ISOC5112

I N T R O D U C T I O N TO
S O C I O L O G I C A L T H E O RY

SEMESTER 1, 2021
“The unexamined life is not worth
living”

- SOCRATES’ MOST FAMOUS QUOTE AFTER HE DECLINED

EXILE AND CHOSE DEATH INSTEAD
LU1 – The
origin of
Sociology
OBJECTIVES:

1. Define 'sociology';
2. Discuss Mills’ notion of the sociological
imagination;
3. Examine the origins of sociology;
4. Explain sociological theory;
5. Differentiate between social theory and
sociological theory;
6. Explain why sociology is considered a
science;
7. Analyse the dominance of Western
sociological theories and perspectives;
8. Examine the four major perspectives in
sociology.
Theme 1

The
Development
of Sociology
What is The name is derived from 2 words:

Sociology? Pg. “socius” (Latin) = companion

xxxv and “logos” (Greek) = speech or reason

“reasoned speech about companionship”

Simply put Sociology is the study of

◦ Society and social interaction
◦ Watch this video from Crash Course in Sociology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnCJU6PaCio
◦ (9:42 mins)
◦ Read the following resources:
◦ https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter1-
an-introduction-to-sociology/
◦ Introduction in your PB pg. xxxiii-xxxvi
 Sociology as a Science
pg. xxxv
Sociology involves scientific study obtained by specific methodologies.
Sociologists are expected to abide by the rules of scientific study

1. Sociological arguments must be logical.

2. Sociological knowledge must provide explanations of social reality.

3. Sociology must strive for objectivity.

4. Sociology resists jumping to moral judgements.

5. Sociological knowledge is not final.

6. Scientific knowledge is theoretical.

 The work of C. Wright Mills in the 1950’s
◦ Part of the Frankfurter School together with
Jurgen Habermas amongst others

Also called the

The ◦ Sociological lens

Sociological ◦ Sociological perspective

Imagination It is the capacity to see an individual’s private

troubles in the context of broader social issues.
pg. xxxvi (Opentextbc, n.d.)
Watch the chunking video for a detailed
explanation and example
 Society can be improved
◦ Make sociology a servant to the democratic process
◦ Private issues must be turned into public issues

The conflict perspective

◦ sociology should directly contribute to positive social
change
Critical Habermas
Sociology ◦ dominant free dialogue
◦ help people to develop a consensus on general
xxxvii- ix goals and a means towards a more desirable and
human society for all
Burawoy in 1990
◦ Observed public sociology in SA
◦ Sociology engages with the public
 Sociology has its origins in philosophy
◦ Great thinkers of the past
◦ Watch the VCLearn videos on the three major
philosophers: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
◦ Read up in your text book these headings to
The origins provide you with a background of Sociology
◦ Ancient Times
of Sociology ◦ Viewpoint of the early church and the Middle

pg. xxxix Ages

◦ The Age of Enlightenment
◦ The Age of Revolution and the need for
sociology

This is all for background knowledge to your study.

SOCIAL THINKER SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE

Heraclitus (540-480 BCE) Social imagination; the suggestion of conflict theory

Anaxagoras (500-428 BCE)

Sophists (5th Century BCE)

Rational ordering of society

Interpretive perspective Ancient

Plato (427–327 BCE)

Socrates (469-399 BCE)

Idealism; emphasising the importance of theory

Investigative theory informing society

History
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Applied science; the beginning of social theory
(aka the
Development
Lucretius (95-55 BCE) Functionalism; the evolutionary development of society

Augustine (354-430) Social analysis explaining the status quo

Thomas Aquinas (1227-1275)

Ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406)
Social analysis legitimising the status quo

Functionalism; the evolutionary development of society

of Western
Thomas Hobbes (1588- 1679)

John Locke (1632-1704)

Social theory on political power

Social theory on governance

thought)
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814)

Interpretative perspective

Meta theory (absolutism)

pg. xliv
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) Idealism; rational design, social theory
 Now that we have seen the huge philosophical historical
background that has informed sociology as a body of
knowledge, let’s look at the detail of the main contributors
to this science.
Watch this slideshow as an introduction to the contemporary
influences and the beginning of sociological enquiry:
◦ August Comte (the Father of sociology)

More recent ◦ Harriet Martineau (the first woman sociologist)

◦ Herbert Spencer (Social Darwinism)

history…… ◦ Emile Durkheim (Functionalism)

◦ Karl Marx (Marxism)
◦ Max Weber (Formal Rationality)
◦ Georg Simmel (Neo-Kantian approach)
https://www.slideshare.net/dorisdanereniva/forerunners-of-s
ociology?next_slideshow=1
 The origin and meaning of theory
◦ Theos = Greek God (one of the pantheon)
◦ Making sense of an otherwise meaningless life
◦ Monotheism
◦ Natural religion 
◦ One “theos” that explains everything
Developing ◦ Theories are made up of concepts

sociological ◦ Linked to form a narrative or story = coherence

◦ Coherence means fitting logical or rational concepts

thinking pg.
together to create ease
◦ Sociological competence – the hallmark of normally
functioning people
4 ◦ Familiarity with our surroundings and confident
◦ Learned behaviours lead to socialisation
◦ The task of sociological theory is to elevate the
common sense we have into informed inquiry and
investigation called KNOWLEDGE
 People through the ages have strived to derive meaning from life.
◦ According to Stewart and Zaaiman (2018), Ibn Khaldun 600 years ago
is rightly called the first sociologist.
◦ He developed a sociologically informed (evidential) explanation for
the historical process.

Social ◦ We have social theories (reasoning without evidence) for what occurs
◦ Until the emergence of modern science, everything was about social
theorising
theory vs. ◦ Without evidence, you are socially theorising
◦ With evidence you have a sociological theory

sociological ◦ Facts that are informed by the theory

◦ Epistemic adequacy

theory pg. 5 ◦ The foundational thinkers to sociology

◦ Comte
◦ Marx
◦ Weber and
◦ Durkheim
◦ These thinkers will inform our sociological enquiry further
 Western thinkers remain widely accepted as the
founders of sociology
◦ Influenced by
◦ European Enlightenment (1650-1800)
The ◦ French Revolution (1879)
◦ Sociological thinkers tried to explain the massive
dominance shifts in society
◦ Due to industrial Revolution (when machines
of Western were invented)
◦ President Thabo Mbeki wanted there to be an
sociological African Renaissance

theory ◦ The same as European Enlightenment

◦ A powerful artistic, cultural and scientific
movement that adopts a purely African stance
and perspective
Why is sociology a science? Pg. 5-10
Even science is prone to being disproved
◦ Science is complex
◦ Observable facts are required for something to be considered a science
◦ How much more difficult for SOCIAL SCIENCES
◦ Identifying, describing and analysing patterns, regularities and trends in social life
◦ Rather than prediction
Theme 2: Sociological theory and
approaches in sociology
Four major theorists and theories will be discussed:
◦ Comte and Positivism
◦ Marx and Critical Social Science
◦ Durkheim and Positivist Social Science
◦ Weber and Interpretive Social Science
 Comte is the first theorist to have developed the
concept of “sociology” because of its scientific
orientation.
Comte’s view of Positivism is a solution for
Comte – modern day living.
Positivism Comte believed there was disorder in the world
because the old ideas were anachronisms.
p. 14-16 He believed that for order to be resumed, the
"Know world needed to create a new dialectic or
modern way to create meaning:  a Religion of
yourself to Humanity.
◦ Three stages
improve ◦ Theological (Fictitious)

yourself" ◦ Metaphysical (Abstract)

◦ Positive (Scientific)
◦ These aspects are necessary so order and
progress can take place to come to this new
way of life.  And so sociology was born.
 Conflict theory provides the engine of social change:

Marx’s revolutionary theory is called HISTORICAL MATERIALISM – basically the struggle

between the “haves” and the “have nots”

The class struggle that exists between:

◦ The proletariat (have nots) aka the poor

Karl Marx – ◦ The bourgeoisie (haves) aka the rich

Problems with capitalism

the critic of 1. Modern work is alienated – Marx asserted that people need to be engaged with their
passion and not be divorced from it

capitalism: 2. Modern work is insecure – as workers we can be dispensed with at any time. We are
terrified of being abandoned; we need to feel needed by society

Conflict 3. Workers get paid little – capitalists get rich. The pyramid of the capitalist system –
bosses get rich standing of the backs of the workers. This is called Primitive

Theory pg. Accumulation. Marx considered profit to be theft from the talent and work of the
ordinary people. Profit is a fancy term for exploitation.

16-21 4. Capitalism is very unstable – punctuated by crises. Marx says that capitalism is at its
heart unstable, caused by too many products and too little demand. Crises of abundance
rather than lack. Unemployment should have been viewed as Freedom.
 Social facts must be studied as things
◦ General and external to human agency, exercising a coercive
force over people, of which they are unaware.
Durkheim Social cohesion
◦ Social solidarity – the bonds that keep people together
and The different types of suicide

Positivist ◦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ESZuAEkCs

The concept of division of labour

Social ◦ The move to specialisation

Science pg. Mechanical solidarity – shared social rituals

Anomie – (the absence of norms or rules in society) when social

22-26 norms are broken, this leads to disintegration of the social fabric
Collective conscience – aka common conscience – the
individual refers to what others do in order to assess the
morality of their own actions
 Known as the Bourgeois Marx, a radical
thinker wanting to get to the root of an issue

Weber and Weber wanted sociologists to engage in sober

empirical analysis – FACTS
Interpretive The concept of Verstehen – he developed this
Social as a methodological tool to analyse how
Science pg. individuals make sense of their world

26-32 Three basic types of social structure

◦ Affectual social action
◦ Traditional action
◦ Rational social action
 Conclusion
We have investigated sociology and found out

1. Sociology is a new science

2. It’s informed by Ancient Philosophy

3. The sociological perspective is where the individual sees themselves

in the context of society

4. The four main perspectives in sociology are

◦ Positivism (Comte)
◦ Critical Social Science (Marx)
◦ Positivist Social Science (Durkheim)
◦ Interpretive Social Science (Weber)