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The Enlightenment
It refers to that period in European history (late 17th and 18th centuries) which put
human being at the centre of the universe and rational thought as the central feature of the
human being. The ability to think rationally and critically transformed the individual
human being into both the producer and user of all knowledge. For reason to become the
defining feature, it was necessary to displace nature, religion and divine acts from the
central position they earlier occupied. Thus the attitudes of mind that we refer today as
secular, scientific, progressive and humanistic developed.
During the 18th century, European had entered the age of reason and rationalism. Some of
the major philosophers whose ideas influenced the people of the time were, Montesquieu,
Locke, Voltaire and Rousseau.
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Montesquieu in his book The Spirit of the Law, held that there should not be
concentration of authority, such as executive, legislative and judicial, at one place. He
believed in the theory of the separation of powers and the liberty of the individual.
Locke, an Englishman, advocated that every individual has certain rights which cannot be
taken by any authority. These rights were, right to life, right to property, and the right to
personal freedom. He also believed that any ruler who took away these rights from his
people should be removed from the seat of power and replaced by another ruler who is
able to protect these rights.
Voltaire, a French philosopher, advocated religious toleration and freedom of speech. He
also stood for the rights of individuals, for freedom of speech and expression.
Rousseau wrote in his book The Social Contract that the people of a country have the
right to choose their sovereign. He believed that people can develop their personality best
only under a government which is of their own choice.
This period witnessed a dramatic change in the mental status of people. Society started
thinking more pragmatically.
(iii)
The first estate Clergy Religious priests who lived a luxurious life. No
taxation on churchs property.
The second estate Nobility Nobles of swords and Nobles of Robes. Nobles
of swords were big landlords who lived as parasite life on the hard working
peasants.
The third estate Commoners Rest of society including peasants, artisans,
merchants etc. The condition of peasants were miserable.
The Revolution announced the arrival of political sovereignty at the level of individuals
as well as nation-states. It signaled the emancipation of individuals from the oppressive
rule of the religious and feudal institutions that dominated French before the Revolution.
The nation-state itself was redefined as a sovereign entity with a centralized government.
The ideals of the French Revolution- liberty, equality and fraternity- became the
watchwords of modern state.
This Revolution brought about far reaching changes in not only French society but also in
societies throughout Europe. Even societies in other continents were influenced by ideas
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generated during the Revolution. There were many significant themes which arose due to
the impact of this Revolution which have been the focus of interest of the early
sociologists. These significant themes include the transformation of property, new social
class etc.
2. Evolved new ways of organizing labour and markets on a scale larger than anything in
the past. The goods were produced on a gigantic scale for distant markets across the
world. The raw materials used in their production were also obtained from all over the
world.
Industrialization threw into turmoil societies that have been relatively stable for centuries.
New industries and technologies changed the face of social and physical environment.
Peasants left rural areas and flocked to the towns, where they worked under appalling
conditions. Cities grew at an unprecedented rate. Social problems become rampant in the
teeming cities. The direction of change was unclear and the stability of social order
seemed threatened.
The significant themes of this Revolution which concerned the early sociologists were the
condition of labour, transformation of property, industrial city/ urbanism and technology
and the factory system.
Against such background, some thinkers of that time were concerned about building their
society anew. Those who dealt with these problems are considered as the founding
fathers of Sociology because they were seriously concerned with these problems in a
systematic way. Most notable among the thinkers have been Auguste Comte, Herbert
Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber. All these pioneers came from
different disciplines.
Auguste Comte, who is also known as, the 'father of sociology, argued that the methods
used in physics should be used for the study of society. Such a study would reveal the
laws of evolution and the laws of the functioning of society. Once this knowledge was
available, we would be able to build society. Auguste Comte, who gave sociology its
name, identified three stages of human society: Theological (various phenomena were
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Scope of Sociology
The term Sociology was coined by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher in 1839. It is
the youngest of all social sciences. Sociology is the outcome of mans search for a more
valid, and precise knowledge about the nature of man and the society.
The word Sociology is derived from the Latin word Societus meaning society and
the Greek word logos meaning study or science. Thus, the etymological meaning of
Sociology is the science of society.
Scope means the subject-matter or the areas of study. Every sciences has its own field of
inquiry. It becomes difficult to study a science systematically unless its boundary or
scope is determined precisely. Sociology as a social science has its own scope or
boundaries. But there is no one opinion about the scope of Sociology.
There are two schools of thought with different viewpoints regarding scope and subject
matter of sociology: (i) Formalistic or Specialistic school and (2) Synthetic school.
The supporters of first school believe that Sociology is a specific science and the scope
should be limited whereas advocates of second school believe that it should have a
synthesis in form of coordination with other social sciences. Apart of these two points of
view, some other scholars want scope of Sociology to be encyclopedic.
George Simmel in Germany, propounded a formalistic school of sociology, which
attempted to define and limit sociology as an abstract science of the forms of social life.
Thus the basis of sociology was to separate, by scientific abstraction, the two factors of
form and content which are in reality, inseparably united, to detach by analysis the forms
of interaction or sociation from its content, and to bring them together systematically
under a consistent scientific viewpoint.
His viewpoint was further supported by Von Wiese, Alfred Vierkandt and Ferdinand
Tonnies thus suggesting to limit sociology as a specialist science of forms.
[According to Simmel, sociology is a specific social science which describes, classifies,
analyses and delineates the forms of social relationships or in other words social
interactions should be classified into various forms or types and analyzed. Simmel
argued that social interactions have various forms. He carried out studies of such formal
relationships as cooperation, competition, subordinate and superordinate relationships
and so forth. He said however diverse the interests are that give rise to these sociations;
the forms in which the interests are realized may yet be identical. He emphasized on the
process of abstraction of these forms from human relationship which are common to
diverse situations.]
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sociology. The main works on social subjects such as Platos Republic, The Politics
of Aristotle and other classical works were meant to be complete treaties on political
science. The two subjects have even now much in common.
Distinction between the two:
According to Prof. Gilchrist there is clear general distinction between sociology and
political science. Political Science is the science of state or political society. Sociology
studies man as a social being, and as political organization is the special kind of social
organization. Political Science is a more specialized science than sociology. The two
subjects are however, different from each other. The scope of sociology is much wider
than that of political science. Political science studies the state and government only,
whereas sociology studies all the social institutions.
Secondly, sociology being the science of society, deals with man in all his associated
processes, while political science being the science of the political society is concerned
only with one form of human association. Thirdly, political organization is a special kind
of social organization and that is why political science is a special science while
sociology is a general science. Fifthly, unlike political science which treats only
conscious activities of man, sociology treats unconscious activities of man also.
Sixthly, political science starts with the assumption that man is a political being,
sociology goes behind this assumption and tries to explain how and why man became a
political being.
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But in spite of the similarities, the two subject are distinct. Firstly, there is much in
History that has no direct relation to sociology, while there is much in sociology which is
not of much significance for History.
Secondly, the primary interest of the sociologist is to find the general laws of the society,
and that of the historians to narrate the historical events in there chronological order.
The sociologists would try to find out the common aspects of the events recorded by
historians and then to generalize. According to Park, In the same sense that history is the
concrete, sociology is the abstract science of human experience and human nature.
Lastly, History would deal with events in all their aspects while sociology would study
them from the view-point of social relationship, invalid. For example, the historians
would describe a war, all the circumstances accompanied with it, while sociologists
would try to understand a war as a social phenomena. They will study its impact on the
lives of the people, their social institutions etc.
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Similarly, symbolic interactionists use common sense idea to understand the meaning that
individuals attach to their social actions in the process of role taking.
Even structuralists like Claude Levi Strauss held that sociology can be considered a
juxtaposition (side by side) of sociological common sense and science.
We can conclude that Sociology and common sense are not two opposite forces, but they
complement each other at many points. Sociology uses its scientific methodologies to
understand the reality or truth behind the common sense. Thus the relationship between
Sociology and Common sense has been dynamic and moulded by the dominant
perspective in Sociology.
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