Download So what is Sociology???

Introduction to the Course
Two Major Divisions of Science
 Natural Sciences
 Disciplines designed to
explain and predict
events in our natural
environment (ie.
Biology, geology,
chemistry, physics)
 Social Sciences
 The fields of academic
scholarship which
explore aspects of
human society (through
controlled and repeated
observations)
Which of these two is
“Contemporary Social Issues”
focused on?
 Social Sciences
 Essentially, CSI is a Sociology Course- the study of
human societies
 We will emphasize our, American society, mainly (as
most sociologists in America do)
Sociology is just ONE of the many
social sciences:
 Anthropology- how do people groups live? How are
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they organized? How did they evolve and from what?
Economics- How are resources organized and
gathered? How are they distributed?
Political Science- Who has power? Why? How?
Psychology- study of the individual- How do they
think? Why do they act the way they do?
Sociology- How are they organized? Why are groups
treated differently?
Many of the social sciences overlap
When and Why did the Social
Sciences begin?
 It’s important to look at when they DIDN’T. When
didn’t people ask questions about the world and their
societies?
 Most of human history
 Tradition vs. Science
 For most of human history, tradition ruled.
 Religion was the mainstay of most people’s lives
 Original thinking was discouraged- questioning was
considered non-conformist (questioning God?)
 Monarchies governed people (Often with power/prestige tied
to God/religion). Ex: Louis XIV of France; Egyptian pharaohs
Origins of the social sciences
continued…
 Social Questions (why war exists, why some are rich
and some are poor, why some are more powerful)
answered by myth, superstition, tradition.
 Nothing was tested
 Answers are known, so why search for further
explanations. The idea of Heresy/ being a heretic
Changes and Challenges
 As societies became more sophisticated, changes did happen,
starting with the Renaissance; Western culture became more
open
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Impact of the printing press
People began to question religious institutions and governments
 Things really started to explode in questioning the social
order, and studying how humans and societies worked with
the Enlightenment of the 1700s
 A growing belief in scientific laws, increasing study of
government and political science.
 Examples: John Locke (natural rights); Sir Isaac Newton
Birth of Sociology
 The social sciences didn’t achieve real respectability
until the 1800s, the same time that the discipline of
sociology was created. Why?
 Three Main Reasons:
 Reason #1- Industrial Revolution caused social upheaval;
dangerous working conditions; rights of the
workers/child laborers; what is fair? Why are things
changing?
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Scientific laws were harnessed to make the new machines. Do
any scientific laws apply to society? Are there laws of society?
Is there order to society?
Should Darwin’s laws apply to society? Social Darwinism
Social Sciences gain respectability
continued…
 Reason #2- Political Revolutions (American and French)
 Got people thinking about their social life. New thinking
emerged- people have inalienable rights; representative
governments formed
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Who should rule?
Are men equal?
 Reason #3- Imperialism
 European colonies stretched from Asia to Africa to North and
South America, exposing new cultures, traditions, and ideas.
Most were not Christian or white.
 Why are people different?(and why/how are Europeans
superior- survival of the fittest)
So why did the social sciences
emerge, then?
 Europe had begun to modernize and expand its
viewpoints
 In the rapidly changing world people needed more
answers to new and rising questions.
So what are the social sciences?
Anthropology, Economics, Political
Science, Psychology, Sociology, History
Anthropology
 the study of culture; a people’s total way of life.
Culture includes a group’s artifacts, structure,
ideas and values, forms of communication. Most
anthropological work has been done on tribal
people. The anthropologist typically lives with the
group they are studying
 Archeology is a sub branch (Indiana Jones, or studies of
Egyptian pyramids)
Economics
 the study of production, distribution, and
consumption of material goods and services in a
society.
 What is being produced at what rate at what cost?
 What motivates people to buy one thing over another.
 Scarcity – limited amount of goods/materials in society
or world – how do we use/distribute it
 Oil, gold, money, jobs, pasture space, land, etc.
 Without scarcity – no economics necessary (we’d have
everything we need!)
Political Science
 politics and forms of government, voting patterns,
etc.
 What is the proper form of government? Why do people
vote the way they do? Who will win the election?
 Machievelli, Locke, Rousseau
Psychology
 Mental processes, what goes on in the mind.
Intelligence, emotions, perception, memory,
dreams, personality, mental illness, etc.
 Sigmund Freud
 B.F. Skinner
Sociology
 Many similarities to the other social sciences… They
do many of the same things the other disciplines do.
Sociologists focus on industrialized societies, what
motivates people, what factors are external to the
individual in influencing them.
History
 the study of past events and people
 Focus on cause and effect and patterns in history
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Why did things happen? Why do thing happen?
So why did we do the
“Shipwrecked” Activity?
 It was a study of both sociology and political
science
 Sociology studies the ways in which societies form
culture, norms, etc in order to cooperate for the greater
good. This is what we will be studying for the
remainder of the semester.
 Political science, studies the way in which governments
are formed and adapt over time based on circumstances
of their environment.
How was it political science?
 It deals with matters of legitimacy, power, leadership, and political
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organization.
If our whole class were marooned on an island (me and all of you)
how long would a rotating system of governance last? A few
weeks? A few months? (How many of you think everyone in this class
is qualified to lead the class?)
If we selected a leader - who would we select? How many would
select me? Why? - because I have some claim to authority and
legitimacy (like nobles or people or royal blood claimed in the medieval
era - their noble lineage gave them a right to rule). If we were
marooned on an island with the governor or the president, how many
would follow their orders?
What if (name a kid in the class) stood up and said - this system is
no good - from now on, I am the leader and my rules will be followed.
How many would follow him? What if he killed the first person who
stood up to him?
What is most important in a leader - legitimate title to that
position, or leadership ability? (if in the example above you knew
they would make a strong leader would it matter to you that they had
bucked the system or the "plan"?)
Time permitting after activity:
 Discuss: who would survive on a desert island? Who
would be a leader?
 What about if your got your arm stuck in a cliff while
rock climbing? Would you be able to saw it off?
 Would anyone want to study a social science?
Political Science? Economics? Why?
 Review: Why did the social sciences emerge?