Sociology_Introduction_b10aacd35db9cd3fb92a45a18d5ca3bd

SOCIOLOGY

• What is it all about?

• Dr. Sašo Ordanoski

• University American College Skopje

EUROPEAN SOCIETY IN 18 & 19 CENTURY

• Features of this period:

  • Absolut monarchy vs. the bourgeoisie's ideals: Introduction of human rights, citizens' rights.

  • Trade expansion with European colonies leading to industrial development.

• Major changes:

  1. Beginning of industrialization.

  2. Urbanization and growth of the urban population.

  3. Emergence of new ideas around democracy and social rights.

• Era of Enlightenment:

  • Key thinkers: Adam Smith, Baruch Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Lessing.

  • Establishment of scientific institutions and journals to explore natural and social phenomena.

• Formation and development of the civil class, need for formal education, and progress.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN XVIII/XIX CENTURY

• Key inventions and advancements:

  • Piano, thermometers, diving bell, prototypes of steam engine, sextant.

  • Innovations such as flush toilets, bifocal eyeglasses, hot air balloons and parachutes.

  • Development of steamboats, diesel engines, oil drilling, and cotton gin.

  • Advances in photography, electricity (light bulb), ironclad ships, rifles, internal combustion engine, telegraph, telephone, locomotives, steam engines, transatlantic cables.

SOCIOLOGY AS A COGNITIVE DISCIPLINE

• Definition: SOCIUS (society) + LOGOS (reason and judgment) = Sociology.

• Areas of study:

  • Semiotics: Study of signs and symbols.

  • Phenomenology: Structure of experience and consciousness.

• Persuasion methods (Aristotle):

  • Ethos - credibility and character.

  • Pathos - emotional appeal.

  • Logos - logical reasoning.

• Importance of critical thinking in sociology focusing on human behavior (individual and group).

THEORY OF COGNITION AND POSITIVISM

• Epistemology: Theory of knowledge, methods, validity, distinction between justified belief and opinion.

• Epistemology examines cognition processes between subject (cognator) and object (reality).-Three phases of cognition (Comte):

  1. Theological Stage: Imaginative and supernatural.

  2. Metaphysical Stage: Abstract and nature-determined.

  3. Scientific Stage: Based on scientific method (Descartes: "I think; therefore I am").

• Concepts:

  • Empirical: Observation-based knowledge.

  • Ontology: Nature of being and existence, contrasted with phenomenology.

THREE MAIN THEORETICAL APPROACHES

• Structural-functionalist approach (Comte, Durkheim, Spencer):

  • Society seen as a macro-system for social solidarity and stability.

• Social-conflict approach (Karl Marx):

  • Society viewed as an arena of inequality and conflict (racial, class, gender).

• Symbolic-interaction approach (Max Weber):

  • Focus on micro-level interactions shaping individual realities.

• Stereotypes: Fixed oversimplified images of people or things.

SOCIOLOGY IN RELATION TO OTHER SCIENCES

• Science as a rational and logical cognition method.

• Capacity to formulate scientific laws to explain phenomena.

• Types of sciences:

  • Natural sciences (math, physics, biology).

  • Social sciences (economy, political science, law).

  • Humanistic sciences (psychology, linguistics, literature).

• Sociology classified as both a social and humanistic fundamental science.

AND EVEN MORE...

• Sociology as the systematic study of human society.

• Sociological perspective (Peter Berger): "Seeing the general in the particular."

• Questions raised by sociology:

  • Common characteristics of university enrollees.

  • Variations in family size across cultures.

  • Causes of increased suicide rates in specific regions.

• Influence of society on individual choices and aspirations.

• Relationship between history and sociology:

  • History focuses on facts; sociology transforms facts into social knowledge.

AUGUSTE COMTE / 1789-1857

• Contributions to sociology: Coined the term "sociology," focused on social structures and change.

• Education and early influences: Brilliance in mathematics and science, mentored by Henri de Saint-Simon.

• Major work: "Course of Positive Philosophy," establishing societal laws.

• Personal life and relationships, including influence of Clotilde de Vaux.

• Proposed a "religion of humanity" focusing on morality as guiding political organization.

• Influence on numerous thinkers, including Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill.

• Died of stomach cancer on September 5, 1857, in Paris.