Document Type : Research Paper

Abstract

The main purpose of present article is codification of lbn Khaldon's social thought with respect to The process of concept formation in sociology. For fulfilling this aim a numher of concepts such as family, dynasty, "asabiyya," tribe, ecological functioning which have a key role in his thought were selected and sociologically clarified in terms of boundary, fitness, and compatibility. Hence, hy a detail inspection of these concepts some sociologically imporant points had been derived, such as the unit of analysis, the process of structural formation, the basic assumptions about interaction variances, the paths of structural change and the type of ideal political state. Therefore a logical articulation of these derived concepts in form of a theoretical construct was used as criterion for indicating to what degree with respect 10 recent intellectual engagements in sociology lbn Khaldon could be judged as a sociologist.