EMERGENCE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

I. DEFINING SOCIAL SCIENCES AS THE STUDY OF SOCIETY

SOCIAL SCIENCE

 Study of society and the manner in which people behave and influence the world around us
 Tells us about the world beyond our immediate experience

 Help explain how our own society works

 Provide vital information for governments and policymakers, local authorities, non-
governmental organizations and other

 Discipline or branch of science deals with human behaviour in its social and cultural aspect

 Include cultural or social anthropology, sociology social psychology, political science and
economics

 The Social Sciences each newly born human being enters a social world that has been shaped by
those born previously and is continually reshaped by each new generation. (Perry & Perry,
2003). It is part of his/her human experience. The emergence of a person within a society is a
phenomenon that is as natural as physical reality itself. Every person is born into a living,
breathing, communal world. This social world was not always understood. But in the last 200
years, disciplines have originated with the goal of examining it with the same scientific
methodologythat the exact sciences use. These disciplines are collectively called the social
sciences. (Perry & Perry, 2003)

 Is the study of society and human behavior. Actually, there are several social sciences, which this
course will enumerate and discuss in the detail, each specializing in a particular aspect of human
behavior and each using different concepts, methods, and data in its studies. Anthropology,
sociology, economics, psychology, political science, and history have developed into separate
“disciplines” but all share an interest in human behavior. (Harrison & Dye, 2008)
 The Purpose of a Social Science The purpose of the social sciences is to study systematically all
aspects of human behavior and of the human condition, using a methodology borrowed from
the physical sciences wherever possible. (Perry & Perry, 2003)
II. Comparing Natural, Social Sciences and the Humanities
 Science may be briefly defined as a method using a system of rational inquiry dependent
on the empirical testing of facts. This is what makes social science a science: its
determination to use the scientific method to study specific aspects of human behavior in
the social world. (Perry & Perry, 2003) Therefore, it is important to know what sets
social sciences apart from the other sciences.
  The Natural Sciences is a branch of science that deals with the physical world (e.g. physics,
chemistry, geology, biology, etc.). It is divided into two groups: the life sciences (or
biological science) and physical science.
 On the social science the study of society and human behaviour other hand, the
Humanities is learning or literature concerned with human culture, especially literature,
history, art, music, and philosophy.
III. Introducing the disciplines within the Social Sciences
2.1. Anthropology
Anthropology – The science of the origins and development of human beings and their
cultures.The word anthropology is derived from two Greek words: anthropos meaning
“man” or “human” and logos, meaning “thought” or
“reason
2.2. Economics
2.3. Geography
2.4. History
2.5. Linguistics
2.6. Political Science
2.7. Psychology
2.8. Sociology and Demography

History of Social Science?

Renaissance
– “Modern science began with the Renaissance in the important sense that it started then to have
a continuous development”
(Gordon, 1991)

What is Social Science?

*Study of how social organization work and to identify the problem that result form the fact that
they do not work perfectly (Gordon, 1991)
*It is an attempt to replicate the scientific success of the natural sciences in Social Organizations.
"Social Science is a study of how scientific attitude exercised in the natural sciences is applied in
the different social organizations."
1. Source of Scientific Knowledge
*Observation versus Authority
*Galileo: “Secrets of nature are open to investigation by every man.”
*“When men are free to use what reason they possess, without subservience to authority,
knowledge will increase progressively.”
 2. Demarcation of Social Sciences
*Observation versus Revelation

*“A statement is scientific if it is of such a nature that it can be tested by observation or

experiment.”

*Caveat: Being unscientific does not necessarily means “false”

3. Platonic Idealism versus Aristotelian Essentialism
*Plato:
“Knowledge consists of understanding the pure form of things, which is perfect, not the worldly
examples which are not.”
-The way to know pure form of things is not through empirical methods but through abstract
way such as mathematics.
*Aristotle:
Phenomena are explicable in terms of the essential nature of things.
-Example: stones fall because it is in their nature to fall.
Humanities vs Social Science
*Humanities – “The study of how people process and document the human experience.”
(Stanford University)

*Humanities is a broader category compared with Social Science

ANTHROPOLOGY
GEOGRAPHY
ECONOMICS
HISTORY
LINGUISTICS
SOCIOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
POLITICAL SCIENCE
IV. Structural-Functionalism
Parson was also known to have translated a number of other important sociologists such as Max
Weber, Emile Durkheim and Vilfredo Pareto. He was greatly influenced by the latter’s thought as
a result. (Dillon, 2013)Parsons life was greatly shaped by his academic formation. He was born in
Colorado Springs, Colorado on December 13, 1902. He obtained his PhD in sociology and
economics at the University of Heidelburg in 1927. His doctoral dissertation was entitled The
Concept of Capitalism in the Recent German Literaturewith his main focus on the work of
Werner Sombart and Max Weber. In 1944, Parsons received a chairmanship from Harvard
 University as well as being made a full professor. Parsons was a natural enemy of communism
and fascism. In 1951, Parsons published two major works: The Social System and Toward a General
Theory of Action. In 1973, Parsons retired from Harvard yet continued writing. He died of a
stroke on May 8, 1979 in Munich. The Theory Structural-Functionalism, as drawn from
Parsonian theory, is an elaboration and synergy of structuralism and functionalism.
Structuralismis a method for analyzing language, narratives, and cultural phenomena that
uncovers basic elements that form structures (often binary oppositions). Simply put,
structuralism is understanding human culture and elements in terms of their relationship with a
larger, overarching system. Functionalism, on the other hand, can also be regarded as Structural-
Functionalismitself. It is defined as an approach that sees society as a complex systemwhose parts
work together to promote solidarity and stability. It looks for a structure’s social function. This is
where Parsons becomes relevant, for his thought amplifies the need for social action. He held
that "the social system is made up of the actionsof individuals." (Parsons & Shills, 1976) This line
encapsulates the very definition of a structural-formalism. The social system refers to the
structural dimension of society, where everyone is divided into certain groups that hold
distinctions, such as classes or, for example, the caste system in the Hindu religion.
Structuralism’s role is to point out that society is a system composed of different individuals who
adhere to this system. Parsons determined that each individual has expectations of the other's
action and reaction to his own behavior, and that these expectations would (if successful) be
"derived" from the accepted norms and values of the society they inhabit. (Parsons, 1961)
Structural-Functionalism Today Although the over-all message of structural-functionalism is
coherent and has proven to be very helpful to the advancement of sociology’s research, it is
considered today as an outdated theory, sociologists mostly preferring newer sociological
models. However, there has been a recent trend in reviving structural-functionalism, specifically
in the works of Jeffrey Alexander.

V. Marxism
Marxism, a body of doctrine developed by Karl Marx and, to a lesser extent, by Friedrich
Engels in the mid-19th century. It originally consisted of three related ideas: a philosophical
anthropology, a theory of history, and an economic and political program. There is also
Marxism as it has been understood and practiced by the various socialist movements,
particularly before 1914. Then there is Soviet Marxism as worked out by Vladimir Ilich Lenin
and modified by Joseph Stalin, which under the name of Marxism-Leninism (see Leninism)
became the doctrine of the communist parties set up after the Russian Revolution (1917).
Offshoots of this included Marxism as interpreted by the anti-Stalinist Leon Trotsky and his
followers, Mao Zedong’s Chinese variant of Marxism-Leninism, and various Marxisms in the
developing world. There were also the post-World War II nondogmatic Marxisms that have
 modified Marx’s thought with borrowings from modern philosophies, principally from those
of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger but also from Sigmund Freud and others.

REFERENCES
https://prezi.com/rrf3xljioyyc/disciplines-and-ideas-in-social-sciences/
https://www.coursehero.com/file/32311432/Defining-Social-Sciencespdf/
https://www.coursehero.com/file/p1mtapf/Parson-was-also-known-to-have-translated-a-
number-of-other-important/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marxism