This is a summary of all sociological thinkers you need to learn in Sociological Theory 1 at the UvA. The summary contains the main ideas of the sociological thinkers and is basically all you need to study for the exam.
August Comte
Looking for universal laws, rather than individual processes
Various forms of social differentiation undermine cohesion and coherence
- Fragmented society
- Lack of direction
● Cultural: competing and opposing idea systems
● Scientific: lack of coherence
○ Specialization, but there was no overview → lack of direction (also happened in
the market)
● Political: changing elites, revolutions
● Comte set out to provide coherence in a world of increasing differentiation
On learning the classics: ‘one cannot fully understand a science without knowing its history’
Two types of social laws
● He described laws to create coherence
● In Course de Philosophie Positive
○ Sociology as a new science → to describe two types of laws
■ Of social statics (part-whole structure)
● Function for the survival of the whole that parts contribute to
● Could only be found by theorizing; not observable → Comte not
100% positivistic
■ Of social dynamics (development)
● How society evolves; improvement
○ Social statics later became functionalism
○ Most famous: three stages law
■ Stipulates that social knowledge always progresses in a certain order
■ The case for every society
Universal law of three stages
1. Theological state (religious)
a. Questions: about essences and absolute truths
i. E.g. what is good and evil?
b. Answers: the divine sphere
2. Interim stage: metaphysical (philosophical); crisis
a. Questions: as in the theological stage
i. Absolute truths
b. Answers: abstractions
i. Different answers; discussions
3. Positivistic stage (scientific)
a. Questions: about universal laws that explain relationships between phenomena
b. Answers: based on empirical observations and theory
Order and progress
, ● Theological stage was based on order
○ Given world
○ Not a lot of change in society
● Metaphysical stage was about progress
○ Questions get better, but the answers are never final
● Only the positivistic stage can bring both order and progress
○ But the rapid pace of differentiations in science undermine its ability to create order
○ Which is why Comte created his own order in science and religion
■ The Positivist Church: love as a principle and order as a basis, process as a
goal
Most complicated sciences arrive latest in history, which is why sociology is such a complex science
● Sociology studies the most complex phenomena
○ It appears only after all the other sciences have been established
● Sociology as the science of society is necessary in times of chaos and crisis
○ To help progress (positivism)
● Comte outlines a positivist epistemology:
○ The aim is progress
○ Knowledge must be based on empirical observations
○ Theory should take the form of universal laws about the organisation and the
development of society
Herbert Spencer
● Positivist
● Functionalist
What is a society?
Society as an entity
Nominalism: individuals exist, while society only exists verbally
● Society is formed by discrete units, yet there is a certain concreteness which is implied by the
persistence of arrangements between them
Society as an organism
● Society can be compared to something organic
○ Only by reason, through parallelism in arrangements of components
■ Cannot be compared to something inorganic, because society’s parts are alive
● Increases in size of both biological and social aggregates creates pressures for differentiation
of functions
○ Such differentiation results in the creation of distinctive regulatory, operative and
distributive processes
● Society as a ‘supra-organism’
○ As organic systems differentiate, it becomes necessary for some units to regulate and
control and for others to produce what is necessary for the system
○ Parts provide functions for the whole (Comte)
● Similarities of society and living body:
, ○ Grow throughout their entire lives
○ Increase in structure
■ Sub-division and specialization (social differentiation)
○ Changes in the parts are mutually-connected determined and changed actions are
mutually dependent
○ Division of labour is what makes living bodies and society living wholes
■ Mutual dependence of parts is essential (interdependency)
○ Relation between aggregate lives and life of components: joint action for everyone’s
benefit, but still a certain degree of individual independence
○ Life of the aggregate may be destroyed by a catastrophe without immediately
destroying the lives of all units
■ Life of the aggregate (society), without a catastrophe is longer than lives of
units
■ Units are replaceable
● Differences of society and living body:
○ The parts of a living body form a concrete whole, while parts of society form a
discrete whole
■ Units are widely dispersed
● Governments shouldn’t interfere with inequalities
○ For the sake of evolution
■ From simple to more complex life forms
■ Process that involves differentiation and integration
○ ‘Survival of the fittest’ (conflict tradition)
Adam Smith
The invisible hand
● Comte: individuals are driven more by egoism than altruism
● Smith: our moral indignation about selfishness, isn’t very helpful when we try to observe the
actual consequences of that kind of behaviour
○ In fact, the actions that are primarily motivated by self-interest may be at the social
level interwoven in such a complex way that they mysteriously (invisible hand)
contribute to prosperity for everyone
● All actions taken out of pure self-interest might end up benefiting everyone
○ They are not steered by a powerful person
○ It’s the outcome of an anonymous social dynamic
● Social processes are self-regulating
Division of labour
● Work is (sub)divided in a peculiar way
○ Spectacular rise of productivity
● Dividing the work in a clever way
○ Everyone’s dexterity is improved
○ Workers save time because they don’t have to pass from one task to another
○ Workers may discover better ways to do the job more efficiently
● Division of labour happens through social interactions → humans have different talents
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