An Ethological Conception of Social Classes

Studied is whether SCs are real, solidly unified bodies or simply intellectual constructions. Traditional sociology considers SCs as concrete social phenomena & reduces the problem of their reality to a question of method. A praxiological perspective, which supposes that human action is antecedent to all sociological considerations, is proposed to clarify the problem. The ethological point of view is analyzed as it relates to Montesquieu & Hegel. Hegel's ideas on the characteristics of SCs, their dynamics & equilibrium, & their relation to the government are dicussed. Hegel's method, like Comte's, closely follows Montesquieu & is inductive & deductive at the same time. For Hegel, the law schematically reflects the structure of the system of social relations, & these are meaningful only insofar as they form part of a whole. A. Rubins.