Sociological Bad Boys

Early 1800s French “Founder” of sociology – he originally called it social physics = laws governing movement Positivism – manifestation of social physics idea. A set of laws that empirical evidence proves to be true about human behavior Focused quite a bit on reasons for social statics (stays the same) and causes of social dynamics (changes) He wished to reform society once he established the laws (applied sociology) Auguste Comte

The toebone connected to the footbone… The theoretical perspective of sociology that he helps to invent is known as the functionalist perspective Every element of society has a function. All elements are interconnected. Used an organism analogy for functionalism

Comte Criticisms His idea of empirical evidence left a lot to be desired. He becomes obsessed with his ideas and a) refuses to acknowledge contrary ideas (cerebral hygiene ) b) thinks of himself as “pope” of the positivist “religion” Struggles to maintain any lasting credibility

Herbert Spencer Mid 1800’s English. Considered in his time to be a polymath– a philosopher, sociologist, economist, “political scientist” Thought evolution could be applied to MANY different topics Coined the expression “Survival of the Fittest.” SOTF becomes Social Darwinism Argued against institutional interference in social evolution Was a functionalist

Criticisms of Spencer His sociological work ends up being very anecdotal and politically driven and less scientific His ideas have not held up well to explain social changes

Emile Durkheim Late 1800’s French. Organized the first Sociology department at Sarbonne (taught many teachers) Considered 1st capable and successful scientific sociologist Focused on social facts– eliminate other characteristics of phenomena Was a functionalist, but saw things less philosophically than Comte and less politically than Spencer

Focused on impact of social integration Famous study Suicide looked at the impact of religious belief on suicide rate Argued integration into the values impacted individual decision making Argued that anomie(absence of norms) = an individual who feels a lack of cohesion Non-normative behaviors will follow anomie

Max Weber “Vayber” Late 1800’s German Sought to find out about verstehen – meaning behind individual actions Argued that empirical evidence was not enough to determine social behavior Argued that laws about individual behavior could not be determined Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism tie religious beliefs into values that impact individual and group decision making Max Weber “Vayber”

He also wrote about political leadership from an interactionist basis His ideas are adopted by many sociologists to become the Interactionist Perspective of Sociology Interactionism seeks to understand behaviors on a micro scale while other perspectives were on much more of a macro scale He also wrote about political leadership from an interactionist basis Leadership style e.g.

Karl Marx Bourgeoisie -- Have power and property Mid 1800’s German (worked in Paris and London) Believed that all human struggles were related to class Argued that society could only truly be reformed through worker vs. power revolution Really only saw 2 classes – the haves and the have nots Bourgeoisie -- Have power and property Proletariat-- Have labor His ideas become the basis for the Communism (Communist Manifesto) His ideas became the basis for the Conflict Perspective of Sociology All struggles are power struggles