The society in which we live raises many questions about the meaning of life, about the reasons for the emergence of certain relationships and phenomena of social life. Sociology as a science about society, the laws of its development, social relations and social institutions accumulates the thoughts and ideas of philosophers, politicians, teachers, naturalists, writers and representatives of other fields of scientific knowledge.
Sociology as a science differs from other social sciences in the application of scientific methods to the study of society, the significant practical use of sociological research in the functioning of society.
In Russia, directly sociological theories began to take shape from the mid-nineteenth century. Sociology as a science takes shape in various directions that form scientific schools. When analyzing the history of society, its structure, the specifics of the development of social relations, sociologists choose different general scientific approaches: demographic, psychological, group, cultural and others.
It should be noted that throughout the entire period of development of Russian sociology, the work of Western sociologists has greatly influenced the formation of sociological concepts and theories. These include the founder of sociology, O. Comt, who proposed the term "sociology", the concept of "system", substantiated the stages of historical development. No less influential for Russian sociology were the ideas of E. Durkheim, M. Weber. And the works of Karl Marx became fundamental to the political ideology of Russia over almost a seven-year historical period. However, we can talk about the mutual influence of domestic and Western sociology. Russian sociologists N.Ya. Danilevsky, N.K. Mikhailovsky, P.L. Lavrov, V.I. Lenin, G.V. Plekhanov, P.A. Sorokin made a significant contribution to the development of world sociological thought.
Among the most general directions in the development of sociology, social philosophy is singled out. It is based on the search for universal laws for the development of society. The central idea addressed by representatives of various movements within the framework of this direction (O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, N. Danilevsky, P. Sorokin) is the idea of cultural-historical types of society, which are based on cultures of different peoples (for example, Egyptian, Babylonian, Greco-Roman, Mayan culture, Russian-Siberian, Slavic, Jewish and others). Some sociologists suggest the impossibility of a long coexistence of different cultures, which must develop along an individual path.
Another direction in the development of sociology - Marxism - combines conflictological theories based on the economic struggle, the ideological confrontation of various social groups. Marxism in the interpretation of V.I. Lenin and his supporters played a decisive role in the historical development of Russia.
Neo-Marxism stood out in Western sociology (Germany, the 30s of the twentieth century). From the ideas of human alienation, the rejection of ideology, neo-Marxism in modern sociology affirms the idea of the impossibility of eliminating conflicts between social groups: the struggle for power, for spiritual leadership, rivalry in the redistribution of income, which are the main reasons for the development of society.
Modern sociology as a science is actively being formed within the framework of a technocratic trend quite popular in Western and domestic sociological circles. One of the trends is the globalization of modern sociology. The pure separation of the European and American lines of the development of sociological science, which manifested itself in the middle of the twentieth century, is being erased today. Universal human problems compel sociologists to join forces. On the other hand, it is obvious that both the evolutionary and the conflictological principles of the development of society take place in history. Therefore, the integration of various sociological theories becomes an objective necessity in the development of sociology. Undoubtedly, the importance of sociology for the development of modern society is great. It influences the formation of public opinion, the adoption of political decisions.
In the structure of modern sociology, various branches of sociological knowledge are actively developing: the sociology of youth, the sociology of organizations, the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion and others.