Lecture 2- January 13, 2014, Monday

The Origin of Sociology: Social fact, Social Conflict, Social Action

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Previous lecture summary:

When we do something it is an isolation/cause of things
around us
sociologists investigate and challenge social behaviour/belief
Sociological imagination: ability to see the relationship
between ones personal relationship and the larger social
society.
Addiction to coffee is a social issue

When, where, and why was sociology invented?

- When, where and why was sociology invented? Sociology is of
a relatively recent origin (1838, Augistacont) philosophers
have also made observations of human behaviour and social
life.

Some Classical Philosophers and Social Thinkers:

- Confucius (1551-1479 BC): Theorized among things such
as role modeling and leadership.
- Plato (427-347 BC): society was a human construction,
following associations among citizens.
- Descartes: subjectivity and consciousness (not really
sociology)
- Aristotle (384-322 BC)
- Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)
- Shakespeare (1564-1616): great writer, provided insights of
human behaviour
- Montesquieu (1689-1755)

*** None of them analyzed society from a sociological point of

view(systematic and scientific).

Social Change and Sociology:

- Industrialization and Urbanization
1. Industrialization: From agriculture and handmade
products to manufacturing and related industries
2. Urbanization: Population moving from rural areas to
cities.
- Political revolutions: suggested that people can change the
society.

Scientific revolution : Science in society is possible.

4 things: industrial revolution, urbanization, political
revolution, scientific revolution caused the birth of
sociology
Industrialization: from agriculture and handmade
products to manufacturing and related industries
Urbanization: Population moving from rural areas to
cities
Changes from these had a huge impact on society

Emergence of many new social problems:

- Anonymity, isolation, inadequate housing, crowded cities,
unsanitary and unhealthy work and living conditions,
homelessness, high rates of poverty, pollution, criminal
behaviour, etc.
- Popular discontent among the working class:
~ strikes, protest, social uprising, angry mobs clashing with
the police or the army, etc.

** -If you lost your life on the work place, your family is not
compensated
**Children chained to factory machines in order to keep them
from running (before child labour laws)

Famous novels from the 19th century:

- Victor Hugos Les misrables
- mile Zolas Germinal
- Charles Dickens Oliver Twist
- Herman Melvilles novels
- Etc.
- Novels from the 19th century emphasized
how bad society was in the past (Charles
dickens, Victor Hugo, Herman Melville,
Emile Zola, etc.)
- No sewage system back then so ground
covered in shit lol.
- Watch Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, Leo Dicap)
Urban misery, new york representation in 19th century, ethnic
conflicts

Political/Democratic Revolutions:
1. Changes in political thought
- society as the product of individual self-interest
- new political climate: individual freedom and rights
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2. The French revolution

Introduction of a new principle into
history by demanding political action
to redress mass poverty
3. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternityslogan of the French rev.
*** Anyone who disagreed were sent to the guillotine (40000
people sent, mostly aristocrats such as kings and queens [first
time in history king and queen killed legally because they
were against the French Revolution] )
***Back in middle ages, god ordained social order. French
revolution suggested people and not god were responsible for
social society/order.

Early Sociologists: Main Founders

- How and why do societies change?
- What are the social forces holding societies together to create
order and stability over time?
- How do modern societies differ from the preceding ones?
1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
- founder of Sociology
- Coined the word Sociology but preferred the
term Social Physics
- Sought to do a science of society
- Social statics (order and stability) and
dynamics (conflict and change)
Comte believed the French rev. weakened
social fabric in France and eroded traditional social values.
Comte innovated in a crucial way: Comte believed that
using scientific methods of nature and apply them to

sociology to solve social problems. Society also conforms to

laws of its own (sociology could uncover). Using physics to
discover laws of society.
Philosopher speculates, Comte broke away and said to work
like physicists (experimentation, data , etc.).
Influence from the scientific revolution
Auguste Comte: invented the word sociology. He
applied scientific theories and applied them to
society to develop the theories or society.
2. mile Durkheim (1858-1917)
- Society is mainly the sum of its parts.
- Created the first rules of methods in sociology
- Brought sociology to the university, created
the first chair in sociology at la Sorbonne in
Paris
- Trained the first students in the discipline
- Created the first academic sociological journal,
LAnne sociologique (1898)
Society is more than the sum of its parts: has a unique
character of its own; not reducible to the behaviour of
any one individual
Social Facts: patterned ways of acting, thinking, and
feeling that exist outside any one individual but that
exert social control over each person
Helped make sociology a respectable academic study
trained the first students in the discipline
created the first academic sociological journal
created the first rules of methods in sociology.
taught about suicide, and introduced statistical
analysis incorporated in his work.
concerned about the social changes from the many
revolutions (4 things)
Jewish stopped believing in god at 16 and thought
religion was an important factor in society.
Society is more then the sum of its parts
has a unique character of its own; not reducible to the
behaviour of any one individual
much as there is a chemical world, with chemical
processes and such. There is a social world that has

its laws and such. Non-reducible to psychology or

biology. What is the social world made of? (chemical
world: atoms, molecules etc.) Social world is made of
social facts!)
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Its has its own existence and it is made of people and social affects.
Social affects are made up of thinking. It will keep existing.
Such as Suicide is a social affect.
The lack of social integration is another social affect.
Social affects are expressed by other social affects.
He focused on social instability and said that individuals need social
support.
We need to be integrated into social groups, family, friends etc.
Dies in 1917, during WW1, he was affected by the war because of
personal experience. Most of his students were sent to war.
He lost 50% of his student in the war. His son died in germany
during the war in 1916. He soon died after receiving this news.
Suicide as a social fact:
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Social distribution of suicide and its rate among different

groups and countries
for any given country, the suicide rate is stable over time
it also differed wildly among them
Britain > 2 X Italy
Denmark > 4 X Britain
Social integration:
categories of people with strong social ties had low suicide
rates; more socially isolated or individualistic people had
higher suicide rates
-patterned ways of acting, thinking and feeling that exist
outside any one individual but that exert social control over
each person. (roles (as a sister/brother, mother/father,
son/daughter, etc. behave in a certain way, socially created,
these ways of acting are social facts), norms, social
institutions)
language: English existed before we were born. Doesnt
depend on anyones existence

3. Karl Marx (1818-1883)

- focused on social reform to bring social instability.

Economist, philosopher, historian, social

theorist, and political activist
Stressed the importance of social conflict, and
the need for further change and revolution
Concerned about oppression, exploitation, and
alienation
Economic determinism : every aspect of social life is
based on economic relationships
The key to human history: the conflict between those
who own the means of production and those who do
not: class conflict
In the case of industrial societies: the conflict between
the bourgeoisie (capitalist class) and the proletariat
(working class)
Socialism: the dictatorship of the proletariat over the
bourgeoisie
Communism: a classless system in which the means of
production are collectively owned and wealth and power
are evenly distributed

Concered about Opression, exploitation and alienation.

He focused on the class conflict such as the working class and the
social class. He wanted to remove it.
He was kicked out of Germany and France. He was expelled from 910 countries. Spent most of his life in exile. He died in England due
to old age.
4. Max Weber (1858-1917)
tremoundous impact on the development of sociology.
Meaningful social action:
The motives that underlie human
behavior
The ways in which people interpret and
explain their own behavior and that of
others
The way in which these actions and
meanings affect the social order
Verstehen (understanding, insight)
Importance of ideas, values, and beliefs

Focused on meaningful social action: focused on the motives of

human behaviour.
How they make sence.
How their action and behaviour affected others.
Understanding others point of view and knowing the insight.
Understanding how people feel about their own behaviour.
Analysis of social behaviour.
*** Durkheim and Marx were looking at the global society whereas
Weber believed the opposite.
*** Different socialist had different ideas from different sociologist. It
was not unified until later in the years.