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F soc usic lecture three
- 1. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society LECTURE THREE
- 2. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society 1. Review from Lecture Two 2. History of Sociology 3. Key Sociological Thinkers 4. Social Theories 5. Homework
- 3. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Review of Lecture Two Last week we discussed the definition of sociology and how it relates to the societies, social institutions and the people within those societies and social institutions. We also discussed what it means to develop sociological thinking or a sociological imagination. More importantly we talked about how things that may seem trivial like coffee can be highly influential to people and societies across the globe. We highlighted the importance of being able to set aside our pre-set ideas about the world and be open to viewing things, like coffee or culture, music, languages, etc. without glasses that are tainted by our own experiences and beliefs. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 3
- 4. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Historical Events as a Catalyst for the Study of Society During the Medieval Period in Europe (5th -15th centuries) the Catholic Church was a major role player in social and political affairs. Religious beliefs ( e.g perceptions of heaven and hell) were used as strong bases for social control. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 4
- 5. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society The Church’s power The Catholic Church not only controlled people’s beliefs but their working lives as well Peasants paid 10% of their earnings to the Church known as ‘tithe’. Payment was either in money or goods e.g seeds, harvested grains, animals, etc. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 5
- 6. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Church’s Wealth • Church became wealthy from the tithes of the working poor. • Fear prevented the peasants from refusing to pay tithes • Along with paying tithes peasants also paid for: • Baptisms • Marriages • Burials sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 6 •M e d i e v a l P
- 7. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Sociology and the Revolution The history of sociological thinking resulted from two revolutionary transformations •The Industrial Revolution of the late 18th and 19th centuries transformed material conditions of life and ways of making a living. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 7
- 8. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society French Revolution • The second revolution was the French Revolution of 1789, marked the end of the old European agrarian organisations and the monarchy’s control towards ideals of freedom, liberty and citizenship rights. • This revolution was believed to be the starting point of scientific thinking – a move away from the control of the church and religious indoctrination. • Enlightenment thinkers believed that scientific knowledge could help society move passed it superstitious, faith-based past. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 8
- 9. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Cultural Change to Political Change • Accompanying the cultural challenges provided by the French Revolution came a strong political challenge to the monarchy and aristocracy that ruled one of the most powerful nations in the world. • This time in history was known as the Enlightenment Period where philosophers viewed advancement of reliable knowledge in the natural sciences (e.g. astronomy, physics and chemistry) as a path to the way forward. • The English physicist Sir Isaac Newton was singled out as an exemplary scientist whose ideas of Natural law and scientific method appealed to Enlightenment scholars. • Enlightenment argument: in principle it should be possible to discover similar laws, using similar methods, in social and political life. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 9
- 10. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - SocietyEffective from September 2015 | FY10 Sociology week 2 - Society Sociological Thinkers Prompted by both revolutions, Auguste Comte (1798-1857) a French philosopher and mathematician) developed the science of society or what he termed sociology, believing it to be a science as equally important as the natural sciences. Comte raised the question of how social order was created and maintained, arguing the case for applying a scientific method (positivism) through which laws of social development or sociology could be discovered. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 10
- 11. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - SocietyEffective from September 2015 | FY10 Sociology week 2 - Society The Law of Three Stages: sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 11 Comte argued that all human societies pass through three stages: 1.Theological: where order was based on religious beliefs and controls 2.Metaphysical: a transition phase characterized by upheaval and disorder, where the old religious order was challenged by the emergence of science 3.Positive: where science and reason revealed the nature of the social world and replaced religion as the basis of social order
- 12. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - SocietyEffective from September 2015 | FY10 Sociology week 2 - Society Comte’s Positivist Philosophy sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 12 According to Comte the main task of sociology was to gain knowledge of the social world in order to make predictions, to intervene and shape social life in progressive ways. •Inspired by the achievements of the natural sciences •Sociology was the last science to develop, but also the most complex Comte believed that through the production of a moral agreement, through the development of a new religion of humanity, societies would hold together despite the many inequalities While his vision never came about, his contribution to the development of a science of sociology was significant to later sociological thinkers.
- 13. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Key Sociological Thinkers Emile Durkheim (1857-1917) A French sociologist inspired by Comte but had a more lasting impact on sociology Viewed sociology as a new science that turned traditional philosophical questions into sociological ones, requiring real-world research studies Durkheim argued that we must study social life with the same objectivity as scientists do when studying the natural world Sociology should study ‘Social Facts’ i.e all structures or rules that limit or control human behaviour sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 13
- 14. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Durkheim’s study of suicide rates used the concept of social facts to explain why some countries have higher rates of suicide than others. •He believed that suicide was not an individual act resulting solely from extreme unhappiness but influenced by many social facts like religion, marriage and divorce and social class. •He was particularly concerned with learning about what factors bind societies together. •Highlights the significance of shared values and beliefs in keeping societies unified. •Anomie: rapid change in values and beliefs, without replacement that leads to feelings of aimlessness, desperation and loss in the meaning of life. Pic of Durkheim sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 14
- 15. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Key Sociological Thinkers • Karl Marx (1818-1883) Karl Marx was a German sociologist whose ideas contrasted sharply with those of Comte and Durkheim. • Primary focus was on the development of capitalism • Capitalism is a system of production that contrasts radically with all previous economic systems • He viewed society as divided into two classes: wealthy ruling class and waged workers • He argued that capitalism is a class system in which relations between the two main classes are characterised by conflict • The ruling class and workers are dependent on each other, this dependency is unbalanced where the workers are more depended on the ruling class because the ruling class controlled all the wealth. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 15
- 16. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Key Sociological Thinkers Max Weber (1864-1920) Weber was a German academic who focused less on class conflict and more on the significance of ideas and values as a means of creating social change. •He believed that sociologists should focus on social action – the subjectively meaningful action of people that are oriented towards other people. •He believed that the emergence of modern society was accompanied by important shifts in patterns of social action. •Weber viewed a shift away from superstition, religion, customs and longstanding habits towards rational, instrumental calculations that took into account efficiency and consideration for future consequences of one’s actions. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 16
- 17. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society • The emergence of science and modern technology and bureaucracies was described by Weber as rationalization. • Rationalization is the organisation of life according to principles of self efficacy and on the basis of technological or scientific knowledge. Sociological Thinking in the Industrialized World sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 17
- 18. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Conclusion I: Sociological thinking emerged from the effects of two European Revolutions: 1. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries 2.The French Revolution of 1789 As a result of the revolutions sociological thinkers that questioned superstition and conformity, began to develop their own ideas based on facts and not faith, resulting in the Enlightenment Period. The Enlightenment Period was a time in history where scholars in philosophy and sociology viewed the advancement of reliable knowledge in the natural sciences as a path forward. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 18
- 19. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Conclusion II: Sociological thinkers such as Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber began to pave the way towards a more scientific method of conducting sociological research. While each focused on slightly different perspectives they all contributed significantly towards the study of social sciences. Next week we will begin discussing how and why we study societies scientifically as well as how the sociological perspectives of these early key sociological thinkers have developed into three broad methods for conducting social research. sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 19
- 20. Effective from September2015 | F_Soc USIC Sociology week 3 - Society Review lecture and prepare questions for seminar one Read Gidden’s chapter 3, pp 67- 84 available on MOLE, take this article with you to seminars one and two this week. Homework sheffield.ac.uk/international-college 20
Editor's Notes
- #4 The control the Church had over the people was total. Peasants worked for free on Church land. This proved difficult for peasants as the time they spent working on Church land, could have been better spent working on their own plots of land producing food for their families. Peasants paid 10% of what they earned in a year to the Church (this tax was called tithes). Tithes could be paid in either money or in goods produced by the peasant farmers. As peasants had little money, they almost always had to pay in seeds, harvested grain, animals etc. This usually caused a peasant a lot of hardship as seeds, for example, would be needed to feed a family the following year. A failure to pay tithes, according to the Church, would lead to their souls going to Hell after they had died.
- #5 The control the Church had over the people was total. Peasants worked for free on Church land. This proved difficult for peasants as the time they spent working on Church land, could have been better spent working on their own plots of land producing food for their families. Peasants paid 10% of what they earned in a year to the Church (this tax was called tithes). Tithes could be paid in either money or in goods produced by the peasant farmers. As peasants had little money, they almost always had to pay in seeds, harvested grain, animals etc. This usually caused a peasant a lot of hardship as seeds, for example, would be needed to feed a family the following year. A failure to pay tithes, according to the Church, would lead to their souls going to Hell after they had died.
- #6 The control the Church had over the people was total. Peasants worked for free on Church land. This proved difficult for peasants as the time they spent working on Church land, could have been better spent working on their own plots of land producing food for their families. Peasants paid 10% of what they earned in a year to the Church (this tax was called tithes). Tithes could be paid in either money or in goods produced by the peasant farmers. As peasants had little money, they almost always had to pay in seeds, harvested grain, animals etc. This usually caused a peasant a lot of hardship as seeds, for example, would be needed to feed a family the following year. A failure to pay tithes, according to the Church, would lead to their souls going to Hell after they had died.
- #7 This is one reason why the Church was so wealthy. People were too scared not to pay tithes despite the difficulties it meant for them. In addition to tithes peasants had had to pay for baptisms (if you were not baptized you could not go to Heaven when you died), marriages (there were no couples living together in Medieval times as the Church taught that this equaled sin) and burials - you had to be buried on holy land if your soul was to get to heaven. Hence the Church received money from the society in various forms. The medieval period is frequently caricatured as a "time of ignorance and superstition" that placed "the word of religious authorities over personal experience and rational activity. Sociological thinkers were the first to begin questioning religious authority by emphasizing rational thinking.
- #8 The history of sociology then begins with a general sociological viewpoint made possible by two revolutionary transformations. First, the Industrial Revolution of the late 18th century and 19th centuries that radically transformed material conditions of life and the ways of making a living. Initially these transformations brought many social problems such as the overcrowding in cities (discussed in week one), poor sanitation, disease and industrial population increases due to the shift from manual to mechanised factory work (industrialization). Those concerned with solving these issues, known as social reformers at the time, began to carry out research and gather evidence towards a better understanding of how the issues originated and potential ways of resolving them.
- #9 The second revolutionary event was the French Revolution of 1789 which marked the end of old European agrarian (agricultural) organisations and the control of the monarchy towards ideals of freedom, liberty and citizenship rights. This revolution was seen as the starting point of scientific thinking and a move away from the control of the church and religious indoctrination (teaching). Enlightenment thinkers believed that scientific knowledge could help society develop from its superstitious past based on religious teachings to a reasoned future. Accompanying the cultural challenges provided by the French Revolution was a strong political challenge to the monarchy and aristocracy that ruled one of the most powerful nations in the world.
- #11 As a result of the changes in society, prompted by both revolutions, Auguste Comte developed the science of society or what he termed sociology—believing it to be a science as equally important as the natural sciences. Comte (1798-1857) was a French philosopher and mathematician. He raised the question of how social order was created and maintained. He argued the case for applying a scientific method (positivism) through which laws of social development or sociology could be discovered.
- #12 Comte argued that all human societies pass through three stages: The theological, where order was based on religious beliefs and controls The metaphysical, a transition phase characterised by upheaval and disorder, where the old religious order was challenged by the emergence of science The positive, where science and reason revealed the nature of the social world and replaced religion as the basis of social order.
- #13 According to Comte the main task of sociology was to gain knowledge of the social world in order to make predictions, to intervene and shape social life in progressive ways. Comte’s positivist philosophy was clearly inspired by the achievements of the natural sciences, which were producing reliable knowledge about the natural world. Comte regarded sociology as the last science to develop, but also the most significant and complex. He was aware of the state of society in which he lived had was concerned with the inequalities produced by industrialization and the threat they posed to social unity. Comte believed that through the production of a moral agreement, through the development of a new religion of humanity, societies would hold together despite the many inequalities. While his vision never came about his contribution to the development of a science of sociology was significant to later sociological thinkers.
- #14 Another founding thinker of sociology, who came after Comte, was the French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1857-1917). Durkheim had a more lasting impact on sociology than Comte. He viewed sociology as a new science that turned traditional philosophical questions into sociological ones that required real-world research studies. Durkheim argued that we must study social life with the same objectivity as scientists study the natural world—to study the social facts as things.
- #15 Durkheim’s study of suicide rates used the concept of social facts to explain why some countries have higher suicide rates than others. He argued that while suicide is thought of as an individual act, the outcome of extreme unhappiness or perhaps deep depression, other social facts like religion, marriage and divorce and social class all influence suicide rates. Durkheim was particularly concerned with learning about what factors bind societies together. He argued that a set of shared values and beliefs held unified members of society and that when these values and beliefs changed too rapidly without being replaced by others people felt aimless, desperate and lost the meaning in life, a condition her termed as anomie.
- #18 In industrial societies there was little room for sentiment or the notion of doing things simply because that is how they had always been done. The emergence of science and modern technology and bureaucracies was described by Weber as rationalization—the organisation of life according to principles of self-efficiency and on the basis of technological or scientific knowledge. Next week we will be discussing how and why we study societies scientifically and how the sociological perspectives of these early sociologists have developed into three broad sociological methods for conducting social research.