every individual.

Parsons believes that schools help children to develop themselves for future adult roles and he says that
educational system helps children utilize these human sources rightly. Schools help children to get to
know their skills, talents, uniqueness so that when they turn an adult they choose the jobs which are well
suited according to them. But parsons fails to give adequate consideration to the possibility that the value
is transmitted by the educational system may be those of the ruling minority rather than of society as a
whole. His view that schools operate on meritocratic principles is open to question.

Talcott Parson on Family:

Parson says that The isolated nuclear family is the typical family form in the modern industrial society.it is
structurally isolated because it does not form an integral part of a wider system of kinship
relationships.obviously, there are social relationships between members of nuclear families and their kin
but these relationships are more in a matter of choice than binding obligations. Parsons view that
emergence of the isolated nuclear family in terms of his theory of social evolution .the evolution of society
involves the process of the structural differentiation.this means that the institutions involved which
specialize in fewer function. In this sense no longer do the family and kinship group perform a wide range
of functions.instead specialist institution such as business firms, hospitals, schools, churches and police
forces take over many of the functions.this process of differentiation and specialization involves the
transfer of a variety of functions from the nuclear family to other structures of the society. Hence in
industrial society with the transfer of the production of goods to factories, specialized economic
institutions became differentiated from the family. The family ceases to be an economic unit of production.

As a consequence of this structural isolation of the nuclear family, the conjugal bond the relationship
between husband and wife is getting stronger. Without the support of kin beyond the nuclear family,
spoused are increasingly dependent on each other, particularly for emotional support.

Women in society by Talcott Parson:

Parson looks at the isolated nuclear family in modern industrial society specializing in two basic functions
first the socialization of the young and the stabilization of adult personalities. For socialization to be an
effective, close, warm and supportive group is essential.the family meeting this requirement. Parsons
states that the family or something very much like it is essential for this purpose. Women play a vital role
in the family for children as they carry and nurture the children so she is closer to them and strongly
attached to them. As in a nuclear modern family, women play an essential part as she is sharply targeted
to take the responsibility of the children completely. So that is why an adult woman is significant. Most of
the time due to the absence of father or husband makes a woman a significant member of the family.

Parsons believes that for effective and socialization of a child it is necessary for a woman to facilitate the
child with warmth, tenderness, and support (emotional). Same should also be applied to her husband
because it also helps in the better socialization of the husband. This is said to be a major contribution in
stabilizing the personalities of an adult. It serves as a second function of the isolated nuclear family.

Religion and Talcott Parson:

Parson says The cultural system provides more general guidelines for action in the form of beliefs,
values, and systems of meaning, not the norms which direct action Are not merely isolated standards for
behavior, they are integrated and patterned by the values and beliefs provided by the cultural
system. Religion is a part of the cultural system. In this way, religious beliefs provide guidelines for human
actions and standards against which mans conduct can be evaluated.if you talk about Christian society
there the ten commandments operate in this way These norms direct these areas of behavior and always
work on the same religious commandments. In this way, religion provides general guidelines for conduct
which are expressed any variety of norms, therefore, Parsons believes religion is necessary for order and
stability in society. As part of the cultural system, religious beliefs give meaning to life.Parsons argues
that one of the major function of religion is to make sense of all experiences, no matter how meaningless
or contradictory they appear.

Parson also says that a major function of religion as the provision of meaning to an event that man does
not expect of feels ought not to happen, events that are frustrating and contradictory. Religion makes
sense of these events in terms of the integrated and consistent pattern of meaning.

Talcott Parsons has contributed in all the fields such as societal stratification, education, family and
kinship, religion, women in society etc. He is also been criticized but stopped giving his best in the
development of society. Therefore he was a prominent and influencing sociologist in 20 th century.

lfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown (January 17, 1881 – October 24, 1955) was a British social
anthropologist who developed the theory of "structural-functionalism," and is often regarded, together
with Bronislaw Malinowski, as the father of modern social anthropology. Radcliffe-Brown was particularly
instrumental in bringing together the various theoretical approaches to anthropology from France and
Britain to the United States. Radcliffe-Brown regarded all social structures as contributing to the
functioning of society as a whole. He compared a diversity of cultures from different parts of the world.
Although he did not do extensive fieldwork himself, beyond his initial work in the Andaman Islands, he
established and developed programs of anthropological research at universities in South
Africa and Australia which produced large amounts of data. His analyses revealed similar social
structures in cultures that were geographically isolated, leading him to theorize that human society
naturally develops certain types of social structures to fulfill essential functions, similar to the organs of
the body. Although Radcliffe-Brown's theories per se were rejected by later anthropologists, his work
influenced many researchers and has led to advances in the understanding of human societies
worldwide.

Georg Simmel. The German sociologist and philosopher Georg Simmel (1858-1918) wrote
important studies of urban sociology, social conflict theory, and small-group relationships. Georg
Simmel was born on March 1, 1858, in Berlin, the youngest of seven children.