Goals:
Goals Understand the Sociological Imagination and the key terms sociology and society.
Gain knowledge of the beginnings of the discipline and the 3 major sociological paradigms/theoretical perspectives.
Start to be able to apply these theories to different subjects.
Sociology:
Sociology The systematic/scientific study of society.
We will find out that this entails much- everything that makes up our social being/ our social experiences (Aristotle).
The study of human interaction and the varying groups and social institutions that people live within.
Sociological Imagination:
Sociological Imagination Seeing the general in the particular
Seeing the strange in the familiar
External forces (institutional/social)
Peter Burger:
Peter Burger What type of subject may a sociologist be interested in?
We all have free-will (self-autonomy) to decide much of our fate.
What are some limits regarding our free-will? What external forces in our lives play a role in limiting what we can and cannot do?
Defining a Society :
Defining a Society A society has a geographical element – a group of people living within spatial boundaries - who share common institutions - and a structural element.
What does a society consist of?
Every society has these same five institutions. They may take a different form, but they still exist in one shape or another.
The Five Institutions (social universals) :
The Five Institutions (social universals) Social structures – lasting (consistent over time), rules/patterns established, large in scope (far/deep reaching effect on people)
Family
Religion
Economy
Government
Education Health care/Military/Mass-media?