Marx Vs. Durkheim
            
            
            
             What is Sociology? Who came up with it? Is there really a specific definition that defines what sociology really is? According to Essentials of Sociology by David B. Brinkerhoff, "Sociology is the systematic study of human social interaction." Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim were two men who founded sociology. They both came up with their own theories about how sociology works. Is one of their theories more accurate than the other? Could they both be equally accurate? Both of these men were very smart but they had two totally different ideas about sociology.
             Karl Marx received his doctorate in philosophy at age 23. He spent the majority of his adult life in poverty because he had such radical views. "Marx was repulsed by poverty and inequality that characterized the nineteenth century," (Brinkerhoff, 6). Unlike other sociologists of his time he refused to see poverty as a natural condition. He viewed it as something people did to themselves because of capitalism. His first theory was called Economic Determinism. He began his analysis by assuming that as humans, our basic task is to provide food and shelter for us and/or for our families. "Marx argued that the ways in which society does this-its modes of production-provide the foundations on which all other social and political arrangements are built," (Brinkerhoff, 6) this is how economic determinism is described. Marx put people into two classes. Those two classes were the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie's were the owners of the companies and the production lines. The Proletariat's were the people who worked for the owners on the production lines. The owners made their money by hiring as many workers as they could for as little as possible. The workers made their money by selling themselves to the owners for as many hours possible, but they had to be willing to work for the lowest rate...