Like Any Scientific Discipline, Sociology Has Its Own Object

Sociology is the study of social life and the change and consequences of human behavior. Human behavior is social in nature, the topic of sociology ranges from divisions of race, gender and sociology of work and sports. In my opinion, sociology is one of the few fields which have such a broad scope and relevance for breadth, depth and application.

Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber were three historical sociologists. Their views have become world renown and have shaped many ways of interpreting the social structure of many modern societies. This essay will take a glimpse into the three sociologists’ ideals and expose the similarities and differences they may have.

Social facts have existence as a separate entity and it does not get affected by the individual behavior. In other words, social facts are the outcome of the state of the collective mind. The stress on the above feature makes sociology different from the rules of sociological method. Further, in favor of his argument Durkheim says that as an individual of the society the person inculcates automatically the behavioral deeds and actions with or without prior knowledge. No one is coercive on the imposition of laws and rules. If anyone goes against he is fined or a penalty is imposed for not obeying the laws of the society. To put forth his ideas in an effective manner he argues that society as a whole is an amalgamation of political platforms, partial groups such as literary schools, religious organizations etc which are bonded through certain sentiments. In his opinion, if the individual does not act in favor of a group and its principles that work for good cause and the betterment of the individuals and the society, he is made to face everything alone leading to atrocities and horrifying incidents.

Sociology is the study which seeks to understand society, social life and to understand ourselves, humans, as part of that social world [Giddens, A, 2006, p.2]. The term ‘sociology’ was developed by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, in 1838. Comte believed that scientific facts are able to explain the social world. Sociologists, such as Comte, study issues including: education, inequality and religion. Comte believed that sociologists play crucial roles in guiding society. In the 18th century the ‘Enlightenment’, which was a philosophical movement that stressed human reasoning over bling faith and obedience. At the time it was different to the religious and political order, as it encouraged a ‘scientific’ was of thinking. Political

Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber are all important characters to be studied in the field of Sociology. Each one of these Sociological theorists, help in the separation of Sociology into its own field of study. The works of these three theorists is very complex and can be considered hard to understand but their intentions were not. They have their similarities along with just as many of their differences.

Sociology is viewed as the scientific study of society, it is a scientific study because the views presented in sociology is based upon empirical data (information gained from constructing detail research). How what makes

After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family

From Durkheim’s perspective, society creates the individuals but also individuals create the society. For Durkheim, the desires and egocentricity of people are only held in check by influences that are created outside of the individual. Division of labor produces solidarity, which leads to a general cohesion of society. Plus, the economy and division of labor have positive effects on society that allows to social unity. On the other hand, Weber sees the religion influences, Protestant ethic is individuals’ being predestined. Everyone has to work hard and demonstrate their ability to reinvest money in their enterprises and maintain poverty as immortal and view the place of work as an improvement. Consequently, the change in ideals and customs are what contributed to the rise of modern

Durkheim focuses on the stability of society, and discusses the social causes of suicide. His work shows how ideology contributes to stability, and he describes abnormal conditions as anomie. Durkheim states, "in normal conditions the collective order is regarded as just by the great majority of persons …[b]ut when society is disturbed by some painful crisis or by beneficent but abrupt transitions, it is momentarily incapable of exercising this influence [of limiting desires]"

Beyond the shadow of doubt, all aspects of sociology would not be the same today if it wasn't for the work of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Their contributions to sociology are so generous and powerful that they are known as the ‘classical sociologists’ (Carter, 2007). Durkheim's opinion on sociology is that it is completely separate and not like philosophy and psychology, it is instead the academic work of social facts, with the end desire of continuing social order. (Ritzer, 2011). For Weber, sociology is ‘concerned to understand how people make sense of their own experience and how social interaction between individuals builds into larger social structures” (Carter, 2007, p.56).

Max Weber and Emile Durkheim are often regarded as two of the most important classical sociological theorists. Yet they took two completely different approaches to understanding human society and the nature of conflicts in society; they also proposed different methods of analyzing, studying and resolving problems that arise in societies.

When people look at the world, they see it is structured in a specific way. Each perspective varies depending on the person. For instance, when looking at classical theory in sociology, there exists three viewpoints on society. Karl Marx believed the world based on conflict while Weber made sense of it by viewing the meanings. As for Durkheim, he made sense of it through social cohesion. Unlike Marx, whose primary focus was conflict, Durkheim’s writing centered around how people were capable of coexisting harmoniously.

In this essay I am going to address three core sociology theorists; Marx, Weber and Durkheim, they all had different opinions about how society functioned through the different types of relationships. Each theorists had a different perspective about “the social” and how that perspective presented it through society. Marx’s view on “the social” was focused on production relations and how the classes interacted with one another through that type of relationship (Marx 1844). Weber’s view on “the social” was focused on meaningful relationships and he brought the aspect of religion and rank into his view (Weber 1925). Lastly Durkheim’s view on “the social” was focused on the moral relationships and how the individual acts according to society’s setup and social cohesion (Durkheim 1895).

Sociology is the study of the behavior of people and groups within society. This helps out how society works and thinks, If people understand how society thinks we can improve it. With this in mind, you can apply sociology theories and ideas to any scenario of daily life dealing with person to person interaction or even to an individual in regards to the society.

Sociology as an academic discipline has given birth to some of the greatest modern theories to explain society. The early stages of the discipline were particularly concerned with how societies are constructed; the means in which people organize themselves into living systems and how these structures and systems are maintained. The evolution from basic understandings of society as being controlled by abstract supernatural beings to a more articulate and factual explanation of society as an organized system of human relationships can be understood by the examination of theories presented by thinkers and academics within the discipline. The most prominent of these theories that have had everlasting impact on the way contemporary Sociology examines people in society would be the works of Karl Marx and Max Weber.