Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics - Lesson 1

Flashcards covering the foundational concepts, key figures, and branches of Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Science based on the provided lecture notes.

Social Sciences

The wide array of academic disciplines that study the overall functions of society as well as the interactions among its members and institutions.

Anthropology

The study of humankind, focusing on human beings and their ancestors, ranging from the evolutionary history of Homo Sapiens to cultural diversity.

Anthropologist

A person that studies the field of anthropology.

Franz Boas

Known as the Father of American Anthropology.

Physical anthropology

A type of anthropology focusing on human as a biological organism, tracing evolutionary development and biological variations.

Cultural anthropology

A type of anthropology that investigates the contrasting ways groups of humans think, feel, and behave.

Archaeology/Biological anthropology

A discipline that recovers information about human culture by studying material samples, skeletal remains, and settlements.

Linguistic anthropology

The study of the nature and nuances of languages as communication systems by which cultures are maintained and passed on.

Sociology

The scientific investigation of human culture and social behavior, viewed as an aggregate of individuals.

Auguste Comte

A French social scholar known as the Father of Sociology who coined the term sociology in $1839$ to describe ways of thinking about societies as systems.

Émile Durkheim

A French humanist credited with the development of social science as a social scientific discipline.

Samuel Koenig

A scholar who pointed out that the ultimate aim of sociology is to improve man’s adjustment to life through objective knowledge of social phenomena.

Sociological imagination

A perspective that permits individuals to stand apart intellectually from their restricted insight and see the connection between private concerns and social issues.

Political Science

A social science discipline that deals with systems of governance and the analysis of political activities, thoughts, constitutions, and political behavior.

Politics

Refers to the theory, art, and practice of government.

Government

The institution that has the authority to oversee a country/state and is an example of a political institution.

Aristotle

Known as the Father of Political Science, author of Politics, and famous for the assertion that Man is a political animal.

Plato

A Greek scholar who wrote the book The Republic.

Legislative branch

The branch authorized to make, alter, and repeal laws through the power vested in the Philippine Congress.

Executive branch

The branch composed of the President and Vice President who are elected by direct popular vote and serve a term of $6$ years.

Judiciary branch

The branch where judicial power rests with the Supreme Court and lower courts, tasked with settling controversies involving legally demandable rights.

Senate

A part of the Congress of the Philippines consisting of $24$ Senators elected at large.

House of Representatives

A part of the Congress of the Philippines composed of not more than $250$ members, where $20\%$ must be Party-list Representatives.