Review for Final ExamSOC 101César Ayala & Pei Palmgren

  According to I. Zeitlin, which of the

following is trueA. Weber was a Marxist and admired

Marx’s workB. in their respective conceptions of

history Weber and Marx are comparable and complementary

C. Weber and Marx are polar opposites methodologically

D. Marx was critical of the work of WeberE. Weber never even heard of Marx’s

work

According to Weber, ancient Judaism

A. is at the root of the western sense of “rationality”

B. was completely different from Christianity, which was “rational”

C. was similar to oriental “magical” religions

D. B and CE. A and B

According to Weber, ancient Judaism

A. is at the root of the western sense of “rationality”

B. was completely different from Christianity, which was “rational”

C. was similar to oriental “magical” religions

D. B and CE. A and B

According to WeberA. Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees

is the best closing pitcher of all timeB. it is impossible to study society

scientificallyC. the distinction between “values” and

“facts’ makes sense in the natural, but not in the social sciences

D. human beings have an innate propensity to barter and trade

E. The distinction between “values” and “facts” must be strictly observed in social science research

1) For Weber, which of these concepts crosses historical epochs

a) Rationality b) Bureaucracy c) Capitalism d) Charismatic Authority e) impersonal, rule based

administration

According to WeberA. workers in capitalist society are

actually unfreeB. capitalist society requires free laborC. a propertyless stratum is required for

capitalism to functionD. completely rational calculation of

profit is only possible on the basis of free labor

E. B, C and D

According to Weber’s General Economic History, a rationalistic economic ethicA. is the essential condition for the

emergence of capitalismB. has only existed in capitalist societyC. is a necessary complementary factor

in the emergence of capitalismD. can only come about thanks to the

Calvinist, Protestant EthicE. is actually an impediment to the

development of capitalism

Weber’s “last theory of capitalism”A. was a correction of his earlier theory

of the protestant ethicB. Incorporated the “protestant ethic”

as one among many factors leading to the emergence of capitalism

C. was never fully reconciled by Weber to his earlier theory

D. B and CE. A and B

8) “This is the behavior which…we shall term ________________: a person does not “by nature” want to make more and more money, but simply to live – to live in the manner he is accustomed to live, and to earn as much as necessary for this”

a) The Spirit of Capitalism b) The Protestant Ethic c) Traditionalism d) Rationality e) Asceticism

9) “Today’s ______________....which has come to dominance in economic life, creates and trains, by means of “economic selection”, the economic subjects – entrepreneurs and workers – that it needs”

a) Ascetic Protestantism b) Capitalism c) Collective Consciousness d) Feudalism e) City

9) “…the essential elements of the…_________________ are precisely those which we found to be the content of Puritan asceticism of the calling, only without the religious foundation, which had already ceased to exist at the time of Franklin.”

a) Protestant Ethic b) Monastic Style of Life c) Spirit of Capitalism d) Medieval Economic Ethic e) Ancient Jewish Prophecy

11) “Above all, the ‘spirit’ of capitalism had to wrestle with the kind of feeling and conduct that is customarily termed_____________.”

a) traditionalism b) Protestantism c) asceticism d) atheism e) rationality

“Wherever the power of the Puritan philosophy of life extended, it always benefited the tendency toward a middle-class, economically ________________ conduct of life.”

a) traditional b) rational c) viable d) extravagant e) wasteful

Which of these reflect Durkheim’s thought?

a) societies have properties above and beyond those of their individual members

b) Individuals come together in association via contractual agreements

c) Catholicism is a terrible religion that increases suicide rates.

d) Protestantism produced theological peace and lowered suicide rates.

e) All of the above

Suicide apparently involves no social interaction so

a) it can only be analyzed psychologically.

b) at first sight it would seem impossible to analyze sociologically.

c) it remains a mystery to sociologists.

d) it is independent of population density.

e) its distribution is patterned very randomly.

The term "anomie" is associated with a) an iron deficiency in the organism. b) moral deregulation c) murkiness in the norms of society d) A and B e) B and C

14) In the Latin American country of Zapata there is an economic boom that causes a rise of 40% in the average income of individuals throughout the entire society. One would expect, according to Durkheim's notions, that the rate of suicide will

a) remain stable b) decrease due to decreased poverty c) increase d) return to its level of 100 years ago e) none of the above

“The similarity of consciousness gives rise to legal rules which, under the threat of _____________ measures, impose upon everybody uniform beliefs and practices.”

a) regulatory b) restitutive c) repressive d) restorative e) righteous

20) “…suicide varies inversely with the degree of ___________ of the social groups of which the individual forms a part.”

a) integration b) division c) rationality d) wealth e) religious devotion

18) “Social life is derived from a dual source, the similarity of individual consciousness and the social ________________.”

a) sphere b) division of labor c) relations of production d) environment e) revolution

“This solidarity resembles that observed in the higher animals…Using this analogy, we propose to call _____________ the solidarity that is due to the division of labor.” Mechanical Repressive Organic Collective Anomic

EQ1 1) According to Weber, what is the ‘spirit

of capitalism’ and how did it contribute to the development of modern capitalism?

 The spirit of capitalism is a rational economic ethic that supports a specifically capitalist form of economic organization. Central to the spirit of capitalism is the belief that hard work is a moral duty and that overindulgence and idleness are immoral. For Weber, the writings of Benjamin Franklin exemplify the spirit of capitalism; adages like “time is money” are ethical teachings that predispose people toward behaviors conducive to capital accumulation. Though supportive of capitalism, Weber argues that the spirit of capitalism is not necessary for the functioning of modern capitalist economies where the threat of competition provides sufficient impetus for accumulation.

  Weber traces the origins of the spirit of capitalism to what he terms the Protestant ethic. In a period

before capitalist competition was developed, the Protestant ethic alone was sufficient to generate capital accumulation. Protestantism was similar to the spirit of capitalism in its ethical consequences — it produced hard work and frugality (asceticism in Weber’s terms) in its adherents — but the religious meaning behind the ethic created a much stronger motivation for believers than does its secular counterpart. Based in the Christian concern with the fate of the immortal soul, Weber traces the development of the Protestant ethic back to three principles: Luther’s conception of a calling, Calvin’s doctrine of predestination, and Baxter’s notion of evidence of the state of grace. The calling consecrated mundane occupations with a religious significance, making one’s work a duty to God rather than a selfish pursuit. Predestination — the belief that one could neither know whether God had destined you to heaven or hell nor do anything on earth to earn salvation — caused tremendous anxiety that explained the motivational force of the ethic. Such anxiety was channeled, and partially relieved, by the teaching that worldly success due to hard work in a calling, so long as wealth was not enjoyed, provided “clues” (but no incontrovertible proof) that one was a member of the elect. This combination of religious ideas created for Weber a “rationalizing” ethic leading to capital accumulation and reinvestment, perpetual improvement of business activities, and pitiless exploitation of laborers characteristic of what would become modern capitalism.

  At the time of the writing of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber implies that the

Protestant ethic alone was sufficient to generate capitalist economic activities; by the writing of the General Economic History Weber relegated the ethic to one among a variety factors characteristic of Western civilization that each were necessary for the development of modern capitalism.

EQ2 2) Discuss how Weber extends Marx’s

analysis of capitalism. On which preconditions of capitalism do Weber and Marx agree? On which preconditions does Weber go beyond Marx (list at least two preconditions)

Weber extends Marx’s analysis of capitalism by offering a more complex explanation for the origins of modern capitalism. Weber agrees with Marx about some of the main preconditions of modern capitalism. However, Weber goes beyond Marx by seeking to explain why modern capitalism developed only in Western Europe, rather than in other parts of the world.

Weber agrees with Marx on several preconditions of modern capitalism: 1) the appropriation of the means of production by entrepreneurs (i.e. capitalists), 2) free markets (within countries), and 3) a class of free laborers who are both legally free and who are property-less. Weber also agrees with Marx that the development of new technologies plays an important role in modern capitalism, but unlike Marx emphasizes the “rational” character of technological development.

Weber goes beyond Marx by identifying particular conditions that accounted for why modern capitalism developed in Western Europe and not in other parts of the world. Two of those conditions were modern, rational states (with rational legal systems and citizenship) and a rational ethic for the conduct of life (i.e. the spirit of capitalism).

EQ3 What are the two types of social

solidarity identified by Durkheim? How are the two types of solidarity different? [Make sure you explain the concept of social solidarity.]

“Solidarity” in Durkheim is roughly equivalent to “what keeps society together.” Durkheim distinguishes between "mechanical and "organic" solidarity. The former is typical of societies in which the division of labor is not very developed and in which there is an overarching collective consciousness which envelops individuals uniformly. Societies which are characterized by the mechanical form of solidarity and typically integrated and cohesive, and the cohesion is based on homogeneity, that is, on the fact that different individuals in society experience similar lifestyles, work experiences, and forms of kinship. Mechanical solidarity is typical of small scale societies. Organic solidarity, by contrast, develops in societies in which the social division of labor has produced heterogeneity among individuals and has advanced the process of individuation. In such societies, solidarity is not based on homogeneity bur rather on the functional interdependence produced by a complex division of labor which has differentiated individuals within society. Organic solidarity is typical of modern, industrialized societies.

EQ4 The state of California experiences a sudden

economic boom due to the simultaneous expansion of industrial output in Silicon Valley, the discovery of new oil reserves, increased tourism from abroad, and the discovery of vast, previously unknown energy sources. Average incomes in the state experience increases of 20 to 30 percent across the entire economic spectrum.  Given these circumstances, using Durkheimian notions, what would you expect will happen to the rate of suicide?

Fast changes in society, whether they are positive or negative, produce “moral deregulation” or a kind of fuzziness of the norms of society. This is associated with the state which Durkheim described as anomie. Given the speed and dimension of the changes described in the question for the state of California, one would expect that sudden changes in the regulatory power of society would ensue, thus weakening the bond between society and the individual, or, put differently, a decrease in the moderating role of society. The weakening of this bond in Durkheim’s theory will result in an increase in the rate of suicide. One would expect the rise in the rate of suicides to be driven by anomic suicides, since the origin of the rise in suicides lies with fast changes which produce moral deregulation, or changes in the collective order, rather than increased individuation (which produces “egoistic” suicides).

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