Sociological Theory

5

Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923)

Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto, the distinguished Italian sociologist, was influential during in the American sociological circle in his time, especially the 1930s. As the leading proponent of functional sociology in the USA, Talcott Parsons took a lot of interest in his works. Pareto's sociology subsequently has lost the importance, while only his theory of elites and circulation of elites has retained its relevance in contemporary thinking on society. Primarily, his sociological theories were formulated in reaction to Marx's social theory. He not only refuted Marx, but along with that he also questioned the very foundation of the Enlightenment philosophy. He critiqued the rationality principle of the Enlightenment ...