North South University (NSU)

Course SOC 101 (AAu)

ASM Amanullah PhD (Sydney) Professor, Department of Sociology University of Dhaka Visiting Professor NSU
dramanullah@hotmail.com

 Lecture: 1

Definition, nature, scope and importance of sociology

Sociology: The term Sociology was invented by Auguste Comte to designate the science of human association.

The word Sociology has been derived from the Latin word Socius meaning associate or companion and the Greek word Logus meaning theory. Thus the etymological meaning of sociology is the theory or science of human association or society.

Definitions:

Lester Frank Ward and William Graham Sumner:

Sociology is the science of society or of social phenomena.

Emile Durkheim: The science of social

institutions.

George Simmel: Science that studies human

relationship.

Kovalevsky: The science of social organization

and social change.

Max Weber: Study of social action.

In brief:
Sociology is the science of society Sociology is a study of social relationships Sociology is a study of social organizations, institutions and groups Social structure is concepts of sociology one of the central

Human society is always changing Human relationships or the various elements of social structure are causally related

Nature of Sociology: Holistic study of the society Discusses about the construction of society i.e., the elements of social structure Provides scientific explanation of the social structure Ethically neutral (Value free)

Scope of Sociology:

Sociological theory
Historical sociology

Sociology of family
Social demography

Rural sociology
Urban sociology Industrial sociology Medical sociology

Sociology of religion Political sociology Sociology of law Social psychology

Social statistics
Sociology of art

Military sociology
Sociology of war

Folk sociology, Sociology of Music etc.

Text: John J. Macionis (2009). Sociology. Pearson, USA. Giddens, A. (2009). Sociology: A brief but Critical Introduction. Macmillan, UK. Tischler, H.L. (2010). Introduction to Sociology. USA.

Thank You

Lecture: 2
Origin of Sociology Relationship with other social sciences

Sociology is the science of society and its institutions. It is considered as one of the youngest social sciences.

The conditions, which gave use to sociology, were both intellectual and social. Naturally, these were interwoven, and an adequate sociological history of sociology, which has not yet been attempted, would have to take account of these interconnections.

According to Ginsberg, Broadly it may be said that sociology had a origin in political philosophy, the philosophy of history, biological theories of evolution; and the movements for social and political reform which found it necessary to undertake surveys of social conditions.

In fact, literature concerning the subject matter of sociology is not of recent origin. But the name to this subject was not given before Auguste Comte who, in his work Positive Philosophy clearly emphasized the need for a distinct subject for studying the society and in his endeavor, he first named it as social physics but later renamed it sociology which is universally accepted as proper title, and by virtue of this Auguste Comte is called as the father of Sociology.

A brief description of emergence of the subject from early times is given below:

a) The Greeks:
Plato (427-347 B.C.) in his book Republic discussed about City Society and its problems Aristotle (388-327 B.C.) in his books Politics and Ethics discussed about systematic dealing of Law, the society and the State.

 b) The Roman Thinkers:

Cicero made the most outstanding contribution in his book De Officus (On Justice). In his book, Cicero discussed the great Greek ideas in Philosophy, Politics, Sociology and Law in the West.

 c) The Scholastics:

The later period was over-cast with the scholastic thinking and ideology. The biblical thesis that the human being is a special creation of God was forcefully advocated by these thinkers. The human being was subject to only the laws of God and the church was the earthly place where a man could come into contact with his creator the God.
The scholastic philosophy, beyond all doubts was conservative it its approach to human life and quite mistakably it assigned theological interpretations to social attitudes. It was absolutely impractical on the part of the scholastics to consider that nothing social can be changed.

 d) Modern thinkers:
It was only in the sixteenth century that a precise distinction was made between state and society. Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli were the outstanding contributors of the realistic approach to social problems. Hobbes in his book Levithan and Machiavelli in his the Prince analyzed the system of statecraft and also put forward conditions for successful state. Other contributors were Sir Thomas More, who in his book Utopia (1515) tried to deal with every day social problems.

 Notably among those who made contribution towards the specific investigation of social phenomena are the Italian writer Vico and French writer Baron de Montesquieu. It was maintained by Vico in his book The New Science that society was subject to definite laws which can be observed through objective observation and study. Montesquieu explained in his The Spirit of laws that many external factors, particularly climate, play significant role in the life of society.

e) Auguste Comte:
Auguste Comte gave the proper name to the subject embracing the totality of human life and activities. In his time, humankind was on the threshold of scientific stage.

 f) Biological School of Thought:

Charles Darwins epoch making book the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859) and the Descent of Man (1871) EASTABLISHED NEW THEORY BY QUASHING THE OLD and maintained that all complete forms of life have evolved from the simple, and through the process of the survival of the fittest.
Darwins theory of scientific evolution was brought into Sociology by Herbert Spencer (18201903) in his book Principles of Sociology (1876). Spencer observed that the study of sociology was the study of evolution in its most complex forms.

 g) The Psychologists:
The writings of Herbert Spencer had a remarkable impact on the psychologist who had displaced his biological interpretation of social phenomena to the psychological interpretation. The notable among theme were: Graham Wallace and McDougall (England), Warse Giddings, Cooley, Mead and Deway (America), Freud.

 h) Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) French sociologist Emile Durkheim disagreeing with Spencer interpreted the positivist intellectual tradition in beginning and later changed it. Durkheim argued that there were other factors than the psychological and biological factors.

 i) German Sociologists: Significant contribution was made by German sociologists Von Wiese Tonnies, Vier Kandt, George Simmel and Max Weber. The formal school of sociology was developed by Simmel. Max Weber (1864-1920) developed the concept of Ideal Type and notion of Causality.

 j) Parsons, Merton and Marx, Khaldun: Talcott Parsons developed the system of sociological studies whereas Robert K. Merton laid emphasis on the theoretical aspects of sociological studies. Karl Marx, a pioneer philosopher, economist and social thinker, revolutionized the whole gamete of conventional understanding of the social structure and established himself as the leading sociologist of the last century.

 RELATION OF SOCIOLOGY WITH OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES Sociology is defined as a social science. It studies social life as a whole. But the social life is so complex that it is impossible to isolate social problems from the whole range of human experience. The life of a human being is many-sided. There is economic aspect, legal aspect, an aesthetic aspect, a religious aspect, a political aspect and so forth. Sociology, therefore, can understand social life as a whole by taking help from other social sciences which study exclusively one or the other aspects of human activities. Sociology, for example, in order to understand a particular society has to take stock of its economic, political, and cultural factors, its geographical environment, its language, its religion, its morals, its laws, and finally, its interaction with the rest of the world. That clearly shows that sociology cannot have an existence independent of other social sciences. But that does not mean that Sociology only borrows from other social sciences and gives them nothing. As a matter of fact, the various social sciences are very much dependent on sociology for the simple reason that no aspect of human life can be detached from its social aspect.

 Furthermore, the various social sciences devote themselves to the study of one aspect of human life and therefore are not in a position to give us a complete survey of the social life. For example, Anthropology studies the primitive human beings and their culture only as they existed in times long past. Economics enquires into the relations of wealth and welfare. Psychology studies human being only as a behaving individual. But sociology is a more comprehensive science and includes all areas of social lives. It is, therefore, quite apt to remark that Sociology is the mother of all social sciences.

Relationship with other social sciences: Sociology and Political Science Sociology and Development Studies Sociology and Economics Sociology and Public Administration Sociology and Anthropology Sociology and History Sociology and Social Psychology ++

Thank You