CONTENT of 4 lectures, 20
September 2009
Dr., Prof. KAMALOV Ablet
Kyumovich
Types of sciences
- There two types
of sciences: natural and social
- Social sciences
study the Social reality
Questions:
- Can the methods
of the natural sciences be used in the Social sciences?
- What are the
appropriate methods of the Natural sciences?
- What is the nature
of Reality to be investigated?
- How can the knowledge
of this Reality be obtained?
Ontology and Epistemology
- The root definition
of Ontology is ‘the science or study of being’
- Ontology refers
to the claims or assumptions that a particular approach to social enquiry
makes about the nature of social reality; claims about what exists,
what it looks like, what units make it up and how these units interact
with each other.
- The root definition
of Epistemology is ‘the theory or science of methods or grounds of
knowledge’, theory of knowledge
- 2 related concepts
must be distinguished:
Methodology and Method
1) methodology and 2) methods
- Methods
– actual techniques or procedures used to gather and analyze data
related to some research questions or hypnoses (conversations; questions;
observing behavior, examining documents etc)
- Methodology
– the analysis of how research should proceed. It includes discussions
of how theories are generated and tested, what kind of logic is used,
what criteria they have to satisfy, what theories look like and how
particular theoretical perspectives can be related to particular research
problems
Can the methods of natural
sciences be used in the social sciences?
Critical Rationalism (Popper)
- Natural and social
sciences differ in their content, but not in the logical form of their
methods. It rejects the positivist position in favor of different logic
of explanation based on a critical methods of trial and error, in which
theories are tested against ‘reality’. This approach is commonly
known as the methods of hypothesis
These questions lead us
to the notions of Ontology and
Epistemology
The main stages in the development
of sociology
- Systematic approach
and systematic analysis of the society
- Concepts of ‘society’
and ‘system’ in sociology’
- Social and societal
systems
Sociology: object and subject
of sociology; structure and functions, methods in sociology
Sociology as a social science
What is Sociology?
- “Sociology”
consists of 2 stems: the Latin socius (companion) and the Greek
logos (study of). Literally means the study of the process of
companionship. In these terms Sociology may be defined as the study
if the bases of social membership. Sociology is the analysis of the
structure of social relationships as constituted by social interaction.
- Sociology is
a branch of social sciences that studies human society in a systematic
way.
- Each science
has its own object and scientific methods of study. The object of Sociology
is a human society; it has its own research methods and methodology.
Sociology is a science
about the society, social relations and social processes.
- Object of
sociology is a civil society.
- Subject of
sociology includes rules of development and functioning of the society
as a whole, social relations and social processes
- Sociology studies
certain spheres of the society as well as social system
- Sociology is sometimes
seen as the intellectual and often conservative response to the specific
social problems which were produced by the French revolution and the
transition from a traditional to an industrial society. It attempted
to measure and analyze urban poverty, political instability, mortality
rates, disease, crime, divorces, suicide etc.
- Subject of Sociology
was deeply influenced by Saint-Simon, Marx and Engels in its analysis
of social structure, class and social changes. The philosophical and
political inheritance of Sociology is complex and no single tradition
can be regarded as entirely dominant.
- While there is disagreement
about the nature of sociology, there is no agreement about its importance
. A defense of the discipline could rightly claim:
- 1) it has contributed
in detail, trough numerous empirical studies, to knowledge and understanding
of modern societies;
- 2) it raises important
questions about the nature of individual responsibility in law and morality
by studying the social context of action
- 3) it has contributed
significantly to developments in other disciplines, especially history,
philosophy and economics
- 4) It can be regarded
as a new form of consciousness particularly sensitive to the dilemmas
of a secular, industrial civilization.
Levels of sociological knowledge
- Macrolevel – knowledge of a society as a whole;
- Microlevel – certain aspects of society
- Medium level – social institutes and processes
Structure of sociology:
- Theoretical sociology
- Applied sociology
- Special sociological sciences
Role of sociology and
its functions: cognitive, world view, evrica, prognostic and managerial
Methods: development
of sociology relies on various methods. In theoretical sociology philosophical
methods and general scientific methods are used; in applied sociology
– methods of concrete social research
Sociological
outlook/approach to the study of society
- Ability to see general
in a special/particular
- To see unusual in
ordinary things
- Ask a question “Why
did you choose this particular university?”
- Variety of answers
revealing various factors (payment, location etc) è
not all young people can study at higher education institutions
- Globally thinking
(global village)
Plan of lecture
Social analysis of society
as a socials system
1) System based approach and
system analysis
2) Concept of ‘society’
and ‘system’ in Sociology
3) Social and societal systems
System approach is based on consideration of a society as system
and requires system analysis of it. It is based on the theory
of system developed by T. Parsons (1902-1979), R. Merton (b 1910),.Lipset
S. (b. 1912) и др.). They considered society not fragmentally, but
as a whole body. It explains the development of the society not as a
set of elements, but as one body/system
- Concept of
‘system’ is integral. Under system we understand internal structure
of a whole
- The social system
as a whole consists of such sub-systems as Economy, politics, culture,
personality, social status. Interaction of these sub-systems ensures
a balance and stability of a society. External factors can influence
on the elements of the system
- Society as a system
organization of social interaction and social relations that ensure
satisfaction of peoples’ needs. Society includes all diversity of
social relations and structures
- Concept of ‘society’
differs from concept ‘system’ in a way that it is a certain stage
of a historical development. It comprises very sophisticated highly
organized system that carries out an interaction of a system and surrounding
environment
- Differentiation
of social functions leads to the establishment of social structure.
The first level of the social system: social status and roles; the second
level – social institutes and commonalities
Main stages of the development
of Sociological thought
Plan
- 1. Formation of
scientific sociology. Contribution of A. Comte and H.. Spenser
- 2. Classic period
in Sociology. Emile Durkheim and Max Weber
- 3. Sociology in
contemporary western countries
- 4. Sociology in
Kazakhstan
Appeal to problems of society
by ancient thinkers
Study of society goes back
to Plato and Aristotle in Greek philosophy, Ibn Khaldun in Islamic jurisprudence
and to the European and Scottish enlightenment, but the term ‘sociology’
dates from the correspondence of COMPTE in 1824 and became more publicly
used through his positive philosophy (1838)
Formation of Sociology as
a Science
- French scholar Aguste
Compte ( 1798-1857) introduced the term. He is a founder of Sociology,
formulating its subject and describing it as a separate science.
- Sociological theory
of Auguste Compte consists of 2 parts: 1) social static and 2) social
dynamics. Social static looks at social structure in 3 institutes –
family, state and religion. In social dynamics it studies the process
of evolution of the society, revealing stages of ‘intellectual’
development: theological (until 1300), metaphysical (until 1800), positive/scientific
(since 1800). In his works “The Positive Philosophy” (1838)
and “System of positive politics” he pointed out that sociology
can be a bulk of scientific reforms of the society
- Sociology
is a science employing observation, experimentation and comparison,
which was specifically relevant to the new social order of industrial
society.
- His scientific
POSITIVISM was conjoined with an evolutionary view of society and
thought which he saw progressing through 3 stages
- Law of three
stages
- "The law is
this: -that each of our leading conceptions, - each branch of our knowledge,
- passes successively through three different theoretical conditions:
the Theological, or fictitious; the Metaphysical, or abstract; and the
Scientific, or positive."
- Theological
Stage
Monotheism from the Greek words, “metá”
meaning "beyond" or "after“ “physiká”
meaning "physical“.
- Metaphysical
or Abstract Stage (Metaphysics investigates principles
of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and
ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with
explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world/ The word derives
- Positive Stage
Some views of A Compte
Human societies evolve 3 major
stages of development (primitive, intermediary and scientific)
Human thought progressed by
a process of decreasing generally and increasingly complexity. Employing
an organic Analogy, Compte argued that society, through the division
of labor, also become more complex, differentiated and specified. The
DIVISION of LABOR along with language and religion created social solidarity,
but also generated new social divisions between classes and the primitive
and public domains.
Sociology, standing at the
pinnacle of the sciences, was to proceed in terms of an analysis of
social dynamics and social statics. The first would consider the general
laws of social development, while the second concentrated on the ‘anatomy’
of society and the mutual interaction between its constituents.
Compte studied the functional
contribution of social institutions (such as the family, property, and
the state) to the continuity of social order. His view of interconnectedness
of elements of the social system anticipated Functionalism.
As Saint-SIMON and SPENCER
he had an optimistic belief that Positivism would provide a scientific
basis for the study of society.
SOCIOLOGY would discover general
laws of social change similar to those found in NEWTONIAN physics or
DARWINIAN biology, but these aims proved overtly ambitious.
NATURALISM of H Spenser
- Naturalist stream
was represented by Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), who compared a society
with a biological unit /organism. He was under strong influence of Charles
Darwin's ideas of natural selection and stated that social systems adjusting
to social life also become more complex, differentiated, lead to emergence
of sub-systems. Spencer’s position was anti-reformist one: he thought
that reforms are obstacle on the way of natural development of social
institutes
Works of A COMPTE:
Comte, A.;
A general view of positivism [Discours sur l'Esprit positif
1844] London, 1856
Comte, A.; Bridges, J.H. (tr.); A General View of Positivism;
Trubner and Co., 1865 (reissued by Cambridge,
2009)
Comte, A.; Congrev, R. (tr.); The Catechism of Positive Religion;
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co., 1891 (reissued by Cambridge University
Press, 2009)
Comte, A; Martineatu, H. (tr.); The Positive Philosophy of Auguste
Comte; 2 volumes; Chapman, 1853 (reissued 2009)
Comte, A.; Jones, H.S. (ed.); Comte: Early Political Writings,
1998
Classic stage
E. Durkheim (1858-1917)
и М. Weber (1864-1920)
- According to Durkheim
society is a highest level of social reality and all social sciences
should rely on Sociology. This methods was known as ‘Socilogism’.
Society is comprised of ‘social facts’, and factors of its development
are labor division and social solidarity (mechanical based on gender
and age and organic one based on skills and preferences)
- Durkheim exhibited
confident view of the achievements of sociology, claiming that it had
shown how certain moral and legal institutions and religious beliefs
were the same, in a wide variety of societies, and that this uniformity
was the best proof that the social realm was subject to universal laws.
- While Durkheim’s
research attempted to show that Sociology was an autonomous and distinctive
science of social phenomena, there is considerable disagreement
with respect of sociology’s place in the social sciences.
- Sociology of
M Weber is called ‘understanding’ (Verstehen). He specified
Sociology as a science on behavior of individuals and its results in
terms of meaning. The study of a phenomenon should result in a concept
of ‘ideal type’ of social action. Social action is a key concept
in his Sociology. Idea of ‘formal rationalization’ was later developed
by Western sociologists. SOCIOLOGY OF UNDERSTANDING (Verstehen)
- Weber's early work
was related to industrial sociology, but he is most famous for his later
work on the sociology of religion and sociology of government.
- Along with Karl
Marx and Émile Durkheim, Weber is regarded as one of the founders of
modern sociology, although in his time he was viewed primarily as a
historian and an economist.
- Whereas Durkheim,
following Comte, worked in the positivist tradition, Weber created and
worked – like Werner Sombart, his friend and then the most famous
representative of German sociology – in the antipositivist, hermeneutic,
tradition.
- Those works started
the antipositivistic revolution in social sciences, which stressed
the difference between the social sciences and natural sciences, especially
due to human social actions (which Weber differentiated into traditional,
affectional, value-rationa and instrumental.
- “We know of
no scientifically ascertainable ideals. To be sure, that makes our efforts
more arduous than in the past, since we are expected to create
our ideals from within our breast in the very age of subjectivist culture.”
- FOR WEBER, Sociology
would have no concern itself with the meaning of social action and the
uniqueness of historical events rather than the fruitless search for
general laws.