SOCI 205 1nd Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture I. What is sociology?II. Sociological perspectiveIII. Origins of sociologyOutline of Current Lecture II. FoundersIII. Early American sociologistsIV. Theoretical perspectivesCurrent Lecture Classical Theoristso August Comte—positivism—society is better understood by determining the logic or scientific laws governing human behavior Humans go through stages of ways of thought- Theological—society is a result of divine will- Metaphysical—saw human kind’s behavior as governed by natural,biological instincts Scientific—we develop social physics in order to identify scientific laws that govern human behavioro Hariette Martineu—one of the earliest feminist social scientistso Karl Marx—founding father of sociology Historical materialism: elaborated theories on what “drives” history Conflicts between classes drive social change History is an account of man’s struggle to gain control of his natural environmento Max Weber—suggested approaching social behavior from the perspective of those engaging in it Understand the meanings people attach to their actionso Emile Durkheim—division of labor determines how social cohesion is maintained Anomie—a sense of aimlessness or despair that arises when we no longerexpect life to be predictable; normlessness Positivist sociology: social world can be described and predited by certain describable relationshipsThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.o Georg Simmel—formal sociology—pure numbers Theoretical Perspectiveso Functionalism—theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important function to keep society running Best way to analyze society is to identify the roles that different aspects or phenomena play Society is a living organism, each part serving an important role in keepingsociety togethero Conflict theory—idea that conflict between competing interests is the basic, animating force of social change and society in generalo Symbolic Interactionism—micro-level theory in which shared meanings, orientations, and assumptions form the basic motivations behind people’s actionso Post modernism—a condition characterized by a questioning of the notion of progress and history, the replacement of narrative, and multiple identities resulting from disjointed affiliations Everything is interpretable within its framework Social constructions: entity that exists because people behave as if it exists; perpetuated as society acts in accordanceo Midrange theory—attempts to predict how certain social institutions tend to functiono Nomothetic approach—sociology is not concerned with uniqueness of phenomena but rather with commonalities that can be abstracted across