Sociology an Introduction

A new awareness of Society Huge factories, exploding cities a new spirit of individualism-these changes combined to make people aware of their surroundings. As the social ground trembled under people’s feet, the new discipline of sociology was born in England, France, and Germany-precisely where the changes where the greatest

France-Social thinker Auguste Comte (1798-1857) Comte’s Three-stage historical development 1-Theological-from the beginning of human history to the end of the European Middles Ages about 1400, people took a religious view of society, seeing is as an expression of God’s will 2-Metaphysical-people understood society as a natural rather than a supernatural phenomenon. 3-Scientific-began with the work of scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo and Newton, Comte used the scientific approach to the world and universe to study society

The Sociological Perspective. A perspective can be broadly defined as "a way of looking at and seeing (or interpreting) something". To have a perspective, therefore, means to look at something (whatever that thing might be) in a particular way. For sociologists, the "thing" we are looking at is the social world and, in particular, the nature of the relationships people form in their everyday lives. Thus, when we talk about "society" or "the social world" as if it were something real and alive, what we are actually referring-to is our particular perception of the range and scope of the relationships that exist between people in any given society - which, if you're interested, is the real object of study for Sociologists.

Examples of the Perspective in action “Seeing the general in the particular” *Seek out general patterns in the behavior of particular people. Although every individual is unique, a society shapes the lives of its members. (People in the United States are much more likely to expect love to figure in marriage than, say, people living in a rural village in Pakistan)

Examples of the Perspective in action Using the perspective means-challenging the familiar idea that we live our lives in terms of what we decide, consider instead that society shapes our experiences Read: The perspective at work-Going to College

The Sociological Perspective-cont This is not to say that all sociologists necessarily look at the social world from exactly the same perspective (or viewpoint if you prefer), nor that sociologists are always in complete agreement about what they are seeing, how behavior could or should be understood and so forth.