Download sociology early thinkers

SOCIOLOGY EARLY THINKERS
AUGUST COMPTE
HARRIET MARTINEAU
HERBERT SPENCER
EMILE DURKHEIM
KARL MARX
MAX WEBER
EARLY THINKERS
AUGUST COMPTE
Describe Compte’s philosophy of “POSITIVISM”. (Include its two dimensions)
Describe Compte’s “LAW OF THREE STAGES”:
HARRIET MARTINEAU
Who was Harriet Martineau most concerned with studying?
What vision did Martineau have about sociology?
HERBERT SPENCER
What are some of the negative effects of Spencer’s ideas of “SOCIAL DARWINISM”?
EMILE DURKHEIM
What are “SOCIAL FACTS” and how do they affect the individual?
What is an “ANOMIE”? When are they most likely to occur?
KARL MARX
Why was conflict important to Karl Marx?
What are some of the arguments against Marx’s ideas?
MAX WEBER
Using the term “VERSTEHEN”, explain Weber’s thoughts and ideas on “value-free” research.
EARLY THINKERS
AUGUST COMPTE
Describe Compte’s philosophy of “POSITIVISM”. (Include its two dimensions)
Positivism: a belief that the world can best be understood through scientific theory.
Dimension 1: Methodological- the application of scientific knowledge to both physical and social phenomena
Dimension 2: Social and Political- the use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of different policies so that the best one
could be chosen
Describe Compte’s “LAW OF THREE STAGES”:
Human thinking and knowledge pass through several stages as societies evolve from simple to complex.
Stage 1: Theological- explanations were based on religion and the supernatural.
Stage 2: Metaphysical- explanations were based on abstract philosophical speculation
Stage 3: Scientific or Positive- explanations are based on systematic observation, experimentation, comparison, and historical
analysis.
HARRIET MARTINEAU
Who was Harriet Martineau most concerned with studying?
She payed special attention to social distinctions based on class, race and gender. Her works explore the status of women, children,
and “sufferers”(criminal, mentally ill, handicapped, poor, alcoholic, etc…)
What vision did Martineau have about sociology?
It could bring about new knowledge and understanding, enlarging peoples capacity to create a just society and live heroic lives.
HERBERT SPENCER
What are some of the negative effects of Spencer’s ideas of “SOCIAL DARWINISM”?
Societies are not the same as biological systems, people are able to transform the environment in which they live.
It was used as a means to justify the repression of the poor, African Americans, Native Americans.
EMILE DURKHEIM
What are “SOCIAL FACTS” and how do they affect the individual?
Patterned ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist outside any one individual.
What is an “ANOMIE”? When are they most likely to occur?
Anomie is a condition in which social control becomes ineffective as a result of the loss of shared values and of a sense of purpose in
society. They are most likely to occur during periods of intense social change.
KARL MARX
Why was conflict important to Karl Marx?
He believed it was necessary in order to produce social change and a better society.
What are some of the arguments against Marx’s ideas?
He advocated radical social change…value free?? He places too much emphasis on class relations (not race, ethnicity, gender)
MAX WEBER
Using the term “VERSTEHEN”, explain Weber’s thoughts and ideas on “value-free” research.
Weber understood that sociology cannot be completely value free. Sociologists need to use VERSTEHEN (understanding and insight) to
enable them to see the world from another perspective other than their own.