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On this page, I will feature some of the ultimate classics within the theoretical foundation of the social sciences.

Russell L. Ackoff, “Towards a Behavioral Theory of Communication.” Management Science, 4. 1957-58. pp.218-34.

Russell L. Ackoff & F.E. Emery, On purposeful systems. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton, 1972.

Brooks Adams, The Law of Civilization and Decay. London & New York, 1895.

Aristotles, The Politics. Penguin Books, 1962.

W. Ross Ashby, Design for a Brain. London: Chapman & Hall, 1952.

W. Ross Ashby, “Principles of the Self-Organizing System” in Heinz von Foerster and George W. Zopf (eds.) Principles of Self-Organization. New York: Pergamon Press, 1962. pp.255-56.  

Walter Bagehot, Physics and Politics. Ivan R. Dee, Publisher, 1999.

Arthur J. Balfour, The Foundations of Belief. London and New York, 1895.

Chester I. Barnard, The Function of the Executive. Harvard University Press, 1938.

Ernest Barker, Principles of Social & Political Theory. Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1951.

Jean Baudrillard, For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign. St. Louis, MO: Telos Press, 1981. (1972).

Gary S. Becker, The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.

Gary S. Becker, Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with special reference to Education. Third edition. University of Chicago Press, 1994. (1964).

Daniel Bell, “The Disjunction of Culture and Social Structure.” In Gerald Horton (ed.) Science and Culture. Boston, 1965. pp.236-251.

Daniel Bell, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. New York: Basic Books, 1976. (1973).

Arthur Bentley, The Process of Government. Evanston, 1908.

Nikolas Berdyaev, The Meaning of History. Transaction Publishers, 2006. (1923). ‘

Peter L. Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements to a Sociological Theory of Religion. Anchor, 1990.

Peter L. Berger & Hansfried Kellner, Sociology Reinterpreted: An Essay on Method and Vocation. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1981.

Ludwig von Bertalanffy, General System Theory. New York, 1969.

Jean Bodin, On Sovereignty: Four chapters from the Six Books of the Commonwealth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. (1583).

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, The Positive Theory of Capital. London: Macmillan and Co, 1891. (Original in German, 1888).

Bernard Bosanquet, The Philosophical Theory of the State. London: Macmillan & Co, 1958.

Fernand Braudel, A History of Civilization. Penguin, 1995. (1963).

Leon Brillouin, “Life, Thermodynamics and Cybernetics.” American Scientist, 37. 1949. pp.554-67.

Leon Brillouin, Science and Information Theory. New York: Academic Press, 1956.  

James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, The Calculus of Consent. Liberty Fund, Inc. 2004.

Edmund Burke, Further Reflections on the Revolution in France. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1992. (1789-1796).

Arthur Lee Burns, “Prospects for a General Theory of International Relations.” In Klaus Knorr and Sidney Verba (eds.) The International System: Theoretical Essays. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961.

A.M. Carr-Saunders, The Population Problem: A Study of Human Evolution. London: Oxford University Press, 1922.

Gustav Cassel, The Theory of Social Economy. London, 1932.

Ernst Cassirer, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. 1-3. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1955. (1923).

R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History. Oxford: Carendon Press, 1946.

Auguste Comte, Positive Philosophy. London, 1853.

Marquis de Condorcet, Historical Essay on the Progress of Human Reason. 1794.

Benjamin Constant, The Principle of Government Applicable to All Governments. Liberty Fund, Inc., 2003. (1815).

Benedetto Croce, History: Its Theory and Practice. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1921.

Charles Darwin, The Desent of Man. London: Murray, 1871.

Wilhelm Dilthey, The Formation of the Historical World in the Human Sciences. Vol III in Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works. Princeton University Press, 2002.

William Dray, Laws and Explanations in History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957.

H. A. Driesch, The Science and Philosophy of the Organism. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1908.

Johann Gustav Droysen, Outline of the Principles of History. Boston: Ginn & Co, 1893. (1858).

Emile Durkheim, The Division of Labor in Society. New York: The Free Press, 1964. (1893).

Emile Durkheim, The Rules of Sociological Method. New York: The Free Press, 1966. (1895).

David Easton, The Political System. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1971. (1953).

David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1965.

Alfred Emerson, “Homeostasis and Comparison of Systems.” In Roy R. Grinker (ed.), Toward A Unified Theory of Behavior. New York: Basic Books, 1956.

Thomas J. Farao, The Meaning of General Theoretical Sociology: Tradition and Formalization. Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Adam Ferguson, An Essay on the History of Civil Society. Boston: Hastings, Etheridge & Bliss, 1809. (1767).

Hans Freyer, Theory of Objective Mind: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Culture. Ohio University Press, 1998.

Hans Freyer, Soziologie als Wirklichkeitwissenschaft. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1930.

Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method. New York: Crossroad, 1986. (1960).

Ortega y Gasset, History as a System. New York: Norton, 1961.

Arnold Gelden, Man in the Age of Technology. New York: University of Columbia Press, 1980. (1957).

R. W. Gerard, C. Kluckhohn and A. Rapoport, “Biological and cultural evolution: some analogies and explorations. Behavioral Science, Vol.1. 1956. pp.6-34.

Franklin Henry Giddens, The Principles of Sociology. New York, 1896.

Franklin Henry Giddings, Studies in the Theory of Human Society. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922.

Otto Gierke, “Ein Grundlegung für die Geisteswissenschaften.” Preussische Jahrbücher, Vol.53. 1884. pp.104-44.

Otto Gierke, Natural Law and the Theory of Society, 1500 to 1800. Lawbook Exchange Ltd, 2002.

Mark Gould, “System Anslysis, Macrosociology and the Generalized Media of Action.” In Loubser et al. Explorations in General Theory in Social Science. New York: The Free Press, 1976.

Friedrich von Hayek, Individualism and Economic Order. Chicago, 1948.

Friedrich von Hayek, The Sensory Order. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1952.

Friedrich von Hayek, Law, Legislation and Liberty. Vol. 1-3. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973-1979.

Friedrich von Hayek, New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

D. O. Hebb, The Organization of Behavior. New York: John Wiley, 1949.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. (1807).

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Philosophy of Right. London: Oxford University Press, 1952. (1821).

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History: Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975. (1822-1830).

Carl G. Hempel, “The Function of General Laws in History.” The Journal of Philosophy. 39. 1942. pp.35-48.

Carl G. Hempel, “Reason and Covering Laws in Historical Explanation.” in Patrick Gardiner (ed.) The Philosophy of History. Oxford University Press, 1974.

Lawrence J. Henderson, “An approximate definition of fact.” in University of California Studies in Philosophy. 14. 1932. pp.179-200.

Lawrence J. Henderson, The Fitness of the Environment: An Inquiry into the Biological Significance of the Properties of Matter. Boston: Beacon Press, 1935.

Johann Friederich Herbart, Phychologie als Wissenschaft, 1824-1825.

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan. Penguin Books, 1981. (1651).

Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse, Development and Purpose. Macmillan, 1913.

David Hume, Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902. (1777).  

David Hume, An Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1957. (1752).

J.S. Huxley, Evolution: The Modern Synthesis. Third Ed. New York: Hafner Press, 1974.

William Stanley Jevons, The Theory of Political Economy. London: Macmillan, 1888. (1871).

Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals. New York: Harper & Row, 1964.

Benjamin Kidd, Social Evolution. Adamant Media Corporation, 2002. (1894).

Rudolf Kjellén, Der Stat as Lebensform. Leipzig, 1917.

Clyde Kluckhohn, “The Study of Culture.” In The Policy Science, edited by Daniel Lerner and Harold D. Laswell. Stanford University Press, 1951.

Frank H. Knight, Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Boston, 1921.

Frank H. Knight, Ethics of Competition. 1935. (1785).

Frank H. Knight, Freedom & Reform: Essays in Economics and social philosophy. Indianapolis: Liberty Press, 1982. (1947).

David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some so Poor. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998.

Ervin Laszlo, Introduction to Systems Philosophy. New York: Harper & Row, 1973. (1972).

Edmund Leach, Culture and Communication. Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Marion J. Levy, Jr., The Structure of Society. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1952.

Paul von Lilienfeld, Gedanken über die Socialwissenschaft der Zukunft. 1873-1881.

Ralph Linton, The Study of Man. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1936.

Konrad Lorenz, Evolution and the Modification of Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965.

Jan J. Loubser et al. (ed.) Explorations in General Theory in Social Science. Vol.1-2. New York: The Free Press, 1976.

Robert H. Lowie, Primitive Society, 1920.

Robert H. Lowie, The Origin of the State. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1927.  

Niklas Luhmann, Social Systems. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995. (1984).

George A. Lundberg, Foundations of Sociology. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1939.

Robert M. MacIver, Social Causation. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1973. (1942).

Henry Sumner Maine, Ancient Law. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1906. (1861).

Henry Sumner Maine, Lectures on the Early History of Institutions. London: John Murray, 1914. (1874).

Bronislaw Malinowski, A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays. New York: Oxford University Press, 1960. (1944).

Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population. Penguin Books, 1970. (1798).

Maurice Mandelbaum, “The Problen of ‘Covering Laws’” History and Theory. I, 3. 1961. pp.229-42.

Maurice Mandelbaum, The Problem of Historical Knowledge: An Answer to Relativism. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

James G. March, “An Introduction to the Theory and Measurement of Influence.” American Political Science Review, XLIX, 1955. pp.431-451.

James G. March & Herbert A. Simon, Organizations. New York: Wiley, 1959.

Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics. 2nd edition. London: Macmillian & Co, 1981.

George Herbert Mead, Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1962. (1934).

George Herbert Mead, The Philosophy of the Act. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1972. (1938).

Carl Menger, Principles of Economics. Libertarian Press, 1994. (1871).

Carl Menger, Problems of Economics and Sociology. Urbana: University of Illinios Press, 1963. (1883).  

James Grier Miller, Living Systems. McGraw-Hill, 1978.

John Stuart Mills, On Liberty. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1956. (1859).

Ludwig von Mises, Human Action. Third Revised Edition. Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1963. (Originally published by Yale University Press, 1949).

Ludwig von Mises, Socialism: An Economic and Social Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951.

Ludwig von Mises, Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution. Liberty Fund, Inc., 2005.

George Modelski & William R. Thompson, Leading Sectors and World Powers: The Co-evolution of Global Economics and Politics. University of South California Press, 1995.

Charles Morris, Foundation of the Theory of Signs. International Encyclopedia of Unified Science, Vol. No.2. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1938.

Charles Morris, Signs, Language and Behavior. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1946.

Adam Müller, Die Elemente der Staatskunst. Berlin, 1809.

Richard Münch, Theory of Action. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987.

Richard Münch, “Differentiation, Rationalization, Interpenetration: The Emerge of Modern Society.” In Jeffrey C. Alexander and Paul Colomy (ed.) Differentiation Theory and Social Change. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990.

Richard R. Nelson & Sidney G. Winter, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1982.

John von Neumann, The Computer and the Brain. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958.

Otto Neurath, Foundations of the Social Science. International Encyclopedia of Unified Science. Vol.2. no.1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1944.

Douglass C. North, Structure and Change in Economic History. New York: W.W. Norton, 1981.

Douglass C. North, Understanding the Process of Institutional Change. Princeton University Press, 2005.

Michael Oakeshott, Experience and its Modes. Cambridge at the University Press, 1933.

Michael Oakeshott, Rationalism in Politics and other essays. London: Methuen & Co, 1962.

Michael Oakeshott, On Human Conduct. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975.

Vilfredo Pareto, A Treatise on General Sociology. (Mind and Society) Vol. 1-4. New York: Haecourt, Brace & Company, 1983. (Posthumous 1935).

Talcott Parsons, The Early Essays. Edited by Charles Camic. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Talcott Parsons, “The Place of Ultimate Values in Sociological Theory.” International Journal of Ethics, 45. 1935. pp.282-316.

Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action. Vol.1-2. The Free Press, 1937.  

Talcott Parsons, The Social System. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951.

Talcott Parsons, Essays in Sociological Theory. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1954.

Talcott Parsons, “An Approach to Psychological Theory in Terms of the Theory of Action.” In Sigmund Koch (ed.) Studies in General Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958.

Talcott Parsons, Structure and Process in Modern Societies. Glencoe, 1960.

Talcott Parsons, “The Point of View of the Author.” In Max Black (ed.) The Social Theories of Talcott Parsons. Cardondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1961.

Talcott Parsons, “An Outline of the Social System.” In Talcott Parsons et al. (eds.) Theories of Society. The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961.

Talcott Parsons, “Differentiation and Variation in Social Structures.” In Talcott Parsons et al., (eds.) Theories of Society. The Free Press of Glencoe, 1961.

Talcott Parsons, Social Structure and Personality. London: The Free Press, 1964. (Second edition 1970).

Talcott Parsons, Sociological Theory and Modern Society. 1967.

Talcott Parsons, Politics and Social Structure. New York: Free Press, 1969.

Talcott Parsons, The System of Modern Societies. Englewood Cliffs,N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1971.

Talcott Parsons, The Evolution of Societies. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1977.

Talcott Parsons, Social Systems and the Evolution of Action Theory. New York: The Free Press, 1977.

Talcott Parsons, Action Theory and the Human Condition. New York: The Free Press, 1978.

Talcott Parsons, “Religious and Economic Symbolism in the Western World.” Sociological Inquiry. Vol.49. no.2-3. 1979. pp.1-48.

Talcott Parsons & Edward Shils, Toward a General Theory of Action: Theoretical Foundations for the Social Science. Transaction Publishers, 2001. (1951).

Talcott Parsons, Robert F. Bales and Edward A. Shils, Working Papers in the Theory of Action. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1953.

Talcott Parsons and Neil J. Smelser, Economy and Society. London, 1956.

Talcott Parsons and A.L. Kroeber, “The Concepts of Culture and Social Systems.” American Sociological Review, vol.23. 1958. pp.582-583.

Talcott Parsons & Gerald M. Platt, The American University. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973.

Simon N. Patten, The Theory of Social Forces. Philadelphia, 1896.

Simon N. Patten, The New Basis of Civilization. Harvard University Press, (1907).

Arthur J. Penty, Old Worlds for New: A Study of the Post-Industrial State. London, 1917.

Plato, The Republic. Penguin Books, 1974.

A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, Structure and Function in Primitive Society. Cohen and West, 1952.

Leopold Ranke, “The Great Powers.” In Theodore H. Von Laue, Leopold Ranke: The Formative Years. Princeton University Press, 1950. pp.181-218.

Friedrich Ratzel, Politische Geographie oder die Geographie der Staaten, des Verkehres und des Krieges, 1897.

Gustav Ratzenhofer, Wesen und Zweck der Politik. 1893.

Gustav Ratzenhofer, Die Sociologishe Erkenntnis. Leipniz, 1898.

Gustav Ratzenhofer, Soziologie: Positive Lehre von den menschlichen Wechselbeziehungen. 1907.

Robert Redfield, “The Folk Society.” American Journal of Sociology. Vol.52. 1947. 293-308.

David Ricardo, Notes on Malthus’s Principle of Political Economy. Liberty Fund, 2004.

Heinrich Rickert, The Limits of Concept Formation in Natural Science: A Logic Introduction to the historical sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Heinrich Rickert, Die Philosophie des Lebens. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1929.

Arturo Rosenblueth, Norbert Wiener & Julian Bigelow, “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology.” Philosophy of Science, 10. 1943. pp.18-24.

Edward Alsworth Ross, Social Control: A Survey of the Foundations of Order. Cleveland & London: The Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1969.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract. New York: St. Martin Press, 1978. (1762).

W. W. Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960.

W. W. Rostow, How it all began: Origins of the Modern Economy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975.

W. W. Rostow, Theorists of Economic Growth from David Hume to the Present. Oxford University Press, 1990.

George Santayana, Domination and Power: Reflections on Liberty, Society and Government. Scribner, 1951.

Albert Schäffle, Bau und Leben des sozialen Körpers. 4 vol. 1875-78.

Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel, Philosophie des Lebens. 1828.

Carl Schmitt, Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1985. (1922).

Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political. Chicago and London: The University of London, 1996. (1932).

Gustav von Schmoller, Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre. 1900-1904.

Erwin Schrödinger, What is Life. Cambridge at the University Press, 1955.

Joseph A. Schumpeter, The Theory of Economic Development. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 1983. (1911).

Henry A. Simon, “A behavioral model of rational choice.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.69. 1952. pp.98-118.

Henry A. Simon, “The architecture of complexity.” Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. Vol. 106. 1962.

B. F. Skinner, Science and Human Behavior. New York: The Free Press, 1965. (1953).

Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: Methuen, 1950. (1776).

Jack Snyder, “Anarchy and Culture: Insight to the Anthropology of War.” International Organization, 56. 1. 2002. pp. 7-45.

Robert Solow, “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.70. February 1956. 65-94.

Pitirim A. Sorokin, Social and Cultural Dynamics. Vol.1-4. New York: The Westminster Press, 1962. (1937).

Werner Sombart, Economic Life in the Modern Age. Transaction Publisher, 2001.

Werner Sombart, Quintessence of Capitalism. Howard Fertig, 1967.

Herbert Spencer, The Man Versus The State, With Six Essays on Government, Society and Freedom. Indianapolis: LibertyClassics, 1982. (1884, etc.).

Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1898.

Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991. (1918).

Alexander Sutherland, The Orgins and Growth of the Moral Instinct. Kessinger Publishing, 2004.

Joseph A. Tainter, The Collapse of Complex Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson, On Growth and Form. Revised edition. 1942 (1927).

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America. (with critical appraisal by John Stuart Mill). Vol. 1-2. New York: Schocken Books, 1961. (1835).

Edward C. Tolman, “Cognitive maps in rats and men.” Psychological Review, 1948. 55, 189-208.

Ferdinand Tönnies, Einführung in die Soziologie. Stuttgart: Enke, 1931.

Giambattista Vico, The New Science of Giambattia Vico. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1984. (1725).

Alfred Vierkandt, Gesellschaftslehre: Hauptprobleme der philosophischen Soziologie, 1923.

Alfred Weber, Fundamentals of Culture-Sociology. New York: Columbia Press, 1939.

Max Weber, The Methodology of Social Sciences. New York: The Free Press, 1959.  

Max Weber, The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon Press, 1956. (1922).

Max Weber, Economy and Society. Vol.1-2. Berkeley: University of California, 1978.

Leslie A. White, The Science of Culture: A Study of Man and Civilization. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1949.

Morton White, Foundations of Historical Knowledge. New York: Harper and Row, 1965.

Oliver E. Williamson, “The economies of organization: the transaction cost approach.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 87. 1981. pp. 548-577.

Oliver E. Williamson, “The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead.” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XXXVIII. September 2000. pp. 595-613.

Edward O. Wilson, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.

Edward O. Wilson, “The Central Problems of Sociobiology.” in Robert M. May (ed.) Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications. Philadephia: W.B. Saunders, 1976.

Oran R. Young, A Systemic Approach to International Politics. Princeton University, 1968.

Florian Znaniecki, Cultural Sciences: Their Origins and Development. New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1980. (1952).