Florida State University Sociology Department SYG 1000 Introduction to Sociology Dr Gloria T Lessan Spring 2012 Study Guide Questions 1 CAVEAT The following questions are a guideline to study the assigned materials and lecture notes in preparation for the first midterm exam These questions are not a contract that defines the test 1 Sociology came about during a period of rapid and dramatic social change Elaborate on the social events that influenced the development of sociology as a science The transition from the Age of Faith Feudalism to the Age of Enlightenment 1700s o No questions asked because of the ultimate belief in God society was ruled by the church o During the Age of Enlightenment philosophers began to use the scientific method to describe the phenomena that their faith used to English Empiricism knowledge comes from experiences Thomas Hobbes social contract people give up individual rights to form a government to regulate social interactions negative view of nature John Locke social contract individuals form state to protect there lives liberty and property nature mostly good government is conditional human mind is a blank slate Scottish Moral Philosophy time of intellectual and scientific accomplishments Adam Smith economist division of labor French Utopian Socialism Collective ownership eliminates greed and promotes personal growth cultural enrichment and democracy o J J Rousseau social contract government should be for the people and by the people governed by popular sovereignty German Idealism philosophical movement marked by transcendental idealism that sought to liberate humans from reason Kant our mind shapes our experience Hegel political government versus civil family society The Age of Revolution American and the French Revolution o Seek social and political change o Found individual principles that shaped social consciousness o Government now represents the will of the people o Industrial Revolution the development of technology allowed mass production thus factories appeared the masses immigrated to the cities looking for work Marx the factories owned by capitalism are oppressive to their workers Karl Marx Emile Durkheim and Max Weber merged the methodology of the scientific investigation with the social events involved in the French and American revolutions and developed a social science of sociology o Marx o Durkheim Distribution of power and distribution of wealth between the bourgeois wealthy and the proletariat or poor laborer Balances could be changed through a step by step system Similarly approached the development of social behaviors Described a society s complex structure in terms of the simple division of labor the wealthy business and land owners which he called the mechanic solidarity and a complex division of labor the working poor held together by called organic solidarity Formal sociological theories grew from the philosophies of these men 2 As presented in lectures and readings the sociological perspective is like seeing the general in the particular Berger 1963 What does this point of view mean Relate this view to C Wright Mills notion of sociological imagination Berger has suggested sociologists look for general social patterns in the behavior of particular individuals While not erasing our uniqueness as individuals sociology studies the social forces that impinge on our lives in so many unseen yet significant ways Social imagination is the application of the imaginative thought to the asking and answering of sociological question sociological perspective is a choice and defines how society plays a role in shaping individual lives 3 Show how the pioneering work of Emile Durkheim on suicide helps to reveal the influence of social patterns in the actions of individuals Now write an account of the reasons you have for taking this class Consider then the possible deeper social reasons underlying this decision Social facts the aspects of social life that shape our action as individuals influence suicidal behavior For example anomie the feeling of aimlessness or despair Rapid change in modern society lead to social difficulties which lead to anomie Lack of moral controls and standards leaves people s lives devoid of meaning Reason of taking SYG1000 this course is a recommended course for medical school Deeper meaning I want to become a doctor because of the monetary rewards and status that come along with the profession Human need to seek power 4 Which theory has been influenced by the views of Comte Spencer and Durkheim Make sure to refer in your account to the notions of social order social solidarity social structure anomie division of labor and functional interdependence Structural Functionalism Social events can best be explained in terms if the functions they perform the contributions they make to the continuity of a society Comte o Scientific methods can be applied to the study of human behavior and society o Serve to predict and control human behavior o Society and social order is constructed by individuals Spencer Durkheim o Society is a living organism with interdependent parts o Changes in part of society causes change in other parts o Every part contributes to the stability and survival of society o Survival of the fittest corrects defects in society o Sociology must study social facts the aspects of social life that shape our action as individuals o Social life can be analyzed as an object o Society set of interdependent parts Each with a function needed to sustain society Organic solidarity in order to achieve social cohesion society must function as an integrated whole to survive Requires consensus over basic values and customs o Social constraint the conditioning influence on our behavior of the groups and societies of which we are apart of o Division of labor analysis of social change Replaced religion as the basis for class cohesion Specialization of work tasks As division of labor expands people become more reliant on each other o Anomie feeling of aimlessness or despair provoked by modern social life Situation in which social norms lose their hold over individual behavior 5 Write an essay on the major points of Marx s conflict view of society In your essay focus on the nature of capitalism the causes of worker alienation and the social forces that in Marx s view lead to the development of a communist society What components in Marx s analysis seem to be correct and which seem to be wrong Marx sought to explain social
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