Intro To Sociology (Final)
Intro To Sociology (Final)
Intro To Sociology (Final)
Social Thought
Introduction:
Social thought is the product of the mind of a philosopher and a thinker. In the broadest sense
a concept, an idea or a set of concepts relating to social problems and their conceivable
solution lie in the domain of social thought. What the people do and what they think about
their life is included in social environment. The environment gives thought to the thinker
about their problems and conditions of life.
Definition:
1) Bogardsus: “Social thought is thinking about social problems by one or a few persons
here and there in human history or at the present.”
2) H.E. Jonson: Social thought is “the totality of man’s thought about his relationship and
obligations to his fellowmen.”
Sociological Theory
Introduction:
With the advent of science and technology, the belief in social thoughts became weak and the
people believed in experimentation and testing. The philosophers and thinkers faced hard
times and lost their position in the modern science era. The people took belief in the new
facts of science and the faith in social thought became weak.
Definition:
1) J.H. Turner: “Theory is a mental activity. It is a process of developing ideas that can
allow us why events should occur.
2) M. Francis Abraham: “A theory is an explanation of the relationships between
phenomena which is not as solidly established as a law, but is more than a mere
hypothesis.”
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Application of Sociological Theory:
There are two major inconsistencies in sociological theory. One is the tendency to separate
qualitative insight and quantitative technique. The other is to separate theory and application
a corollary of this separation has been a neglect of applied aspects. Yet many sociological
concepts have been incorporated in the therapeutic work of psychiatrists and psychologists as
well as educationists. Sociologists are collaborating with anthropologists in solving problems
of community organization. They have also been found taking interest in the filed of
rehabilitation. The main consideration of sociologists is to assess the usefulness and
applicability of current sociological theory and research.
Characteristics of Theory:
Francis Abraham gives the following are the chief characteristics of a theory:
Complete sociological systems today must give way to less imposing and better grounded
theories of the middle range. One major task today is therefore to develop special theories
applicable to limited range of data. Eg. Theories of class dynamics
Career
In April 1826, he started delivering lectures as a part of a course of positive philosophy and his
audience included well known scientists like Fourier and Poinsot. On account of his poor
health, this course was interrupted and he could resume this only in 1829. Later, he published
six volumes of this course titled, “Course of Positive Philosophy”, from 1830 to 1842.
Starting 1832, he taught analysis and mechanics at the EcolePolytechnique but he lost this job
in 1842 due to a clash with administrators of the institute. In the following year, his book on
mathematics titled “Elementary Treatise on Analytic Geometry” appeared.
Besides finishing work on his books “Philosophical Treatise on Popular Astronomy” and
“Discourse on the Positive Spirit” in 1844, he remained busy in writing the “System of Positive
Polity”.
Taking inspiration from the Club of the Jacobians, Comte set up the Positive Society. His book
“General View of Positivism” too appeared almost at the same time.
From 1851 to 1854, he was occupied with work on four volumes of “System of Positive
Polity”. For a few months in 1852, he remained busy with “Catechism of Positive Religion”.
After publishing “Appeal to Conservatives” in 1855, he published the first volume of
“Subjective Synthesis” or “Universal System of the Conceptions Adapted to the Normal State
of Humanity”, which is his book on the philosophy of mathematics.
Major Works
He published six volumes of “Course in Positive Philosophy” between 1830 and 1842. In this
series, he presented an interesting review of mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry and
biology. He also showed the historical and theoretical link among them.
Personal Life
He married his live-in partner Caroline Massin in 1824. They did not lead a happy married life
on account of financial problems and he divorced his wife in 1842. From 1844, he developed a
platonic relationship with Clotilde de Vaux.
Death
He passed away due to stomach cancer. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise Cemetry, Paris. His
apartment, where he lived from 1841 to 1857, has been preserved as the Maisond’Auguste
Comte which is a private museum.
1) Theological Stage
The first stage of human thinking is theological stage. This type of thinking is found among the
primitive races and sometimes the thinking of children is also at this level. At this level of
thinking, there is marked lack of logical and orderly thinking. The primitive man and children
do not have the scientific outlook. Therefore, theological thinking is characterized by non-
scientific outlook. The theological thinking implies belief in another world wherein reside in
the divine forces which control the events in this world. Comte has classified the theological
stage further into three stages. These are given below:
i. Fetishism:
The primary stage in theological thinking is that of fetishism. Fetishism is a belief that there is
some living spirit in the non-living objects. This is also known as animism.
ii. Polytheism:
The more developed form than that of fetishism is known as polytheism. At this stage, man has
classified gods as well as natural and human forces. Each god had some definite function and
his area of action was determined.
iii. Monotheism:
The most developed form of theological thinking is manifested in monotheism. It implies a
belief in one God as compared to earlier belief in many gods. In monotheism, it is believed that
one God is supreme and that He is responsible for the maintenance of order in the world.
2) Metaphysical Stage:
The metaphysical or abstract thinking marks the second stage in the evolution of human
thinking. According to Comte, each successive stage is an improvement upon the earlier stage.
With the gradual improvement in human thinking the human problems also become more
complex. The theological thinking was not adequate to tackle these problems efficiently. The
appearance of conflicting and opposite forces in the world presented problems which could not
be successfully tackled by monotheism. It was difficult to believe that the same God was
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responsible for primordial creation as well as destruction. In order to resolve this intellectual
puzzle, metaphysical thinking was evolved. Under Metaphysical thinking, belief is an abstract
transcendental entity or absolute replaces the belief in personal concrete God. Under
metaphysical thinking, it is believed that an abstract power guides and determined the events in
the world. Metaphysical thinking discards belief in concrete God.
Emile Durkheim
Biography
Durkheim was a French philosopher. He was professor of Physics. He invented a new science
which he called Social Physics. He was follower of Comte. His studies encircle group solidarity
and social facts. Some of his prominent theories are given below:
3) Theory of Suicide:
The theory of suicide is very famous in which Durkheim describes its three types. This theory
circulates round social solidarity. Durkheim explained suicide as “ any deliberate act which
caused death and actors knows the consequence of his act before committing is called suicide.”
According to Durkheim, the social circumstances and the influence of the collective
consciousness are mainly responsible for the phenomenon of suicide. Durkheim rejected all the
other theories of suicide and said that the psychological and personal factors are the resultant of
social conditions and not otherwise.
Types of Suicide
Durkheim has classified different types of suicide on the basis of different types of personalities
of men. He has recognized the following three as the fundamental types:
1. Egoistic Suicide
When the group solidarity grows weak in society, this type of suicide occurs. The bonds of
society get loose. Such events happen in unmarried persons and protestant followers of the
Church. These conditions happen when the individual stops taking interest in his family affairs.
He does not care for the primary and secondary group. The other people of the society also do
not take interest in his matters. The individual feels himself loneliness and isolated. He feels
that life for him is without charm. He feels that life and death are equal for him. Life become
useless for him. Then he commits suicide which is called Egoistic Suicide.
In this suicide the individual leaves his social group in which he was trained and socialized. He
leaves the group norms and does not participate in group behaviours. The marriage, death or
birth in his relations or neighbours has no effect upon him. Moreover he does not participate in
functions of this nature. Neither he neither helps others nor wants any help from them. He feels
himself self-centred and secluded.
This type of suicide is found more in organic society than in mechanical society.
2. Altruistic Suicide
This is the type of suicide in which group solidarity is at the highest in the society. The people
do not think beyond group. The individual’s life and ideas do not hold importance. Those
societies which hold such traditions get into such type of suicide. Phenomenon of suicide attack
by the terrorist is an act of altruistic suicide.
3. Anomic/Anomique Suicide
This is the type of suicide occurs when the norms and the manners in the people are suddenly
broken. There are sudden changes which are unexpected. The individual cannot adjust himself
in the new condition which leads to normative gap. For him the social laws become weak
which fail to control his behaviour. The unexpected failure of laws makes the individual unable
to think for the future. He fails to control his actions. In this situation he commits suicide which
is called Anomic Suicide.
The anomic suicide happens in such condition when the response for the norms has vanished.
The laws of the government are not respected by the people and state of lawlessness is
prevailed. The people are worried for the future to say what will happen tomorrow? The social
norms are shattered. The life of the people ends in despair. The marriages are postponed. The
projects of the future are rejected or postponed. The weak hearted people get heart attack and
some loose balance of their mind. These are the conditions which lead to suicide called Anomic
by Durkheim. At this stage, conditions of social disorganization prevail in society.
Herbert Spencer
Biography:
Herbert Spencer was a prominent British social thinker of the 19th century. He is often called
“the second founding father of Sociology”. He is known to the world as a great social
philosopher, a famous evolutionist, a strong defender of individualism and a prolific writer. It is
said that Spencer undertook to create what Comte envisaged to do. He made Sociology an all
encompassing science.
Spencer was born on April 27, 1820, in Durby in England in a middle class family. Due to his
ill health, he could not go to any conventional school. He received some education from his
father. At the age of 13, he went to the home of his uncle from who he received his further
education. He died on December 8, 1903 at the age of 83.
Spencer belonged to English family. He explained the problems of social order and change.
The main aim of his theories was to trace the process of social evolution in order of maximum
social harmony.
Theories of Spencer
1) Spencer’s Theory of Evolution:
Evolutionary theory or “the laws of evolution” is often regarded as the greatest contribution of
the British sociologist Herbert Spencer to the realm of social thought. Spencer’s ideals have left
an indelible impression on the succeeding writers.
Evolution was one of the most exciting ideas of the 19th century. Its most influential sponsor
was the naturalist Charles Darwin. Darwin developed the concept of “Evolution” in his “Origin
of Species”. Spencer, the Sociological giant of the second half of the 19th century, was
enamoured by the idea of evolution. He applied the principle of evolution to the social world
and called it “social evolution”. He saw social evolution as “a set of stages through which all
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the societies moved from simple to the complex and from the homogenous to the
heterogenous.”
i. Simply Society:
This is the most primitive society without any complexities and consisting of several families.