THE SOCIETY Certain rules and norms of conduct are
respected and upheld. Social hierarchies were
A. Evolution of Society
It is presumed that thousands of years ago,
man lived in isolation and his only problems
were the basic necessities to live such as food,
water and shelter. He had neither companion
nor friends to whom he could relate to. And
that his existence was a mere survival.
Time passed by and man learned the value
of companionship. From his observation of all
the things around him, he found out that he
was born not for himself alone but to live in
harmony and happiness with other individuals.
Later he sought for a wife and established his
own family.
Soon, families became isolated organization
of people dependent on each other for survival
and subsistence. In order to live, they found
certain roles to fulfill and to accomplish. The
family groups live together in a nomadic form
life, occupying one place after the other to
nurture their needs and wants. But later on,
nomadic life became a burden because the
enlargement of the families slowed down their
mobility, and so a new way of life was
introduced.
This new initiated way of life was later
called the post nomadic period. The different
families began to settle down in one place and
advanced their survival methods like farming
and cattle raising. They also learned the value of
having their own territory.
However, this new way of life posted a
great threat from other tribes and animals. So, a
system was implemented that was necessary
for their protection. Leaders were selected,
ideologies and social codes were established.
Then, followed by division of roles, and
responsibilities.
also modeled. And through time after, these
elements have been refined and polished and
there emerged what we called now a SOCIETY.
B. Importance of Society
The Society is the:
 Foundation of the government
 Building block of nations
 Stepping stone of every human
development
 Standard of good and evil
 Setter of roles and responsibilities
 Preserver of cultural heritage
 Bridge that connects the pasts, present
and the future
 Mother of generation
 Judge of human success and failures
 Measure of one’s individuality
C. Aspects of Society
The study of social philosophy does not only
entail the study of society in general but it will
also include the investigation on the different
compositions of society of vital importance in
grasping the subject meaningfully.
Hence, these aspects of society are unique
but are interrelated and interdependent.
Meaning, one aspect cannot stand on its own
without the other components. An aspect
cannot contribute significantly without the aid
of the other aspects.
Generally, these aspects are the following;
family, political, economical, socio-cultural,
educational, religious, mass media, and
environmental.
Family as the basic unit or institution in
society which public policy protects is the
fundamental principle of the other aspects or
components of society. No other aspect will
emerge without the family. The degree or
extent to which a country has developed or has
deteriorated can be determined by closely
examining the family. The strength or weakness
of a society depends on the kind of family that
prevails. Likewise, the family is adaptive for it
can adjust to the challenging social conditions.
Political aspect is an invaluable activity of
men which is also intertwined with other social
systems and it affects them, in turn affected by
them. Thus, it is from which the government is
established to provide control mechanisms
necessary for a peaceful and progressive living.
After all, man is really a political being in nature.
Man, on the other hand, undeniably, must
work for his survival to the next generation.
Man is both a consumer and a producer to
sustain his life. The economic aspect provides
means and ways to sustains man's basic and
material needs to live. Hence, the acceleration
for production is imperative to answer the
increasing demand of man in society.
For the sociocultural aspect, it is the heart
and soul of a civilized society; it reflects the
identity of people in the community. It is also
where the coping mechanism of the individual
members in society is translated. Life's
meaning, refinement and development are
manifested as a result of his ability to transcend
himself to the fullest measures of his,
capabilities. It is the evolution towards man's
perfection and totality.
Education aspect is more than just learning
and training man to earn a living. Education is
Life. Education entails the 'wholeness' of
individual; the moral, the intellectual and the
behavioral. Thus, education is the most
effective among all the other aspects. it is in
fact the artist of the dramatic change and
development of all the other aspects. Education
restructures society.
Lastly, the remaining two are the religious
aspect and the mass media. The church
however, is the conscience of society. It
provides norms and moral principles directing
human values and behavior. Man is not only a
material being but spiritual as well. The Church
provides the spiritual needs of man, his highest
sense existence. Mass media on the other hand,
is the most influential aspect of society. Man is
easily moved and affected by it. Mass media is
the 'voice' of society. It connects people and
makes them well informed. The absence of
media would make interaction among people
difficult. Mass media opens the window of
communication and interaction between men.
D. Sociological Perspective on Society
Sociological perspective (Turner, 2002) is
the view of the outside appearance of people's
action and organizations. The sociological
perspective is defined by three philosophical
traditions (or "paradigms"): structure-
functionalism, Marxism, and symbolic
interactionism. Structure-functionalism focuses
on how society is organized and how social
institutions meet the needs of people living
within a collectivity. The Marxian paradigm
guides inquiries into the use and misuse of
power within and across social systems.
Symbolic interactionism focuses on how
individuals influence and are influenced by
society. It guides investigations into how the
rules of society are re-created everyday through
our interactions with one another.
1. Structural Functionalism viewed the
society as a stable social system made up of
interrelated parts where each part contributes
something that will benefit the society and the
other systems. Structure-functionalism relies
upon an "organic" analogy of human society as
being "like an organism," a system of
interdependent parts that function for the
benefit of the whole. Thus, just as a human
body consists of parts that function as an
interdependent system for the survival of the
organism, society consists of a system of
interdependent institutions and organizations
that function for the survival of the society. The
idea of the functionalists was to create a
science of society that could examine the parts
of human social systems and make them work
for the betterment of all. Listed below are the
central tenets of the functionalist approach to
understanding human social systems.
a. Society as a system of interrelated parts
functioning for the good of the whole.
b. All social systems have four key
functions: Adaptation, Goal-Attainment,
Integration, Latency.
2. Marxism
Although Karl Marx's idea of a communist
utopian society failed due to an inadequate
understanding of human motivation and
organization, his identification of potential
problems with human social systems still is a
crucial element of all the social sciences. His
hypotheses that human societies can
experience sufficient organized and intentional
exploitati9n by powerful elites to lead to their
collapse have received enough support that
citizens should be aware of these potential
problems and maintain a constant vigil against
their becoming too severe. This perspective is
also 'mown as Conflict theory. It is believed to
be a disruptive force that brings constant social
change. Listed below are the central tenets of
the Marxian approach to understanding human
social systems.
a. Society is a system of competing parts in
conflict for scarce resources.
b. All social systems have a small minority of
powerful elites.
c. Social action takes place within an arena
of conflict and exploitation between dominant
and secondary segments of society.
3. Symbolic Interactionism looks primarily
at how people interact and respond toward one
another at the same time. Where did society
come from, anyway? Well, from us! From the
perspective of symbolic interactionism, society
is in a constant state of re-creation through
interaction and negotiation of meanings. We
created the rules we live by, and, importantly,
we re-create these rules everyday through our
interactions with one another. Mostly, societies
are conservative with respect to social change.
But, our redefining of i) the symbolic meanings
we attach to things and events, ii) our sense of
morality and ethics, and what we choose to
value have important implications for the rules
we create and the ways we choose to live with
one another. Listed below is an abbreviated
outline of the central tenets of the symbolic
interactionist approach to understanding
human social systems.
a. Key concepts: definition of the situation,
perception, social construction of reality,
morality.
b. From the symbolic interactionist
perspective, morality, ethics, values, even
reality are not "given", we create them, through
our interactions with one another. Reality is a
marketplace of ideas, where not everyone has
an equal say-so.
c. Social action is influenced by person's
beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and negotiations
of meanings.
E. Social Stratification
Social stratification is the division of a
society into different hierarchical classes of
people according to certain criteria. The scale of
division is from the highest to the lowest class.
In some countries, it is very rigid as in the case
of the caste system of India. But in a democratic
country like the Philippines, social stratification
is not very rigid. Classification here is loose and
based merely on the general perceptions of the
people. The classes do not have any distinct nor
clear-cut divisions. The people are merely
divided according to socio-economic criteria
which never have any definite limits or
boundaries. Thus, some people are considered
to belong to the upper class, middle class, and
the rest to the lower class but the dividing lines
really is not known. People may also be
classified as very rich, rich, fairly rich, poor, and
very poor.
Social Status
It is the social class to which one belongs. It
is the class which his socio-economic standing
fits. There are two types:
a) Ascribed Status - it is the class into which
one is born.
b) Achieved Status - it is earned or acquired
by means of a talent and effort-making capacity
of an individual or by force of circumstances.
F. Social Ideologies
An ideology is an organized collection of ideas.
The word ideology was coined by in the late
18th century to define a "science of ideas." An
ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive
vision, as a way of looking at things (compare
Weltanschauung), as in common sense and
several philosophical tendencies, or a set of
ideas proposed by the dominant class of a
society to all members of this society. The main
purpose behind an ideology is to offer change in
society through a normative thought process.
Ideologies are systems of abstract thought (as
opposed to mere ideation) applied to public
matters and thus make this concept central to
politics. Implicitly every political tendency
entails an ideology whether or not it is
propounded as an explicit system of thought.
Here are some social ideologies:
Anarchism is a political philosophy or
group of philosophies and attitudes which reject
any form of compulsory government, and
support its elimination, most often because of a
wider rejection of any form of hierarchical
authority.
Conservatism is a relativistic term used to
describe political philosophies that favor
traditional values, where "tradition" refers to
religious, cultural, or nationally defined beliefs
and customs. The term is derived from the
Latin, conservare, to conserve; to keep, guard,
observe". Since different cultures have different
established values, conservatives in different
cultures have different goals. Some
conservatives seek to preserve the status quo,
while others seek to return to the values of an
earlier time, the status quo ante.
Liberalism refers to a broad array of
related ideas and theories of government that
advocate individual liberty. Liberalism has its
roots in the Western Age of Enlightenment.
Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes
individual rights and equality of opportunity. A
liberal society is characterized by freedom of
thought for individuals, limitations on power,
the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a
market economy, free private enterprise, and a
transparent system of government in which the
rights of all citizens are protected. In the 21st
century, this usually means liberal democracy
with open and fair elections, where all citizens
have equal rights by law.
Environmentalism is a concern for the
preservation, restoration, or improvement of
the natural environment, such as the
conservation of natural resources, prevention of
pollution, and certain land use actions. It often
supports the struggles of indigenous peoples
against the spread of globalization to their way
of life, which is seen as less harmful to the
environment: The study of practical
environmentalism is split into two positions: the
mainstream 'anthropocentric' or hierarchic, and
the more radical 'ecocentric' or egalitarian.
 Feminism comprises a number of social,
cultural and political movements, theories and
moral philosophies that are concerned with the
impact of cultural, political, and economic
practices and inequalities on discrimination
against women. Feminism is also described as
an ideology focusing on equality of both sexes.
Some have argued that gendered and sexed
identities, such as "man" and "woman", are
social constructs. Feminists often differ in
opinion over the sources of inequality, how to
attain equality, and the extent to which gender
and gender-based identities should be
questioned and critiqued. Liberal feminists,
such as Gloria Steinem, believe the women's
liberation movement revolves around the
equality of genders, and that gender should not
be the only factor in shaping a person's social
identity or socio-economic rights. Radical
feminists would also argue that feminism is
about ending societal domination and elitism.
Modem feminist political activists commonly
campaign for a woman's right to bodily integrity
and autonomy on matters such as reproductive
rights, including the right to abort, access to
contraception and quality prenatal care; for
protection from domestic violence; against
sexual harassment and rape; for workplace
rights, including maternity leave and equal pay;
and against other forms of discrimination.
II. Social Institutions
A. Family
In sociology, we had been told that family is the
most basic form of social institution. It is the
most basic and it is the oldest institution.
Sociological and political theory says family is
the basic human institution and the most
important unit of the state. There is no tribe,
nation or state without a family (Tabotabo et al,
2011).
How is the family constituted? What brings
the family together? their efficient cause that
make a family are a man and a woman brought
together by h mutual love. At the it posits the
necessity of the final cause in this union, the
procreation and education of children. Without
the education and upbringing of the children as
an end, it would be like animal-mating. A
temporary union' would not guarantee this
upbringing, and therefore the union has to be
for life. Again, the primary end of family is for
the sake of human life. (de Torre, 1980)
Aside from reproduction and procreation
of the family, it also warrants fostering and
caring of the young. More than the basic
functions of the family, it ought to do these
tasks: psychological and biological protections,
care of the sick and the old, defend property of
the family members and to pass the values,
traditions, customs and practices to the new
generation of the family.
A family consists of a domestic group of
people (or a number of domestic groups),
typically affiliated by birth or marriage, or by
analogous or comparable relationships —
including domestic partnership, cohabitation,
adoption, surname and (in some cases)
ownership (as occurred in the Roman Empire)
(Forbes, 2005). Family can be classified
according to size, relation and authority.
1. According to size:
a. Nuclear
b. Extended
c. Truncated
2. According to relation:
a. Consanguineous (sangre=blood)
b. Conjugal
c. Co-habitation
d. Adoption
3. According to authority:
a. Patriarchal
b. Matriarchal
c. Egalitarian
 B. School (Education)
The word education comes from the Latin
"educare, educates" means to bring up, to rear,
to lead forth or bring out. (Tabotabo & Corpuz,
2011) A school is an institution where students
(or "pupils") learn while under the supervision
of teachers. History tells us that schools only
come in with complexities of human endeavor
or with the mushrooming of different fields of
discipline. There is a school for every specialized
field of interest, turf or school of thought.
The basic guiding or rearing up of the
young takes place first in the family. Before the
coming of the Spaniards, the Filipinos had
already their style of rearing up their young. The
males were guided to hunt wild animals in the
forest and to fish in the seas and/or rivers.
Females were reared up to do domestic tasks
with their mothers. People of different
countries in different ages have their varied
style of educating the people. Socrates, the
Greek philosopher was known to be the first
man who hinted humanity with the idea of
putting up a school, a place where people
congregate for the purpose of obtaining
knowledge. He traveled from place to place and
collected his students in a place anywhere in
the city most frequently under the tree or
garden. Plato, his disciple, established the first
school, the Academia. And the Aristotle
followed by putting up the Lyceum.
C. Church (Religion)
A church is an association of people, a
gathering and worshipping of people, who
share a particular belief system, a common faith
guided by a doctrine, ritual and rite. The term
church originated from Greek "karakion",
meaning "of the lord". The Greek term
"ekklesia", which literally means a "gathering or
selection" i.e. "eclectic" in English" or "called
out assembly", was a governmental and political
term, used to denote a national assembly,
congregation, council of common objective,
Ecclesia (Church) or a crowd of people who
were assembled.(Wikipedia, web) It did not
signify a "building". The Christians call it church,
Jewish synagogue, Moslem mosque and other
religions call it temple.
As a social institution, church serves to
reinforce moral foundations, rules of conduct
for the spiritual enhancement of an individual.
(Tabotabo et al, 2011). Religion is our response
to the invitation of the Absolute. May it be for
the worshipfulness of deity, aspiration of the
afterlife or for salvific-redemptive eschatology.
As Herbert Spencer coined it: "Religion is the
recognition that all things are manifestations of
a Power which transcends our knowledge".
(Hick, 1990, 2.) This is humanity's endeavor to
communicate with the Divine, the Ultimate. It.
is a declaration of faith — to recognize our
finitude; to acknowledge our dependence and
profanity; and to worship God.
D. State
The word state and its cognates in other
European languages (stato in Italian, etat in
French, Staat in German) ultimately derive from
the Latin status, meaning "condition" or
"status". With the revival of the Roman law in
the 14th century in Europe, this Latin term was
used to refer to the legal standing of persons
(such as the various "estates of the realm" —
noble, common, and clerical), and in particular
the special status of the king.(Hay, 2001) For
Hegel, the state is the social substance that has
arrived at self- consciousness. It is rational of
itself and for itself. For Max Weber, it is a
structurally specific and historically unique
organization of men over men.
Thus, a state is a political association with
effective dominion over a geographic area. It is
that organization that has a "monopoly on the
legitimate use of physical force within a given
territory," which may include the armed forces,
civil service or state bureaucracy, courts, and
police. It is a set of institutions that possess the
authority to make the rules that govern the
people in one or more societies, having internal
and external sovereignty over a definite
territory.
The origin of the state therefore, has its
roots in man's social being. It is the duty of the
state to preserve and defend the rights and
dignity of man and promote the common good
of the people. However, the state cannot be an
end in itself, but as a means to a greater end.
The state indeed, fundamentally emerged in the
family to ensure security and well-being of its
member. Its very existence is a self-conscious
effort by people trying to maintain stability and
order in society. Man, being rational and social
in nature tends to form and create society for
community life with his fellowmen in order to
work cooperatively for their common welfare.
The state is established to minister man's
temporal needs and well-being to be happy.
Thus, the supreme end of the state, according
to Plato, is to bring about unity and harmony
among men.
1. State, Nation and Country
These three social terms are related to
each other and sometimes they are used
analogously. Let us discriminate them from
each other:
a. Nation
The English word "nation" is derived from
the Latin term natio (stem nation-), meaning:
• The action of being born; birth; or • The
goddess personifying birth; or
• A breed, stock, kind, species, race;or
• A tribe, or (rhetorically, any) set of
people (contemptuous); or
• A nation or people.
Nation pertains to a set of people with
common descent, common language, common
culture, and common religion.
c. Country
A country is a political division of a
geographical entity, a sovereign territory, most
commonly associated with the notions of state
or nation and government.
 State refers to the set of governing
institutions that has sovereignty over a
definite territory
 Country denotes a geographical area
 Nation denotes a people who are
believed to or deemed to share
common customs, origins, and history.
4. Elements of State
The four elements of the state are: people,
territory, government, and sovereignty.
a. The People are the essential element of
the state. There can be no state without the
people. Man as a member of society
characterized the people of state. The
number of people does not affect the
existence of the state. It is only when the
government becomes incapable of
operating and keeping its duties and
obligation that the state ceases to exist.
b. Territory constitutes all the land and
water within its external boundaries. Thus
the state must have a full control of its
territory.
c. Government is the aggregate of
authorities that rule society and must be
obeyed by its people. d. Sovereignty is the
supreme and independent power of the
state to manage its internal affairs and to
be freed from external control.
4. Functions of the State
a. To defend man's basic needs and
security. b. To support his quest for natural
well-being.
E. Sovereignty and Government
state can be distinguished according to its
form of government. Hence government
may differ from one another due to their
different organizational structure, political
component and the extent of their power
and responsibility.

1. Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the exclusive right to

exercise supreme political (e.g. legislative,
judicial, and/or executive) authority over a
geographic region, group of people, or
oneself. A sovereign is the supreme
lawmaking authority, subject to no other.
Thus, the legal maxim, there is no law
without a sovereign. The source or
justification of sovereignty ("by God" or "by
people") must be distinguished from its
exercise by branches of government. In
democratic states, sovereignty is held by
the people. This is known as popular
sovereignty; it may be exercised directly, as
in a popular assembly, or, more commonly,
indirectly through the election of
representatives to government. This is
known as a representative democracy, a
system of government currently used in
most western nations and former colonies.

2. Government

A government is a body that has the power

to make, and the authority to enforce rules
and laws within a civil, corporate, religious,
academic, or other organization or group.
The government can be classified in various
ways: The classical way of classification is
according to the number of people who
hold the power (one, a few, or a majority).
The more recent classification bases itself
on the institutional organization
(parliamentary or presidential systems) or
the distribution and the degree of control
exercised over the society. A government is
not synonymous with the state; however, a