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Module 1 Lecture 1

The document provides an introduction to sociology, beginning with definitions of sociology and society from philosophers like Aristotle and MacIver. It then discusses the historical development of sociology from ancient Greek and Roman philosophers through the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution. The French Revolution overturned the feudal system and led Comte to establish sociology as a way to empirically study and establish a new social order. The Industrial Revolution resulted in mass production, urbanization, and changes to social structure that Comte argued should be studied scientifically.

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Roshan NV
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32 views11 pages

Module 1 Lecture 1

The document provides an introduction to sociology, beginning with definitions of sociology and society from philosophers like Aristotle and MacIver. It then discusses the historical development of sociology from ancient Greek and Roman philosophers through the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution. The French Revolution overturned the feudal system and led Comte to establish sociology as a way to empirically study and establish a new social order. The Industrial Revolution resulted in mass production, urbanization, and changes to social structure that Comte argued should be studied scientifically.

Uploaded by

Roshan NV
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Sociology

Module 1
Sociology

• Definition
Definitions
• "A person who cannot live in society, or does not need to because he is self-sufficient,
is either a beast or a God". – Aristotle

• Society is a web of social relationships- MacIver

• Sociology is a science of collective behavior-R. E. Park and F. W. Burgess

• General Sociology is on the whole is the theory of human living together- Ferdinand
Tonnies
Development of Sociology- A Historical Sketch
• Before the emergence of sociology, study of society was done by means of other
social sciences like History, Philosophy, Political science, Anthropology etc.

• Philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rosseau
contributed to the development of sociological theories

• August Comte for the first time in 1839 used term ‘Sociology’

• Made up of two words namely ‘societus’ and ‘logus’

• Firstly, Comte called it ‘Social Physics’

• Sociology as a discipline employs empirical methods to understand society and the


role of various social institutions
Development of the Science of Sociology
• The Greeks: Ancient Greek Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle wrote Republic and
Ethics and Politics respectively

It lacked concept of community as distinct from state

• The Romans: Cicero wrote De Officus (On Justice)

Main contribution of Romans was in terms of Law and it was limited only up to
European society

• The Scholastics: After Greeks and Romans Scholastics propounded Bibilical thesis
that a human being is a special creation of God

It was advocated that the existing social order of that time was a divine sanction
• The Moderns: It was only in the 16th century that clear cut distinction between
state and society was made

The Prince by Machiavelli provides a clear cut difference between state and
statecraft

Utopia by Sir Thomas More explained about everyday social order by depicting
ideal forms

• French Revolution

• Industrial Revolution
French Revolution

• “The conditions which gave rise to sociology were both intellectuals and social”-  Thomas
Bottomore

• The French revolution erupted in 1789, marked as a turning point in history of human
struggle for freedom and equality, it put an end to the feudal system and ushered in a new
order of society.

The Clergymen

The Nobility

The peasants, merchants, artisans and others

• The king in order to maintain the good will of the other two estates, the clergy and the
nobility, continued to exploit the poor
• POLITICAL ASPECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION:

Under the rule of the king the ordinary people had no personal rights. They only served the king
and his nobles in various capacities

• THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION

Louis XVI, a very weak and ineffective king, inherited the ruin of a bankrupt government. Queen
Marie Antoinette, known for her expensive habits

• INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT IN FRANCE

Some of the major philosophers, whose idea influences the French people, were rationalists who
believed that all true things could be proved by reason.

• The turmoil and disorder resulted by French revolution and the problems emerged by
tremendous changes led to the study of social problems and to find a new order of society the
interest in the Issue of social order was one of the major concerns of Auguste Comte who
created sociology as a new discipline or as a separate science.
Industrial Revolution
• Industrial revolution resulted in mass production of goods and requirement of
labourers

• Population which till then was residing in rural areas started shifting towards
urban areas

• Mass migration and mass production of goods resulted in the change in social
structure which Comte argued should be studied empirically
August Comte
• Father of Sociology

• Law of three stages:

Theological

Metaphysical

Positivist
Web Links
• http://umairkhansoc.blogspot.com/#:~:text=The%20French%20Revol
ution%20contributed%20in,a%20technological%20and%20economic
%20boom.
• http://ddceutkal.ac.in/Syllabus/MA_SOCIOLOGY/Paper-1.pdf
• https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sociology/chapter/the-history-of-
sociology/
• https://www.ukessays.com/essays/sociology/the-impact-of-the-indust
rial-revolution-sociology-essay.php
• http://www.sociology.ed.ac.uk/tomburns/chapters/part5/burns_chap
ter20.pdf
Thank You

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