Transcript Introduction to Sociology notes power pt.

Sociology an
Introduction
 Sociology is the
systematic study of
the human society.
 Sociology is a social science that is concerned
within the systematic study of human society.
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) attempted to to
outline a new discipline modeled on the natural
sciences.
 Auguste Comte, The Grand Father of Sociology,
believed that all existing sciences could be ranked
in a hierarchy, and idealized sociology as the
crowning glory of human intellectual achievement.
A new awareness of
Society
• Huge factories, exploding cities
a new spirit of individualismthese changes combined to make
people aware of their
surroundings. As the social
ground trembled under people’s
feet, the new discipline of
sociology was born in England,
France, and Germany-precisely
where the changes where the
greatest
France-Social thinker
Auguste Comte
(1798-1857)
Comte’s Three-stage historical
development
1-Theological-from the beginning
of human history to the end of the
European Middles Ages about
1400, people took a religious view
of society, seeing is as an
expression of God’s will
2-Metaphysical-people understood
society as a natural rather than a
supernatural phenomenon.
3-Scientific-began with the work
of scientists such as Copernicus,
Galileo and Newton, Comte used
the scientific approach to the
world and universe to study
society
The Sociological
Perspective.
• A perspective can be broadly defined as "a way of
looking at and seeing (or interpreting) something".
To have a perspective, therefore, means to look at
something (whatever that thing might be) in a
particular way.
• For sociologists, the "thing" we are looking at is the
social world and, in particular, the nature of the
relationships people form in their everyday lives.
Thus, when we talk about "society" or "the social
world" as if it were something real and alive, what
we are actually referring-to is our particular
perception of the range and scope of the
relationships that exist between people in any given
society - which, if you're interested, is the real
object of study for Sociologists.
Examples of the
Perspective in action
“Seeing the general in the particular”
*Seek out general patterns in the
behavior of particular people.
Although every individual is
unique, a society shapes the lives
of its members.
(People in the United States are much more likely to
expect love to figure in marriage than, say, people living
in a rural village in Pakistan)
Examples of the
Perspective in action
Using the perspective means-challenging
the familiar idea that we live our lives in
terms of what we decide, consider instead
that society shapes our experiences
Read: The perspective at workGoing to College
The Sociological
Perspective-cont
• This is not to say that all sociologists
necessarily look at the social world from
exactly the same perspective (or viewpoint
if you prefer), nor that sociologists are
always in complete agreement about what
they are seeing, how behavior could or
should be understood and so forth.