February 4, 2014
Sociology 1000
Chapter 1- In Text Questions
1.How do the perspectives of people from different cultures differ on social issues such as suicide? How does the psychological perspective view suicide? What is unique about the sociologist 's perspective? On a social issue such as suicide, cultures differ because many people feel this is a personal problem whereas others feel that this can be a public issue. If a person commits suicide, it may have been as a result of his or her personal problems. In a larger society, this suicide is a public issue because the person who committed suicide is not the only one that may be affected. Sociologist Emile Durkheim perspective of suicide was that the issue was related to
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Marx stressed that history is a continuous clash between conflicting ideas and forces. He believed that conflict is necessary in order to produce social change and a better society. Ax Weber said that sociology should be value free and people should become more aware of how others see the world. Marx and Max Weber shared the similarities that exist was that they both felt like sociology should be studied but in different ways. They both studied on social change in society and agreed on the idea of the economy causing class conflict.
7.What role did Auguste Comte play in the development of sociology? Why did Harriet Martineau receive little recognition in the field of sociology for many years? Auguste Comte played a role in the development of society. He is considered the founder of sociology by his theory that societies contain social statics and social dynamics. He unlocked secrets of society. He was praised for his advocacy of sociology and insights. Harriet Martineau received little recognition in the field of sociology for many years due to the fact that she was a woman in a make-dominated discipline and society.
8.What is class conflict? Describe aspects of class conflict that exist in the United States today. Class conflict is the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class. Some aspects of class conflict that still exist today is deaths from poverty, starvation, illness, or unsafe working conditions.
7. Sociology, like any discipline, features some divisions. What are some of the cleavages in the field and why might they be described as false dichotomies?
Chapter 1 of Essential of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach by James M. Henslin is an introduction to the field of sociology. It discusses how history and biography are essential to the sociological perspective. Even though the world is much more global than it used to be, we still have different family backgrounds, religions, jobs, genders, races, ethnicities, and social classes. Sociology is believed to have originated in the middle 1800s, which is when people began transitioning from agricultural life to city life, and many monarchies were becoming democracies. Some famous early sociologists were Auguste Comte, who coined the term sociology, Herbert Spencer, who believed in Social Darwinism, and Karl Marx, who created the class conflict theoretical perspective.
This claim responds to the problem of the increased amount of suicide over the years. Places where individualism is the highest priority can cause this problem. Durkheim, the “father of sociology” is cited by Smith. She uses his research to support her claim. The research shows the significance of community
A class war as it has been termed, is merely just showing the differences between members of society. This difference is more prominent
Conflict theory allows us to see the conflict between social life and capitalism. Marx saw the power struggle between classes and felt that it is wrong to ignore inequality. One of the biggest inequalities between the two classes was the alienation of the workers (Morrison, 2006). Only one class, the wealthy gains the full benefit of the labor. An example of this is a worker who builds something that they will never be able to afford. Because of this the worker loses control of their production. This is what conflict theory is, the power struggle between two
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
Furthermore, social scientists have not been too involved in the topic of suicide. Since 1990-2009 there have not been many article on the topic and the disinterest can derive from the presumption that suicide is a lonesome act. The article “Suicide and the Creative Class,” states that, “Durkheim ([1897] 2006) illustrated that suicide is a social phenomenon by stating that levels of integration and
Why is suicide the most debated topic in philosophy? There are many causes for a suicide, and generally the most obvious ones were not the most powerful. Rarely is suicide committed reflection. What sets off the crisis is almost always unverifiable. It is hard to fix the precise instant, the subtle step when the mind opted for death, it is easier to take away from the act itself the consequences it implies. Showing that the
Marx viewed society as a conflict between two classes in competition for material goods. He looked at the history of class conflicts and determined that the coming of the industrial age was what strengthened the capitalist revolution. Marx called the dominant class in the capitalist society the bourgeoisie and the laborers the proletariat. The bourgeoisie owned or controlled the means of production, exploited laborers, and controlled the goods produced for its own needs. He believed that the oppressed class of laborers was in a position to organize itself against the dominating class. He felt that it was the course of nature, that is, it is the way that society evolves and that the communist society would be free of class conflict, "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." (Marx & Engels 1948, 37)
Sociology began in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Western Europe. Around this time, the political and economic systems in Europe were changing. Things like the Monarchy, (which was the
Harriett Martineau can be considered the first sociologist, she not only influenced Marx’s work on the political economy, but brought positivism to the English speaking world. Martineau was the first to collect data through observation, and speak for and to the people.
The three founding fathers of sociology are Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. Emile Durkheim was known for studying aspects of society and used scientific method. His ideas on traditional solidarity and modern societies contributed to the functionalism perspective of sociology. Max Weber was known for studying different areas of society, religion, and government. To describe bureaucracies, Weber came up with the ideal type. The ideal type is an exaggeration of the common elements of things. He used this idea to compare similarities and differences of multiple examples on a topic. Karl Marx had a big impact on the world. In his work, Marx argues that the economic system helped shape all parts of society, including religion, families, and politics. His ideas led to things like communism, union, and wars.
He assumed that, this new approach would allow us to understand each other better thus, create a better future. Through, he was not the only theorists of sociology and in the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century, such scientists as Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max weber and others contributed into development of newly aroused scholarship. The forerunners of sociology initially were educated in other academic disciplines such as, philosophy, economics and history. It is clear now that their previous education was reflected in the subjects and matters that they have explored, including philosophy, theology, religion, economics, psychology, education, ethics and inequality.
Just like Marx, Max Weber is a German sociologist and philosopher and his ideas have always influenced the society in many ways. He is referred to as one of the founding fathers of modern sociology. He has given many ground breaking theories like theory of bureaucracy and theory of social class. His theories are important because he helped us to understand the nature of society. He disagreed with the Marxian understanding of class and Auguste Comte's theory of positivism.
Q1. Sociology is the study of society and the social lives of each individual, group or society. Sociology uses patterns of social interactions, social culture and relationships to understand individual and group behaviours. The word sociology was used first by French philosopher, Auguste Comte (1798-1857). He believed that we could use the scientific method to study society in the same way as we use it to study other sciences. Around the late 18th century into the 19th century, technology had begun to revolutionise the life of Europe. Previous to this, life for most was fairly normal; you were born into a particular family, set up for a particular job, born into a particular place and so on. You would likely build your own house and live off food you’d grown mostly yourself. You were essentially tied to your family, job and hometown. However, with the introduction of industrial production, everything was sped up and changed how things used to be and it was known as the enlightenment. Before, society was controlled by strict traditions, superstitions, strongly held beliefs, and religion. For example, many people believed that the monarch could cure all diseases. However, after the enlightenment religion changed and didn 't have such a large influence as before as people began to realise it wasn 't the solution to all their problems, nurses/doctors (normal people) could cure diseases too. Farm production was more efficient, so less agricultural workers were needed. Workers