SOCIOLOGY

LESSON #1

Sociology is the systematic and scientific study of human social life and behavior, especially in relation to
social system – how they work, how they change, the consequences they produce, and their complex
relation to people’s lives.

To understand the term better, it is proper and necessary to delve into its etymology. The term
SOCIOLOGY was coined by Auguste Comte (1798-1857) from the latin words socius which means
companion, associate, partner or mate and the Greek word logos or logus of logia, which means to
study. This etymological definition describes a new science that would engage in the study of society.
Sociology could also be defined as the science of society.

Society is a social system that shares a geographical territory, a common culture, and a way of life
(Johnson, 1996). A society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is
subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectation (Kendall, 1998).

Sociologists study people as they form groups and interact with one another. They study human
societies and their social interaction in order to develop theories of how human behavior is shaped by
group life and how, in turn, group life is affected by individuals (Kendall, 1998). The groups they study
may be small, such as married couples, or large, such as a subculture of suburban teenagers. Sociology
places special emphasis on studying societies, both as individual entities and as elements of a global
perspective. 

BIRTH OF SOCIOLOGY

Auguste Comte (1798–1857), widely considered the “father of sociology,” became interested in
studying society because of the changes that took place as a result of the French Revolution and the
Industrial Revolution. During the French Revolution, which began in 1789, France’s class system changed
dramatically. Aristocrats suddenly lost their money and status, while peasants, who had been at the
bottom of the social ladder, rose to more powerful and influential positions. The Industrial Revolution
followed on the heels of the French Revolution, unfolding in Western Europe throughout the 1800s.
During the Industrial Revolution, people abandoned a life of agriculture and moved to cities to find
factory jobs. They worked long hours in dangerous conditions for low pay. New social problems
emerged and, for many decades, little was done to address the plight of the urban poor.

Comte looked at the extensive changes brought about by the French Revolution and the Industrial
Revolution and tried to make sense of them. He felt that the social sciences that existed at the time,
including political science and history, couldn’t adequately explain the chaos and upheaval he saw
around him. He decided an entirely new science was needed. He called this new science sociology,
which comes from the root word socius, a Latin word that means “companion” or “being with others.”
Comte decided that to understand society, one had to follow certain procedures, which we know now as
the scientific method. The scientific method is the use of systematic and specific procedures to test
theories in psychology, the natural sciences, and other fields. Comte also believed in positivism, which is
the application of the scientific method to the analysis of society. Comte felt that sociology could be
used to inspire social reforms and generally make a society a better place for its members. Comte’s
standards of “research” were not nearly as exacting as today’s, and most of his conclusions have been
disregarded, as they were based mostly on observation rather than serious investigation. 

In the United States, sociology was first taught as an academic discipline at the University of Kansas in
1890, at the University of Chicago in 1892, and at Atlanta University in 1897. Over time, it spread to
other universities in North America. The first department of sociology opened at McGill University in
Montreal, Canada, in 1922, followed by sociology departments at Harvard University in 1930 and at the
University of California at Berkeley in the 1950s.

SOCIOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES

Another way to promote better understanding of sociology is to distinguish it from other social
sciences. Social Sciences is the study of various aspects of human society. The identification of what we
call the social sciences is relatively of recent occurrence. Gradually scholars have developed the various
social sciences to the point that they can be legitimately distinguished. These are:

1. Anthropology. Social science most related to sociology. Anthropology and sociology are similar
fields, as the both study how and why people behave the way they do and how these patterns
affect social life. The main difference between the two sciences is that sociologists study society
while anthropologists study culture.

ATHROPOLOGY SOCIOLOGY

Origin, material culture, Nonmaterial, culture,

artifacts, fossils human interaction, society

MAN

2. Economics. It is a proper allocation and efficient use of available resources for the maximum
satisfaction of human wants. Sociology and economics merge in area of study called economic
sociology which concentrates on the relationships among the economic and non-economic
aspect of social life.

ATHROPOLOGY SOCIOLOGY

Origin, material culture, Nonmaterial, culture,

artifacts, fossils human interaction, society
 MAN

ECONOMICS

Production, distribution,
consumption of wealth

3. Psychology. Psychology examines more of the workings of the human mind, why persons think
and behave as they do. Sociology tends to examine groups of persons (societies), communities,
and nations So one way to look at it is that psychology is more about the individual or small
group, and sociology is more about communities and larger groups of persons.  

ATHROPOLOGY SOCIOLOGY

Origin, material culture, Nonmaterial, culture,

artifacts, fossils human interaction, society

MAN

PSYCHOLOGY

Human behavior,
personality, psychoanalytic

4. Political Science. Sociology and political science are so closely and deeply related to each other
that one becomes meaningless without the other. Sociology is the fundamental social science,
which studies man's social life as a whole and attempts to discover the facts and the laws of life
as a whole.

Political science, on the other hand, is concerned with the political life of a man, which is one
part of his total life Sociology is the science of political science; on the other hand, it is the
science of state and government. Sociology studies society as a whole and man as a social being
where as political science deals with a particular aspect of society, which is regarded as a
 politically organized unit. Therefore, political science is a more specialized science than
sociology.

ATHROPOLOGY SOCIOLOGY

Origin, material culture, Nonmaterial, culture,

artifacts, fossils human interaction, society

MAN

Political Science

State, nation, government,

political institution, power,
authority, public finance,
political forces

SOCIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND FORERUNNERS

AUGUSTE COMTE (Father of Sociology)

• credited for formulating the term SOCIOLOGY (Socius – society, Logos – knowledge

• considered Sociology as “Queen of the Sciences”

• advocated the idea of “positivism” or the use of empirical investigation to understand

society and social phenomenon

Comte believed that society has passed 3 stages of intellectual development:

1. Theological (religiously base)– thoughts were guided by religious ideas and society is an
expression of God’s will. It is where the universe was explained in terms of gods, demons, and
mythological beings.

2. Metaphysical (transition period or abstract)– reality was explained in terms of abstractions such
as essence, existence, substance, and accident. Accounted through the Renaissance Period as
society is seen as natural and not supernatural
 3. Positive (scientific stage)– explanation could be based only on scientific laws discovered through
experimentation, observation, or logic. Encouragement of the application of scientific
knowledge to analyze society

Comte was also interested in 2 major social concerns:

1. The Law of Dynamics – the study of social change

2. The Law of Statics – the study of social order

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) (First Female Sociologist)

• Martineau wrote 35 books and a multitude of essays from a sociological, holistic, religious,
domestic, and, perhaps most controversial, a feminine perspective

• she also translated various works from Comte . She is best known among sociologist for her
translation and condensation of Comte’s Positive Philosophy. But her legacies revolved around
her two books:

-- “How to Observe Manners and Morals” (1838)

--- “”Society in America”

• Martineau has said of her approach: "when one studies a society, one must focus on all its
aspects, including key political, religious, and social institutions“

• She believed a thorough societal analysis was necessary to understand woman's status.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) -Second Founder of Sociology

• He is considered as the second founder of sociology basically because of the publication of the
first sociological textbook in 1855 entitled “Social Statics”.

• compared society to human organism (as a structure that functioned interdependently to

maintain existence)

• He was inspired by Darwin’s study of the origin of the species. He used this concept of evolution
of animals to explain how society change overtime. He believed that social change is the result
of evolutionary laws. Social Darwinism (conflict is inevitable and productive)

• his role for sociologists was to discover laws of human evolution to prevent interference with
those laws.

• major focus of sociology should be social evolution rather than the suggestion and
implementation of strategies for social improvement

The main themes run throughout Spencer’s major works are:

  Antigovernment Individualism

Asserts that society function best when governmental regulations and controls are
reduced to a minimum involving only military defense and protection of individual
rights;

 Naturalistic Evolutionism

Posits causal sequences of growth and development

 Positivistic Uniformitarianism

Maintains that the same processes of evolutionary progress were applicable to all areas
of existence; inert, living, psychological and social

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) [Functionalism]

• influenced by Comte

• introduced the concept of solidarity —that is, a kind of social integration as the glue necessary
to make society function. When this glue, or solidarity, is lacking, human beings no longer feel a
sense of belonging (anomie).

• Durkheim wrote a book entitled Suicide, in which he studied the causes underlying the decision
to take one’s own life.

Types of Suicide

Emile Durkheim classified different types of suicides on the basis of different types of
relationship between the actor and his society.

 (1) Egoistic suicide:

According to Durkheim, when a man becomes socially isolated or feels that he has no place in
the society he destroys himself. This is the suicide of self-centred person who lacks altruistic
feelings and is usually cut off from main stream of the society.

 (2) Altruistic suicide:

This type of suicide occurs when individuals and the group are too close and intimate. This kind
of suicide results from the over integration of the individual into social proof,

 (3) Anomic suicide:

 This type of suicide is due to certain breakdown of social equilibrium, such as, suicide after
bankruptcy or after winning a lottery. In other words, anomic suicide takes place in a situation
which has cropped up suddenly.

 (4) Fatalistic suicide:

This type of suicide is due to overregulation in society. Under the overregulation of a society,
when a servant or slave commits suicide, when a barren woman commits suicide, it is the
example of fatalistic suicide

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

• believed that the misery and exploitation of the working lower classes in society was caused by
capitalism-the existing industrial order.

• questioned industrial development as capitalists (bourgeoisie) exploited laborers (proletariat)

• the proletariat become alienated from themselves due to their exploitation. thus, this
alienation prevented them from reaching their potential

• “Class Conscious” members of proletariat would revolt, hence classes were identified as central
forces in history

MAX WEBER

• new social order was based upon Formal Rationality wherein all actions of new industrial
order would be circumscribed by rules that were abstract and formal

• in other words, bureaucracy and restriction on human freedom and creativity

• focused on subjective meanings (values and attitudes placed on life situations) – Symbolic
Interactionism

• believed in the independent force of ideas