This course studies a group of writers who in the early 20th century were pivotal in theoretically grounding sociology as a scientific discipline. Central topics include: the types and sources of social authority; the genesis and ethos of capitalism; the moral consequences of the division of labour; the nature of social facts; the origins of collective moral values; the relationship between social theory and social reform; the nature of social problems and the personal experience of being perceived as a social problem; the formal features of association; the social function of conflict; the social and personal consequences of urbanization.