Classical Horizons

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.

"At a time when the social sciences and social theory are moving away from a consciousness of their political and, even, moral purpose, McCarthy's account of the origins of sociology is timely. This book should be read by anyone concerned with the withering sense of purpose in the social sciences and social theory as well as those interested in classical sociology and the intentions of its founders." — European Journal of Social Theory"…a highly readable and scholarly book … it will be a classic in its own right. It should be required reading, not only for sociology and philosophy students, but for intellectual and cultural historians and teachers of humanities as well. — Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews"McCarthy's … erudition may very well render this work a contemporary classic in the continuing discussion of a maturing discipline." — CHOICE"McCarthy critically redefines the very nature of sociology. I do not think that there exist many scholars today who would have been daring enough to engage in such a daunting task. It needed a scholar and teacher who was trained both in philosophy and sociology, and mastered both. And he succeeds in presenting his work so accessibly, and so provocatively, that it should be used successfully in a variety of disciplines, including philosophy, sociology, political science, critical theory, economics, and literary criticism. This book will become a classic." — Judith T. Marcus, author of Georg Lukács and Thomas Mann: A Study in the Sociology of Literature"One of the most interesting and engaging social theory books I've ever read." —Norman Weiner, State University of New York at Oswego

• Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION: CRITIQUE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT AND RETURN TO CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY 1. KARL MARX: ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY AND THE CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY Science and Nature in Democritus and EpicurusNature, Praxis, and Social ObjectivityClassical Needs and Neoclassical AestheticsAncient and Modern DemocracyGreek Social Justice and Political Economy in CapitalRationalization of Production and the Logic of CapitalGreek Physics and Marx's Dialectical ScienceClassical Antiquity and the Ancient Mode of Production 2. MAX WEBER: GREEK TRAGEDY AND THE RATIONALIZATION OF SOCIETY Classical Antiquity and Ancient CapitalismCapitalism and Democracy in the Greek PolisDecline of the Roman Empire and the Rise of Modern CapitalismNietzsche and the Origins of Greek TragedyExistential Nihilism and the Perspectivism of ScienceHistory of Western Science from Plato to the PresentProphets of Positivism and the Politics of ScienceRationalization and the Eclipse of ReasonClassical Humanism and Historical Economics 3. EMILE DURKHEIM: GREEK POLIS AND THE SOLIDARITY OF THE CONSCIENCE COLLECTIVE Aristotle,Montesquieu, and the Foundations of SociologyOrigins of Society in Rousseau and AristotleEpistemology and Existentialism in Kant and SchopenhauerPlatonic Rationalism and the Sophistry of PragmatismCollective Representations as Social EpistemologyHellenic Solidarity and Modern AnomieClassical Pedagogy and Modern PoliticsClassical Justice Informing Social Democracy 4. AWAKENING CLASSICAL DREAMS: SYNTHESIS OF ANCIENT JUSTICE AND MODERN SOCIAL SCIENCE Notes Index