RESPONDING TO CHAOS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIOLOGY

A tradition of skepticism…

In early history, people focused their efforts on gaining an understanding of the physical world.

Inquiries into the physical world

Ptolemy, 2nd century BCE

Copernicus, 1500s CE Galileo, 1600s Newton, 1600s

His laws explained the movement of everything visible in the universe

But the church maintained that it was God who controlled the social world

But then people started to speculate that maybe the mysteries of the social world could also be examined in a scientific way!

First attempt: Auguste Comte, 1798-1857

1842- coined the term sociology

Argued people no longer understood the way things ought to be

Believed human greed and selfishness resulted in social chaos

Humans suffered from “intellectual anarchy”

First attempt: Auguste Comte, 1798-1857

Believed social chaos would be overcome when people accepted that knowledge should be based on scientific principles.

Sociologists would use the scientific method and advise people about how to live.

Origins of Modern Sociology: France’s Emile Durkheim

Even a society filled with selfish people would together because we need each other to survive.

“Collective conscience” Worked for pre-

modern societies Modern society was

different

Origins of Modern Sociology: France’s Emile Durkheim, 1858-1917

In pre-modern society, people had been held together because of their likeness, but in modern society, held together by differences.

Origins of Modern Sociology: France’s Emile Durkheim

Paradox: In modern society

we want to be free but have no choice but to keep social ties

Society’s structure forces us to interact

Origins of Modern Sociology: France’s Emile Durkheim

Must focus on the nature of society itself! Social phenomena do

exist! Social patterns do

exist! Social facts do exist! Thus, his definition of

sociology: the scientific study of social facts.

Durkheim’s definition of “social facts”- manners of acting, thinking, and feeling, external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue which they exercise control over him.

“social facts”- manners of acting, thinking, and feeling, external to the individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue which they exercise control over him.Test this definition!

Partner up and discuss:

Are norms truly social facts? Test this for yourself. Does the rule or norm that one must wear clothing to class qualify as a social fact according to Durkheim’s definition? Explain why or why not.

Origins of Modern Sociology: Germany

Ferdinand Tonnies, 1855-1936 Agreed with

Durkheim but with a twist: he wanted to understand how social relationships between people differed in pre-modern and modern societies

Tonnies concluded there are two categories of social relationships:“Gemeinschaft” “Gesellschaft” Communal relationships Social relationships that

people enter into as ends in and of themselves

For emotional reasons He thought pre-modern

society was more like this.

Goal-driven relationships Social relationships that

people enter into as means to specific ends

For the purpose of achieving a goal

He thought modern society was more like this.

Thus, the type of the relationship determines the rules of the relationship!

Test these definitions!Partner up and discuss: Which of the following types of relationships are most likely to be gemeinschaft? What about gesellschaft?a. Friend-friendb. Wife-husbandc. Doctor-patientd. Retailer- customere. Minister- parishionerf. Parent-childg. Worker-boss

Challenge question:Generally, the banker-client relationship in modern society is gesellschaft. Yet, from watching television advertisements for banks, one might conclude that the banker-client relationship is supposed to be gemeinschaft. For example, many banks seem to make a big deal of claiming to be “friendly bankers” or “good neighbors.”

Why would banks promote their services as gemeinschaft rather than gesellschaft?What, if any, danger is there in thinking of your relationship with your banker as gemeinschaft when it is really gesellschaft?

Origins of Modern Sociology: Germany

Max Weber, 1864-1920 Liked Tonnies ideas

about motives “Rational behavior:”

seeing each other as means to an end; rational as “calculating”

Individual think time:

Think about two things you do for what Weber would call rational reasons? In what respect are your motives rational?

Consider the flip side. Think about two things you do for what Weber might consider non-rational reasons? In what respect are your motives non-rational?

Weber observed that people choose efficient, rational behaviors in modern society.

Also observed that “society” looks down upon those who simply do things for enjoyment (non-rational).

Weber wanted to know why society seemed to drive us toward “rational” behaviors

Origins of Modern Sociology: Germany

Karl Marx Did not see himself

as a sociologist! But, sociologists

rank him as completely influential Economics mattered Class distinctions

mattered Economics was the

driving force behind social decisions

Hence, a sociologist!

Origins of Modern Sociology: England

Herbert Spencer, 1820-1903 Believed societies

evolved His work published six

years BEFORE Darwin’s

“Social Darwinism” Survival of the fittest

Can be deadly premise

His bottom line: the competition to survive will be won by “the best”

Sociology in the United States

US role in the field came later than Europe 1st course at Yale 1st sociology dept.

at University of Chicago, 1892

American Sociological Association, 1905

Sociology in the United States

Different approach Not focused on

theories Focused on solving

specific social problems Jane Addams

Social welfare reform (Hull House)

W.E.B. DuBois Racial inequalities &

ethnic differences Wrote to expose injustices

in order to remedy them

The Place of Sociology in Modern Society

Evolved to prominence by the end of the 19th century

Social world viewed as worthy of study

By using scientific tools we could make sense of the social world.

Skepticism continues today…