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Plato

Plato was the first western philosopher who attempted a systematic study of society. Plato in republic and Aristotle in Politics dealt systematically with social institutions. They accepted state and society as synonymous and took the individual for granted. Plato could be said to be the first exponent of the organic theory in society and Aristotle subscribed to it too. Thus they accepted society as a unified system structured around division of labor and social inequality.

They saw society in holistic terms and gave state the dominant role. Aristotle thought the origin of societies lay in human nature and its structure consisted of social groups in function. Their views presented the definition of society in terms of objective laws and historical processes.

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