PowerPoint Handout
Download
Report
Transcript PowerPoint Handout
Founders of Sociology
Auguste Comte
• Coined the term
“sociology”
• Study social world
through scientific method
• Key concepts:
positivism—Use
scientific method for
social world
•Theories and work has
been abandoned.
Herbert Spencer
• Structural/Functionalist
• Coined the term “survival of
the fittest” in reference to
human social arrangements
(Social Darwinism)
• Advocated against social
reform efforts to poor people
because it disrupts the natural
selection process of evolution\
•Also discredited today.
The Fathers of Sociology
MARX, WEBER, AND DURKHEIM
Karl Marx
• Founder of political / economic
theory of socialism
(communism)
• Considered the founder of the
conflict perspective – Class
Conflict between wealthy class
and working class.
• Key concepts: proletariat,
bourgeoisie, capitalists, social
class,
Karl Marx: Society and Conflict
He examined SOCIAL
CLASS struggles
He believed the
economy dominates all
other aspects of society
He studied the
Capitalists- owners
and
Proletarians- the
workers
The Capitalists
According to Marx the
Capitalists had a false
consciousness of the
problem of social
class, meaning their
explanations of
capitalism were wrong
because they did not
want to admit their
own shortcomings
Class Conflict
Marx embraced
communism and
socialism with his
work the Communist
Manifesto
He believed the
workers should unite
an revolt against
capitalist
Capitalism and Alienation
Marx believed
workers became
alienated – the
experience of
isolation and
misery from
working in the
factory and having
no power
Max Weber: Rationalization of Society
He studied IDEALISM-
how human ideas shape
society
His thesis The
Protestantism Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism
proclaimed that the
protestant work ethic
drove capitalism and
vice versa
Traditional vs. Rationality
Tradition beliefs passed
down from generation to
generation
He thought eventually
society would move from
traditional to rationality
worldview
Rational view of the
world is a deliberate,
matter the fact
calculations
Emile Durkheim
Society as a function
Durkheim believed in
patterns of behavior,
cultural norms, and
beliefs are social facts
He believed these social
facts serve as function in
society. For example he
believed that crime is
normal and society
could not exist without
Emile Durkheim’s work: Suicide
In this book
Durkheim studies
groups that are most
likely to commit
suicide
He found that those
who have less
solidarity are more
likely commit suicide
Solidarity
Solidarity is a feeling
or condition of unity
based on common
goals, interests, and
sympathies among a
group's members
Durkheim believed
being connected to
society was the key
to a happy life
Other Sociologists
W. E. B. Dubois
• First Afro-American PhD
graduate of Harvard
University
• Concerned with the social
position of AfricanAmericans in US
society.
• Wrote The Philadelphia
Negro (1899) on race
relations
• Used statistics to examine
racial discrimination against
blacks
Jane Addams
• Won the first Nobel Peace
Prize (1931) given to an
American sociologist
• Founded Hull House for
the poor in Chicago
• Influenced the “Chicago
School” of applied
sociology
(social problems)
• Pioneered the study of
social problems