"Criticism" and "Understanding":the Two Traditions of Political Conflict Theories of Modern Capitalist Society

Conflict is not only a fundamental state of human society,but also a fundamental way of human society.There are basically two attitudes towards political conflicts in modern societies.One is derived from Marx's political conflict thought of Criticism,the other is derived from Weber's political conflict thought of sociology of understanding.The fundamental differences between the two include:first,should value judgments be made about political conflicts;second,should political conflicts be solved by violence;third,can political conflicts be eradicated ultimately.The first is the attitude of war while the second is the attitude of administration.These two fundamental attitudes to political conflict represent two basic stands in modern society and form two different theoretical traditions of political conflict thoughts.Ultimately,they underlie the different ways and institutions to deal with political conflicts in modern capitalist societies.The two attitudes of criticism and understanding serve as the cores of and the clues to the two theoretical traditions.