Sociology Then and Now

The Sociological Perspective  Allows us to look at social life in a scientific way.  Moves us away from “Common Sense.”  Recognizes that we are all social beings.  There are many different perceptions of social reality.  Helps us understand our social desires.  Realizes the larger worlds connection to our personal lives.

Origins of Sociology  Rapid social and political changes in Europe. –Specifically…The Industrial Revolution  Rural farming surrendered to large-scale production economy.  Factories took over…people stopped making their own products.  People forced to move into cities for work.  Urbanization led to social issues  More people than available jobs. –Crime –Poverty –Dependence Issues –Pollution

 Personal relationships of rural communities replaced by impersonal cities  Impossible to ignore impact of governments, cities and economy of individuals  ¡Viva la Revolución!  America and France revolt as a result of the differences in society. Origins of Sociology…Continued

Auguste Comte ( )  French philosopher…Never completed college  1 st to use term Sociology  Needed science & philosophy to help explain the need for chaos and revolution.  Comte's aim was to create a naturalistic science of society, which would both explain the past development of mankind and predict its future course.  The society of man, Comte taught, must be studied in the same scientific manner as the world of nature. It is subject to basic laws just as is the rest of the cosmos, even though it presents added complexities.

Karl Marx ( )  For him, struggle rather than peaceful growth was the engine of progress; strife was the father of all things, and social conflict the core of historical process.  He certainly struggled…kicked out of several cities…died penniless in London.  Marx did not believe that all people worked the same way, or that how one works is entirely personal and individual. Instead, he argued that work is a social activity and that the conditions and forms under and through which people work are socially determined and change over time.

 Marxian thought rests on the fundamental assumption that it is human nature to transform nature. – He calls this process of transformation "labor" and the capacity to transform nature "labor power."  Basically, Marx believed that social structure is economically driven and that influences the individual. Karl Marx…Continued

Herbert Spencer ( )  English contemporary to Comte  He developed a theory of two types of society, the militant and the industrial, which corresponded to this evolutionary progression.  Militant society, structured around relationships of hierarchy and obedience, was simple and undifferentiated.  Industrial society, based on voluntary, contractually assumed social obligations, was complex and differentiated.

Herbert Spencer…Continued  Believer in Social Darwinism –Societies are living organisms that evolve over time and eventually reach perfection. –Survival of the Fittest

Emile Durkheim ( )  Applied the scientific method to Sociology  Societies are held together by shared values and beliefs.  Sociologists should study only what is directly observable.  Social observations cannot be staged.  Thoughts and feelings of the individual should not be part of the observation process.

Max Weber ( )  Received Doctorate from University of Berlin  Interested in groups within the whole.  Go beyond studying what is directly observed.  Uncover thoughts and feelings of the individual within the group.  Created to concept of Verstehen  Sociologists must try to see/view the situation through another person’s eyes.