Sociology: Imagining The Social

The answer to the question of �What is sociology?’ is quite complex and I will start by saying that sociology is a human science, a study of humanity. However this description of sociology is partial, because it does not distinguish sociology from psychology, economics, history and other human sciences. It is important to mention that sociology studies society, as well as that it is concerned with human culture. Furthermore, many sociologists have suggested that we can define sociology as the subject that deals with and explains social interaction, which means that it examines the informal and formal social relationships engaged in by social groups. This means that sociology places individuals in a social context as members of social groups, organizations and institutions (like the place where they work or their place within a family).

However, if we look at the objectives of sociology dating back to the 19th century, we realize that sociology is also a study of social order. Sociology is made up of a number of competing theories (such as Positivism, Marxism, etc) which all try to understand how the components of society - the social relationships and institutions, contribute to the existence of 'society', which in turn includes social conflict, social change and many other aspects.

A sociologist is a person who wants to see the world in a new light and who wants to understand society in a disciplined way. The sociologist realizes that things are not what they seem, and that social reality has many levels of meaning, of which each level gives us a new picture of the whole. Sociologists are not afraid to make shocking discoveries and do not take the world for granted вЂ" they feel curious about how society and it’s members function. Sociologists understand social inequality, patterns of behavior, forces for social change and resistance, and how social systems work. As Anthony Giddens stated, sociologists view sociology as a way of using the imagination in gaining knowledge and understanding into what is deemed as truth.

It is very important to be conscious of what sociology can tell or teach us, as the answers to this are numerous. First of all, it teaches us a new rational, critical way of observing and thinking about ourselves and the world in which we live. It shows us how to apply and use sociological concepts, ideas, and principles, wakens our awareness and gives form to things we were not able to understand before. Furthermore, sociology shows us that we are determined by culture вЂ" in which we are taught what to think and the way to do so. As an answer, sociology opens our eyes, and takes us out of Plato’s вЂ?cave of shadows’, whree it teaches us sociological consciousness and the difference between belief and reality.

Through sociology we develop the ability to locate, evaluate and use new information instead of just accepting it as facts. We learn to ask questions, and begin to perceive thinking as something that is a physical action, a process. Sociology shows us that we should take historical tendencies into account, and not the present as the only perspective, as well as teaching us to recognize our own values and how to hold them aside so we can do investigation and analysis. Sociology helps us discover what we believe in and why вЂ" it helps us develop self-consciousness about ourselves and society.

We also learn that there are a number of different of sociological theories. Some are more oriented towards describing society вЂ" and of what ought to be, where as some are more analytical, which deal with what is and see that society depends on perception. Finally, some theories are critical вЂ" and deal with what is and what should be altered.

Sociology is a very young science, and it’s beginning is associated with a number of very important historic events, occurring in the 18th century, of which the two most influential were the so-called �Enlightenment’ and the French Revolution.

The �Enlightenment' was a revolution in ideas, with centers in Edinburgh (Scotland) and Paris (France). During this period, philosophers wanted to change the way humanity was understood and seeked to overthrow the dogma of the Church. Thinkers such as Adam Ferguson and Charles De Montesquieu wanted to develop a view of humanity based upon rational thinking and empirically (experimentally) based sciences. However, the term 'sociology' was thought up after the second important event of the 18th century - the French Revolution which not only shook up France and Europe, but North America too. The old absolutist monarchies were either overthrown or under threat as new classes appeared on the political stage and demanded democratic representation and citizens rights. A new set of ideologies and nationalism, appeared to force the pace of social change.

The birth of sociology arrived following these events. Sociology owes its name to Frenchman Auguste Comte, who created the вЂ?science of society’ along with Henri Saint-Simon. This sociology was based on the вЂ?enlightened’ way of thinking вЂ" summed up in one sentence said by famous philosopher Immanuel Kant: вЂ?Dare to know!’ However, Auguste Comte and Henri Saint-Simon were held back by the time in which they lived in as well the social interests they wished to represent. In post-revolutionary France they wanted to develop a plan for introducing order into society.

Sociology emerged at the same time as did the modern industrial society and became an institutionalized and professional discipline some time later - at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. This process was slow and uneven, beginning in France with the help of one of sociology’s founders - Emile Durkheim, after which it spreads to Germany through the efforts of Max Weber. During this time, the social theory of Marxism appeared, and although Karl Marx refused to acknowledge sociology and rejected the idea of himself being a sociologist, his theory вЂ" in which he, like Max Weber, places inequality and social division as the centre capitalist social relations, is incorporated into sociology and he is also considered, along with Weber and Durkhiem вЂ" as one of the founding-fathers.

In the 20th century, sociology spread to the United States where it rapidly developed, through the work of Robert Merton, Peter Berger, Talcott Parsons and Wright Mills, whom I will discuss since I find him to be one of the greatest sociological minds.

Wright Mills, was surely one