ITS 10 questions …..
THE RISE OF THEORETICAL SOCIOLOGY
A new science: Science of Society (Sociology)
Natural world vs Social world
A natural science of society? Sociology as a science like any other natural science.
Is sociology a science? This is open to debate. Some believe sociology is a science but not every sociologist believe it is or even it can be.
Sociology: a modern science that studies “modern society”
Four Major Transformations that produced the modern society and made possible the rise of sociology:
The Enlightenment (an intellectual revolution)
The French Revolution (a political revolution)
The Industrial Revolution (a socio-economic revolution)
The Reformation (a religious revolution)
The Enlightenment [key ideas]
Reason (gives rise to individual, encourages each person to use their own mind)
Science
Progress (change is possible and is for the better)
The philosophes
Critique of the church and the monarchy
Thinking about the social outside the domain of morals, religion, metaphysics (rather looking at facts and using reason)
Emancipation of social thought from religious speculation (Montesquieu, Turgot, Condorcet)
The French Revolution [key ideas]
Nation and nationalism
Equality
Citizenship
Nation-state
The Industrial Revolution [key ideas]
Division of labor
Social classes
Urbanization
Capitalism
Technology
Early Sociological Theory 1830-1930
Some common aspects of the classical theorists:
THE ENLIGHTENMENT: THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS
Reason / rationalism
Freedom
Perfection
Progress / Perfectibility
Science
The mind could comprehend the universe and subordinate it to human needs.
Reason becomes the new god (for philosophers). Against superstition, bigotry, intolerance.
(In the 17th century ‘reason’ was the realm of eternal verities (‘innate ideas’) but an acquisition rather than heritage.
A new interest in facts. From the scholastic to the positive (facts).
Belief in the universal applicability of natural laws.
Adoption of the methodology of Newton’s physics
Truth becomes important but it is not religion and tradition that is the source of truth but reason and observation.
Merciless criticism of the church and the monarchy. These institutions are seen contrary to human nature and inhibitive of human development (disables them to realize their potential)
Philosophy will no longer be abstract but in the service of life and science.
MONTESQUIEU
His books: Spirit of the Laws; Persian Letters
It explores the laws of social and historical development. He shows how institutions of society are interdependent. Different types of governments have different cultures/codes and even their geography dictates their structure.
The first thinker to use “ideal types”
Forms of government:
Republic – civic virtue – small state
Monarchy – honor – midsize country
Despotism – fear – large country
Montesquieu was a forerunner of sociological theory and method. He classified societies and offered.
He also pioneered the idea of the Division of Labor (passed on to Saint-Simon, from him to Durkheim).
ROUSSEAU
Human freedom as a fundamental ideal
Social order should be in harmony with the laws of nature
Social order may inhibit/preclude/violate that nature
Two Conditions:
The State of Nature vs The State of Society (Social Contract)
The State of Nature (SoN) is a hypothetical construct. The “man in nature” is man divested from of what he has acquired in society.
Rousseau, contrary to Hobbes, believed that warlike attitude comes from society, not nature.
In the SoN humans are peaceful, like other animals. They are indifferent to one another (no attraction, no property, no morality). They only care about self-preservation. He is egoistic, solitary and brutish (as Hobbes said) but not warlike. War is a social institution.
Society divides man against himself.
Man invents culture.
Speech allows us to accumulate knowledge and pass it on to others.
Political society is born via laws.
Government was born to protect property.
War is born in society. Class conflict.
Society is inherently unstable and devoid of ethical foundation.
Hence, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.”
Via social contract, you submit to General Will, an impersonal force, and gain freedom and equality in society.
AUGUSTE COMTE (1798 – 1857)
Two periods of his life: early scientific stage and later stagewhere he tried to make science a new religion.
His approach is known as “positivism”. His philosophy “Positive Philosophy”.
He coined “sociology.” (His initial attempt was different: “social physics”)
Like others he believed that a science of society can help to construct a better society. He believed in ideals of science and progress.
The law of three stages is something he borrowed from Montesquieu, Turgot, Condorcet and Saint-Simon. Comte prefigures Marx and follows Montesquieu.
Each stage is typified by a particular spirit (see Montesquieu), similar to Marx’s mode of production.
3 Stages of Human Development:
Societies and their level of development should reach the third stage so that the queen of sciences, Sociology (the science of society) can be born.
As a descendant of the Enlightenment, he believed that all phenomena are subject to invariable natural laws.
He believed that theory and observation should go hand in hand.
He was also the first social thinker to take methodological questions seriously. He advocated four methods in sociology:
He compared society to an organism. Organismic analogy is something that gave rise to Functionalism in Sociology (Durkheim).
Sociology is divided into two branches:
HERBERT SPENCER
He was a thinker with broad interests beyond sociology. But he published Principles of Sociology in 1896.
He was influenced by the theory of evolution (Darwin) and theory of population (Malthus).
Darwin: “Natural Selection”
Spencer: “The survival of the fittest”
(They influenced each other).
Spencer applied the theory of evolution to society (sometimes called Social Darwinism).
Lessons he got from Biology:
Evolutionary thinking believes in “social differentiation”.
Change is from “undifferentiated” mass to “differentiated” pattern.
He wrote in different fields and called his philosophy “Synthetic Philosophy”. Today mostly forgotten or neglected.
NEED ASSIGNMENT HELP?
We guarantee plagiarism-free and AI-free writing services. Every assignment is crafted with originality, precision, and care to meet your academic needs.
Ready to get started? Place your order directly on this post!
Let us help you achieve excellence—authentic work, every time.
Leave a Reply