Sociological Perspectives to Understand Society
WITH REFERENCE TO THE RANGE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES, EXPLAIN HOW SOCIOLOGISTS ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND SOCIETY.
The main aim of sociology is to seek an understanding or explanation as to how society functions or operates. There are numerous sociological theories, some dating back as early as the 19th century, these include Structural and Marxist Functionalism and Social Action theories. Throughout the years these perspectives have gradually been modernised due to the changes that have occurred in society. In this assignment I shall be looking at the key theories of the more notable exponents of the different sociological perspectives from pre-industrialisation times to the modern age and their interpretation of how society works.
The term ‘sociology’ was coined by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in his Course of Positive Philosophy; the Course had 58 lessons in 6 volumes and two main goals, a foundation for sociology, which at that time was known as social physics and the second was the “coordination of the whole of positive knowledge”. (stanford.edu 2010) Comte theorised that the average human went through three stages during their life: the theological, the metaphysical, and the positive, this is where the ‘positivism’ sociological theory started. By the end of the First World War there was a shift away from Comte’s thinking as new theories began to spring up but his work has been a major influence on sociologists and sociology as a whole.
The three perspectives mentioned above share some similar objectives, they all sought to explain how society functions and changes, also how the use of social science methods are favoured amongst the sociologist. Their theories are generally split into two groups: social systems and social action theories, their ideas tend to overlap and critique one another. The social system or structuralism approach places a greater emphasis on the theory that human behaviour is determined and structured by social forces and that
The main aim of sociology is to seek an understanding or explanation as to how society functions or operates. There are numerous sociological theories, some dating back as early as the 19th century, these include Structural and Marxist Functionalism and Social Action theories. Throughout the years these perspectives have gradually been modernised due to the changes that have occurred in society. In this assignment I shall be looking at the key theories of the more notable exponents of the different sociological perspectives from pre-industrialisation times to the modern age and their interpretation of how society works.
The term ‘sociology’ was coined by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in his Course of Positive Philosophy; the Course had 58 lessons in 6 volumes and two main goals, a foundation for sociology, which at that time was known as social physics and the second was the “coordination of the whole of positive knowledge”. (stanford.edu 2010) Comte theorised that the average human went through three stages during their life: the theological, the metaphysical, and the positive, this is where the ‘positivism’ sociological theory started. By the end of the First World War there was a shift away from Comte’s thinking as new theories began to spring up but his work has been a major influence on sociologists and sociology as a whole.
The three perspectives mentioned above share some similar objectives, they all sought to explain how society functions and changes, also how the use of social science methods are favoured amongst the sociologist. Their theories are generally split into two groups: social systems and social action theories, their ideas tend to overlap and critique one another. The social system or structuralism approach places a greater emphasis on the theory that human behaviour is determined and structured by social forces and that
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