Sociology is the systematic study of society and social interaction. In order to carry out their studies, sociologists identify cultural patterns and social forces and determine how they affect individuals and groups. They also develop ways to apply their findings to the real world.
Weber and Dilthey introduced the concept of Verstehen, a German word that means
to understand in a deep way. In seeking Verstehen, outside observers of a social
world—an entire culture or a small setting—attempt to understand it empathetically
from an insider’s point of view.
In his essay “The Methodological Foundations of Sociology,” Weber described
sociology as “a science which attempts the interpretive understanding of social
action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects”
(Weber 1922). In this way he delimited the field that sociology studies in a manner
almost opposite to that of Émile Durkheim. Rather than defining sociology as the
study of the unique dimension of external social facts, sociology was concerned with
social action: actions to which individuals attach subjective meanings. “Action is
social in so far as, by virtue of the subjective meaning attached to it by the acting
individual (or individuals), it takes account of the behaviour of others and is thereby
oriented in its course” (Weber 1922). The actions of the young skateboarders can be
explained because they hold the experienced boarders in esteem and attempt to
emulate their skills even if it means scraping their bodies on hard concrete from time
to time. Weber and other like-minded sociologists founded interpretive sociology
whereby social researchers strive to find systematic means to interpret and describe
the subjective meanings behind social processes, cultural norms, and societal values.
This approach led to research methods like ethnography, participant observation, and
phenomenological analysis whose aim was not to generalize or predict (as in
positivistic social science), but to systematically gain an in-depth understanding of
social worlds. The natural sciences may be precise, but from the interpretive
sociology point of view their methods confine them to study only the external
characteristics of things.
Georg Simmel: A Sociology of Forms
Georg Simmel (1858–1918) was one of the founding fathers of sociology, although
his place in the discipline is not always recognized. In part, this oversight may be
explained by the fact that Simmel was a Jewish scholar in Germany at the turn of
20th century, and until 1914 was unable to attain a proper position as a professor due
to anti-Semitism. Despite the brilliance of his sociological insights, the quantity of
his publications, and the popularity of his public lectures as Privatdozent at the
University of Berlin, his lack of a regular academic position prevented him from
having the kind of student following that would create a legacy around his ideas. It
might also be explained by some of the unconventional and varied topics that he
wrote on: the structure of flirting, the sociology of adventure, the importance of
secrecy, the patterns of fashion, the social significance of money, etc. He was
generally seen at the time as not having a systematic or integrated theory of society.
However, his insights into how social forms emerge at the micro-level of interaction
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