► What is a theorist?
► Observes
►Seeks order
Organized, verifiable ideas to explain society & social behavior
Creates order
Makes sense of world & our place in world
Need
Impose order
Prediction & control
Same experiences theorized in different ways
Example: The Universe
Earth in the universe-size https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?
p=earth+in+the+universe&vid=4681e4e55811069ee8be9edda52b7bee&l=2%3A34&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608036179782141058%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtinNsrOqQdc&tit=See+How+Big+Our+Earth+In+Universe.&c=6&sigr=11b2eg1me&sigt=112lfck90&sigi=11rai0td5&ct=p&age[0]=1363661507&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av%2Cm%3Asa&hsimp=yhs
560
Historical Context French Revolution (1789) to WWI 1919
Dramatic Changes▪Economic▪Social▪Political▪ Intellectual
Feudalism
Industrialization
Capitalism
Socialism
Urbanization
Religion
Revolutions
Democracy
Feminism
Abolition
The EnlightenmentReasonPerfectibility
ScienceBiologyPsychology
ChangeHow people made sense of world
Change after decades of little change
Cause of change
God’s will
Linear (progress)
Cyclical
Dialectic
Sovereign will of God God's ultimate plan and purpose for
mankind
Moral will of God His desire for the way that mankind
lives, acts, and thinks
Linear Change
Thrive
Decline
Rise
Cyclical Change
Absolute monarchy/divine rightChurch-centered
Original sin Religious warfare
Church and state linked
Most Europeans’ daily lives survival
Importance of the Individual Turned away from Church & aristocracy
Looked to themselves
Scientific method to understand social and political relationships Religious toleration Freedom of press and speech
Happiness – Not in hereafter but in this world
Progress – Humankind could improve
Reason – Truth discovered (not given)
1500-1700: European scientists used reason to discover laws of nature
Astronomy▪Galileo discovered Moon’s craters (1609)
and Milky Way Galaxy Biology
▪Robert Hooke-> Discovered cell (1665)
Chemistry▪ Edward Jenner-> Vaccine for smallpox (1796)
Early 1700s: People used reason to find laws of physical world.
Why not use reason to discover laws that govern human nature—social world?▪ Ex: Solutions to societal problems
Solve social, political, and economic problems Reason
Governments create->orderly society
All men created “free and equal”
Free market regulate trade
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
1588-1679 1632-1704
Thomas Hobbes John Locke
•Humans are naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish.
•To escape “brutish” life people enter into a social contract.
•Only powerful government could ensure orderly society.
•Only absolute monarchy keep society completely orderly.
•Humans are naturally reasonable, moral and good
•Humans have natural rights: life, liberty, and property
•People form governments to protect natural rights
•Government-limited power•If government violates people’s natural rights, people have right to overthrow government
Ways of knowing▪Ideology▪Reason▪Science
Justifies existing social conditions (Value-laden)
Examples: “Divine right of kings” Colonialism Racism Sexism
Knowledge through rational processes
Universe operates based on “laws”
Humans have:▪Free will▪Intelligence▪Control destiny & environment
Scientific methodsGuidelines for:▪Gathering ▪ Interpreting information
(Value free)
(1805-1859)(1805-1859)
Born in Paris July 29, 1805
Father: Royalist who supported Bourbon Monarchy
Age 16 -> college to study philosophy
Finished College at age 18
25-year-old French apprentice magistrate Aristocratic background
1831-32: Assigned to examine prisons in America 9 month tour of U.S. Traveled widely--17 of America’s 24
states Published a report on prisons—2 main
kinds of prisons
Auburn plan: Prisoners worked together for 11
hours a day Not allowed to speak or look at one
another
Philadelphia system: Perpetual solitary confinement Only a chaplain who visited
occasionally
Many topics: Government Commerce Law Literature Religion Newspapers Customs
Tocqueville: America unique
America never had: Monarchy Feudalism Established church Or other privileged classes
Absence of these conditions, and an abundance of land made American democracy possible
One great agrarian middle class
Also extremes of wealth and poverty Extremes were relatively rare (in
Tocqueville’s time)
“What is most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands.
In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class.”
--Alexis de Tocqueville
Tocqueville--American Revolution:
Produced high degree of social equality
Gave power to middle and lower classes
Aristocracy—Positions ascribed and fixed
Democracy—Social MobilityAccording to abilities and efforts
Tocqueville—Inevitable advance of democracy and equality Part of modernization
Democracy—Extend political franchise from few aristocrats to “the people”.
People becoming more equal in wealth, education, and culture
In short, democracy leads to equality.
Tocqueville--One of first casualties of equality was decline of primogeniture
Primogeniture: Common law that eldest son inherits entire estate
Equality spread to relations between fathers and sons and among brothers
Previously, family held together by bonds of property and inheritance.
Eldest male takes care of elderly to inherit the estate Property bond declined Replaced by bonds of personal
loyalty and affection
Pervasive nature of commodification in American life
Equality leads to ceaseless striving for social position
“As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: “How much money will it bring in?”
French social philosopher
American Revolution Supported colonists
French Revolution Fortune in land speculation
Increasing industrialization
The Enlightenment
Promoted study of natureNature & society governed by
laws
Reorganize society Wise men Scientific division of labor Spontaneous social harmony
State’s 3 responsibilities
1.Public works
2.Free education
3.Uplifting recreation
“Industrial army” Construction of roads, bridges, canals, planting forests
Organism as metaphor for society
Science-> replace religion
After Saint-Simon’s death Small group of follower’s called
for: Abolition of inheritance rights Public control of means of
production Gradual emancipation of women
Became a moral-religious cult Sociologists as high priests*
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