Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Scientific revolution of 17th century Enlightenment Philosophy of 18th c. French Revolution (1789--) Industrial Revolution (19th century)
Scientific Revolution
Newton: physical world governed by invariant laws Locke: all ideas from sensations, from the outside Descartes: supremacy of reason, cognition Francis Bacon: empiricism
Church View
Life here and now a preparation for the afterlife, entry into the kingdom of God Humanity under curse of original sin Physical universe is Gods mystery Active providence Knowledge from authority, tradition Humanity in decline (The Fall)
The Enlightenment
Happiness in the here and now Freedom from physical and mental coercion Reason: as a human faculty and as a force Nature: nature is reasonable, can reveal Natural Law, affect human conduct Natural Science as method of understanding Progress: human world can get better
Natural law and natural rights the basis of the political community Pursuit of individual interests is good Political freedom is natural including freedom to own land Education should be for the development of human faculties Knowledge should be based on empirical analysis
Auguste Comte
Tried to overcome conflicting points of view through science Believed that warfare caused by differing points of view based on substandard knowledge Thought that science and the scientific method could provide a new authoritative belief system
The Sciences have progressed by moving into the positive stage in a sequence
Emile Durkheim
Tried to give respectability to sociology Criticized the assumptions of the liberal society of his time (19th century) Founder of Functionalism Worked from the Positivist perspective
Durkheims positivism
There is a unity to nature Social phenomenon are part of the objective world of nature Social phenomenon are subject to their own laws which are natural Social causality
Durkheimmore concepts
Mechanical Solidarity (the bond based on similarity) Organic Solidarity (the bond based on interdependence and specialization)
Protestant rates higher than Catholics, higher than Jews Single persons rate higher than married People from small families higher than people from large families
Higher education, higher suicide rate Society during peacetime higher than wartime
Opposite of Egoism=Altruism
Examples:
Divorce Widowhood Unemployment Losing wealth Rapid wealth gain
Opposite of Anomie=Fatalism
Excessive regulation
Examples:
Suicide of prisoners Suicide of slaves Suicide by wives in a traditional family system
Basics:
Humans must (necessarily) interact with natural environment through human labor Humans produce their means of subsistence Humans create their own history (including the institutions of human society) although they are not always aware of it
Capitalism
Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat
Webers method:
Rejects Positivism (need to look at the meaning that events, actions have for a group)=Verstehen sociology Rejects historicism. There are a relatively small number of concepts that enable us to comprehend various societies and the historical past.
Webers concerns:
1. Uniqueness of Western Society=Science and Capitalism 2. Capitalism (bureaucracy) has standardized the experiences of all individuals (iron cage of bureaucracy) loss of magic 3. How religion influences personality and behavior 4. Use of sociology to deal with problems of German Society
Comparisons:
Marx: sociology for enlightenment, demystification of understanding Durkheim: search for General Laws of human society (cannot be changed, only adapted to) Weber: cannot escape from the structured choices that individuals face
Causality in sciencemetaphor?
Positivism: cause-effect model independent variable causing changes in dependent variable Weber: multiple causes (meaning antecedents or limiting factors) Marx: system of capitalism imposes limits on behavior
Sociological Research
1.experiments 2. Surveys 3. Observation (unobtrusive) and participant 4. Comparative and Historical 5. Analysis of existing data (archival) 6. Community, institutional study.
Approach to Research
1. Researchable Problem 2. Review Literature 3. Formulating a Hypothesis --operational definitions 4. Research Design 5. Data Collection 6. Data Analysis 7. conclusions
Other approaches
Critical Theory (Frankfurt School) (used Marx and Freud) (capitalism and culture)