The transition from a traditional society organized along feudal lines to a modern society of individuals was a traumatic one marked by tremendous upheaval. Most of the thinkers we have read this term are concerned with this issue and indeed, grappling with the question required new understandings of society and new justifications for social science. Using Marx, Weber, Durkheim explain how they characterized the transition to the modern world and explain what each approach makes visible and what each obscures.