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I Believe In Sociology

Decent Essays

I definitely feel like I now have a more concrete grasp of what sociology means and entails. The readings we’ve encountered have certainly leaned towards a more pessimistic view overall, focusing on “problems” we have in the world; and thus out of the two views on sociology we analyzed in the first readings, I still find Mill’s argument for sociology as a practical and assessable topic more convincing. Even if that isn’t what sociology is right now, I believe that it is what sociology should be. Berger’s belief in sociology only for the highly passionate people remains too elitist and without much practical value for me – and it would make sociology seems like a huge waste (almost inhumanely so) of resources while there are still so many problems rooted in the world for us to solve.
I found the optimism and utopian thinking arguments interesting because it presents itself as a strong contrast against all the pessimistic readings we have had up until this point. While so much of the content is “gloomy,” the dissatisfaction with reality that results from this “gloominess” can act as a pushing …show more content…

ideal question is an ongoing heated debate; my personal solution to that has always been to keep the small steps practical but work towards the ideal as much as you can – the ideal should act as a general guide of direction. Week’s discussion on Bloch’s proposal of a “concrete utopia” of the “real-possible” links utopian thinking to practical solutions. By doing so, he challenges the meaning that people usually attach to the world “utopia.” I am aware of the fact that I am using the words “ideal” and “utopian” interchangeably, which is what Week specifically advises us against in the article. In this case, I would argue that the specific word choice is perhaps not as clear-cut as he suggests. Even Bloch himself sometimes uses the terms interchangeably in his discussion of the “Not-Yet-Conscious” that fuels

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