Everyday and Sociological Theory - Assignment Example

Everyday Theory and Sociological Theory August Comte, the father of sociology and the key personality who first d the scientific study of human behavior as the “queen of all the sciences”, made a bold attempt to introduce a theoretical way of viewing society and a systematic approach in the analysis of human behavior in order to encourage positive changes in a society badly ridden with social problems (Lemert, 1999: p. 23). Yet, the importance of integrating scientific methods in understanding human societies was frequently beset by people’s claim that knowledge generated by the social sciences are nothing but common sense or what sociologist distinctively termed to as “everyday theory”. It is true that people do not need to acquire high-degree of educational credentials in order to grasp the underlying rationale behind societal problems and to devise feasible solutions to alleviate these human predicaments. People from diverse cultures have a self-gained knowledge on why divorce occurs recurrently under a particular social system or on why movie actors and actresses are essential to the maintenance of a social order. We normally depend on our common sense to pull us off from a difficult situation. Yet, even though common sense proves to be valuable in our everyday activities, assumptions that we derived from it are inaccurate since these are anchored on commonly held beliefs and not on carefully evaluated facts. For instance, our ancestors strongly believed that the earth was flat because it is common sense to assume so for they had observed that the horizon has a starting point and an ending. This ancient knowledge greatly affected our predecessors’ society manifested by their effort to put limit on everything because they believed that they would plunge into nothingness since the earth is flat, if they do otherwise. This familiarity on the relationship between human dynamics and societal entities is generated through people’s experiences and observations on a daily basis thus the concept of everyday theory. On the contrary, sociologists refrain from accepting these theories produced by the commonsense or believed by the majority as facts; instead social scientists gather data or information then subject them to testing and verification. Sociological theory is formulated not through recording the number of people who believe a certain social phenomena but through meticulous collection of data and then careful testing of data’s consistency. Unlike everyday theory, theory in sociology attempts not only to explain social problems and human behavior but as well provides an integrated examination of the relationships among ostensibly remote phenomena with a predictive and explanatory capability, which cannot be accomplished by the everyday theory. This dissimilarity between the everyday and sociological theory was further exemplified by Emile Durkheim’s theory on suicide. In traditional commonsense view, suicide is like a genetic disease which is naturally inherited or that terminating one’s own life is encouraged by sunspots (Schaefer, 1995: p.9). These assumptions will definitely sound absurd for modern social researchers. Durkheim, as a noteworthy sociologist, did not focus on individual personalities but instead studied the discrepancy of suicide rate from country to country. In this manner, he was able to collect data that were seemingly unrelated and yet when examined on the lens of social research will yield results that can holistically explain the very nature of suicide (p. 10). This process of data collection and scrutiny cannot be accomplished by everyday theory since it relies on the convenience pledged by the commonsense. However, understanding society and human behavior on the perspective of commonsense is a fruitful attempt of ordinary people to gain knowledge and awareness that will guide them through their everyday undertakings. Sociological Imagination and the Genius of Karl Marx C. Wright Mills (1959) claimed that the key feature of sociological imagination is its ability to situate individuals outside of the society in order for them to analyze and examine it without biases commonly rooted from their personal experiences and cultural background. In the 19th century, a remarkable social scientist, philosopher, and historian was born in Trier, Germany on May 5, 1818 into a middle-class family. He was baptized with the immortalized name, Karl Marx. This brilliant socialist thinker is an excellent model of Mill’s sociological imagination because Marx personal background was an explicit contradiction of his political and social theories. He viewed human societies, specifically European civilizations, outside his established individual constraints towards a value-free analysis of societal elements that elicit impacts on individual as well as group behavior. The pivotal events following his matured life shaped to a large extent the inclination of his thoughts and ideas. His quest for knowledge became complicated the moment his father decided to send him to the University of Berlin where he will spend the next four years of his life. This phase of his fateful days encouraged him to become an adamant affiliate of the Hegelian movement due to the group’s appealing critique of Christianity and its dissent against the Prussian autocracy. His diversion from Hegelian philosophy of law opened up an idea in him that the state was not the paramount social structure but the “civil society” which was the means to understanding the unfolding of human’s historical progression; he as well realized through this that the art of the civil society could never be studied in Germany but in the cities of England and France. His emphasis on the important role of the civil society in the development of history led him to the formulation of the idea that argues on the material production as the most forceful reality of human existence; this treatise was known as historical materialism. For mankind to continuously produce the material necessities of its survival, it has to sacrifice liberty so as to penetrate social relations or basically production relations. In Paris, Marx met his fated friend Friedrich Engels whom he collaborated with to develop an analysis of political economy and to contemplate on feasible solutions to societal disorders which resulted to the materialization of their magnificent literary piece, the Communist Manifesto. Moreover, the political environment in Paris stimulated Marx’s belief on the benefits of communism in the realm of human nature; he passionately espoused that capitalism being an egotistical mode of production, will never liberate the true essence of humans which is the value of their labor. Capitalism will dehumanize workers whilst communism will fashion a genuine workers’ self-identity through free and cooperative execution of labor. Marx joined the Communist League which was composed of German workers after being expelled from Paris. This group guided Marx through the knowledge that history is laden with the evolution of modes of production and that the present production relations will eventually collapse which will signal the emergence of another, the final stage being communism. The revolutions in Europe, particularly the class struggle and civil war in France, persuaded Marx that revolutions were possible only if there will be sufficient new crisis to spur such radical movement hence stating that “capitalism carries with it the seed of its own destruction.” The demise of capitalism will come into completion the moment the working class fruitfully eradicated false consciousness which is the belief that they benefit from capitalism through wages, replacing it with class consciousness that upheld the reality that they were oppressed and alienated from the products of their own labor. References Books Lemert, C. (1999). Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Mills, C. W. (1959). Sociological Imagination. London: Oxford University Press. Schaefer, R. T. (1995). Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Website Kreis, Steven (2000). Karl Marx, 1818-1883. The History Guide, Lectures on Modern Intellectual European History http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/marx.html Read More