“The origins of sociological thought can be traced to the scientific revolution of the late 17th and early 18th centuries” (Kendall 11). In this period, great importance was attached to the possession of critical reasoning and experience. In France the Enlightenment was dominated by a group called philosophes; these men believed that human society could be improved through scientific discoveries (Kendall 11). In France during this period women were excluded from public life, but some women were able to influence the philosophes by participating in a “salon” which is very similar to an open house that encouraged discussion and debate. During these salons men typically viewed women as someone who was a good listener, or perhaps even a lover; they did not consider them intellectual equals. Sometimes they even used women's thoughts and ideas as if they were their own (Kendall 11) Some sociologists see society as a fundamental, continuous entity, some see it as groups competing for scarce resources, and others see it as fundamental daily interactions among people (Kendall 23 ). Each of these uses a theory that attempts to describe, explain, and sometimes predict social events (Kendall 23). These are referred to as perspectives which means "to have a mental vision or perspective or to have the ability to perceive things in their real interrelationships or comparative importance" (dictionary). Three main theoretical perspectives have emerged in sociology. The first would be functionalist theory, which means “a system of thought based on the premise that all mental processes derive from their usefulness to the organism in adapting to the environment” (dictionary). The second is conflict theory, which is based on the idea that the fundamental “cau…… middle of paper……” approach considers values ​​as the core of culture, because values ​​give meaning to what people do, they direct people's lives and bring people together” “For Parsons, society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. He defines social structure as any relatively stable pattern of social behavior” (Encyclopedia). Works Cited http://www.egs.edu George Simmel library, biography, online source, October 29, 2011 http://www.criminology.fsu.edu /crimtheory/chambliss, online source, October 29, 2011 http://www .dictionary.com, online source, October 29, 2011 http://www.encyclopedia.com/people, online source, October 29, 2011 http://www.historyguide. org/intellect/marx, online source, October 29, 2011Kendall, Diana. Sociology 111 General Sociology: Columbia College Edition. Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.