Download or read book Social Evolution and Sociological Categories (Routledge Revivals) written by Paul Q. Hirst and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-01-21 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1976, this book is concerned with the nature of classification in the social sciences. Its thesis is that classifications are dependent upon and are derived from theoretical explanations. Classification is not a theoretically neutral typification or ordering of social forms. This is because objects classified – societies, social institutions – are not given to knowledge independently of the categories which construct them and because the categories of classification are themselves the products of theories.