The Development of Sociology

Contribution of the following social Philosopher

Auguste Comte
 Emerged in the early 19th century
– as an academic response to the
challenge of modernity.
 He believe all human life had
passed through the same distinct
historical stages.
 And that, if one could grasp this
progress, one could prescribe the
remedies for social ills CONSIDERED AS
 Because of his efforts to advance FATHER OF
sociology to the frontier of human SOCIOLOGY
knowledge and considered
sociology to be
 The QUEEN OF SOCIAL
SCIENCES
HERBERT SPENCER
 An English
Philosopher
 Compared society
with an organism and
thus,
 Suggested the
relatedness of
institutions of any
society to function as
a whole.
Emile Durkheim
 1895–founded the
first European
Department of
Sociology
 University of
Bordeaux by Emile Believes that the key
Durkheim, a French element in social behavior is
social cohesion or solidarity.
intellectual a founder For cooperation and unity
of L’Annee
Sociologique (1896)
 Karl Marx
 Human society is evolving toward a
more perfect state in which everyone
would be equal and where the capitalist
economic system would be
overthrown.
 Classical theories of Sociology from the
late 19th and 20th
Father of
 Ferdinand Tonnies, Emile Durkheim, Communism
Vilfredo Pareto, and Max Weber. • German thinker

 Their work address Religion, Education,

economics, law, psychology, ethics,
philosophy, and theology
 Their theories applied in a variety of
academic discipline
 Lester Frank Ward
 Father of American Sociology
 He believe that social progress
is possible only through
intelligent social action.
 Published Dynamic of Sociology
in 1883
 The discipline was taught by its
own name at the University if
social laws, once identified,
Kansas can be harnessed and
 Elements of Sociology – oldest controlled.

continuing sociology course in

America.
 Ward supported the idea of equality of
women as well as the equality of all
classes and races in society.
 He believed in universal education as a
means of achieving this equality.
 1891 – established Department of
History and Sociology at the University of
Kansas
 1892 – established the first full Fledged
independent University department of
Sociology at the University of Chicago.
 By Albion W. Small
 1895 – founded the American Journal of
Sociology
Max Weber
 19th Century, positivist and naturalist
approaches to study social life were
questioned
 By scientists like Wilhelm Dilthey and
Heinrich Rickert
 Argue that the natural world differs from the
social world because of unique aspects of
human society such as
 Meaning, symbols, rules, norms, and values.
 These elements of society both results in
and generate human cultures.
Max Weber
 The view was further developed by
Max Weber
 He introduces antipositivism
(Humanistic sociology).
 This view is closely related to
antinaturalism
 He believed that sociological research
must concentrate on humans’ cultural
values.
 This led to some controversy on how
one can draw the line between
subjective and objective research and
has also influenced hermeneutical
studies.
In the Philippines
 1896 – teaching of sociology began
 First course was offered by Fr. Valentin
Marin at the University of Sto. Tomas.
 1911 – course offered at University of the
Philippines
 Dean Conrado Benitez was the first
Filipino teacher to teach Sociology
SOCIAL THEORY
Social Theory
 Refers to the use of abstract and often
complex theoretical frameworks to
explain and analyze social patterns and
macro social structures in social life.
 Other interdisciplinary field includes:
◦ Anthropology
◦ Economics‘
◦ Theology
◦ Philosophy
◦ history
Three classical Social Theories

Social Evolutionism
Social Cycle Theory
Marxist Historical
Materialism Theory
Social Evolutionism theory
 broad set of theories that attempt to
explain how and why modern cultures are
different from those in the past.
 The questions that social evolution
theorists seek answers to include:
◦ What is social progress?
◦ How is it measured?
◦ What social characteristics are preferable?
and
◦ How were they selected for?
Social Evolutionism
 In the mid-19th century, social evolution
came under the influence of Charles
Darwin's physical evolution theories
expressed in Origin of Species and The
Descent of Man, but social evolution is
not derived from there.
Social Cycle Theory
 sociological cycle theory argues that
events and stages of society and history
are generally repeating themselves in
cycles.
 theory does not necessarily imply that
there cannot be any social progress
Social Cycle Theory
 The first social cycle theory in sociology
was created by Italian sociologist and
economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) in
his Trattato di Sociologia Generale (1916).
He centered his theory on the concept of
an elite social class, which he divided into
cunning 'foxes' and violent 'lions'. In his
view of society, the power constantly
passes from the 'foxes' to the 'lions' and
vice versa.
Marxist Historical Material theory
 Historical materialism sounds
complicated and abstract, but it's really a
rather fancy way of saying that a society's
economic organization fundamentally
determines its social institutions.
 The mode of production is especially
important in historical materialism.
 The mode of production is how a
particular society organizes itself
economically.
CRITICISMS FROM
OPPONENT OF SOCIAL
THEORIES
Deconstructionist/postmodernist
 Argue that any systematic type of
research or method is inherently flawed.
 Social theorist – less committed to use
the scientific method to vindicate their
theories.
 Instead they tackle a very large scale
social trends and structures using
hypotheses that cannot be easily proved,
except by historical and psychological
interpretations.
Objective science based research
 Can often provide support for
explanations give by social
theorist.
 E.i. Statistic research, (grounded
in scientific method)
◦ For instance, social theory of
feminism and patriarchy.
Other social sciences
 Anthropology
◦ Anthropologists conducted research in industrial
societies.
 Sociobiology
◦ Sociobiologists often responded by citing a
complex relationship between nature and
nurture.
 Research findings
◦ Test theories which have been worked out, can
clarify theoretical concepts, and can suggest new
theoretical formulations or extend old ones.
RESEARCH METHOD
Three Research Method
 The Case Study. Sometimes called the
case history technique, involves a
comprehensive and intensive examinations
of particular individual, group, or situation
over a period of time.
 The Survey. This is a type of investigation
wherein only representative group of people
is chosen from a particular “population”
which maybe a school, an occupational group
or even the whole nation.
 The Experiment Method.
Experimentation, whether in sociology or
in any other field, rest on the assumption
that there exists invariant relationships
between certain antecedents and certain
consequences so that, provided a given
set of condition that prevails,if one do
Sociological perspective
 How we view social phenomena
 C.Wright Mills
 Sociological Imagination, a sociological
mindset which is about being able to connect
individual experiences.
 Emile Durkheim
◦ His suicide studies showed “suicide” as a
functional part of societal integration.
 Charles Cooley
◦ The “looking Glass Self”
Three major theoretical perspective or Approaches in the study of Sociology
Theory Orientat Image of society Core questions
ion
1. Macro A system of interrelated parts How is society
Structural level that is relatively stable based on integrated? What
functional widespread consensus to what is are the major
paradigm morally desirable; each part has part of the
functional consequences for the society? How are
operation of the society as a these part
whole. interrelated?
2. social- Macro A system characterized by social
conflict level inequality; each part of society
paradigm benefits some categories of
people; more than others; conflict
based social inequality promoted
social change
3. Micro - An on-going process of social
symbolic- level interaction in specific settings
interactio based on symbolic
n communication; individual
paradigm perceptions of reality are varied
and changing.