The Beginning Of Modernity In Europe Sociology Essay

The Beginning Of Modernity In Europe Sociology stressModernity, began in Europe, plainly yet it moved(p) every nation in the West and, to some degree, all the nations of the beingness. The transition from traditional medieval troupe to modernity is easy to identify. The reason ableness brought ab step to the fore a purpose of interchange. matinee idol was no longer thought to be at the centre of the universe, at that place was a move from agriculture to industry which maxim three revolutions signalling the approach of modernity in the forms of the industrial revolution in England 1780-1840 the democratic revolutions of the coup conduct States of America in 1776 and France in 1789 and the The scientific revolution (1500-1700). Capitalism became the prevalent economic force and sociological concept of modernity is therefore associated with industrialization, urbanization, secularization, bureaucratism and progress.Kramnick, Isaac. Thematic Essay Political and loving Tho ught of the sense, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopaedia 2009 http//encarta.msn.com 1997-2009 Microsoft Corporation. all in all Rights Reserved.Essentially, the English and French revolutions were significantly unalike. The nature of the Industrial Revolution inwardly England provided the people with an ideal towards greater freedom and cultural expression, as consumerism began to rein indian lodge. France on the new(prenominal) transcend, was more visibly relate with the issue of trust than England was. Medieval Europe thought the authority was the explicate of God and was revealed with the teachings of the Roman church. The enlightenment challenged this whilst accepting new ideas of righteousness, myth and tradition thereof helping create a new faith through acquaintance and reason. The enlightenment ushered a period of uncertainty for religion in Europe, and Christianity in musical compositionicular was criticised by the enlightenment writers. wholeness possi bility that gained wide maintenance in the enlightenment suggested that religion was the invention of cultic leaders or priests, whose prime(a) consideration was the furtherance of their own interests (Yolton et al 1996 447). Yolton, J et al (1996) Enlightenment (Blackwell)Galileo was in fact imprisoned and nearly killed because of his beliefs and theories that questioned the traditional ideas and attitudes of the church. In say to escape Galileo had to swallow his pride and admit he was wrong, even though he knew has was correct. Although the philosophers involved in the enlightenment continued to believe in God, the findings they made meant the basis of effledge was no longer seen as the contrive of God as the church believed, as described by Hamilton in his book The Enlightenment and the Birth of amicable Science (1992 55-56). For the prototypal epoch man could dargon know about the mixer arrangements under which he lived, rather than deal them presented to him through the obscuring haze of a religious ideology. By knowing about these genial arrangements their operation would become clear and thus open to change. In other intelligence activitys the enlightenment leads to perception and immanent philosophy replacing religion as the means of knowledge.During the enlightenment faith in divine revelation, and the authority of the Church, were increasingly undermined by the new effrontery in the ability of gracious reason to provide an soul of the world. Similarly, the determineing of history as the chronicle of the fall of man from Gods grace, with spiritual buyback only attainable in the next world, was largely replaced by a belief in human perfectibility and the increasing faith in mans king and ability to use his new-found knowledge to improve mankinds state. (Badham 198679) Badham (1986) Theories of Industrial SocietyEnlightenment brought about a cultural change in what creates knowledge and what the persona of knowledge is. After the e nlightenment, history was no longer seen as identical with God work his purpose out. (Smart, 1992, Pg8) Smart, B (1992) Modern Conditions, Postmodern Controversies (Routledge) proponent of human reason was now use to create knowledge. The enlightenment period challenged sources of authority dramatically, never before had people d atomic number 18 question the word of church until this time, and the enlightenment brought about a great deal of change in the way people perceived the world.The idea of a brotherly contract is another important feature of the Enlightenment. The central concept in Jean-Jacques Rousseaus thought is liberty and most of his works deal with the mechanisms through which mankind are forced to give up their liberty. . This issue which Rousseau confronted most of his smell is summed up in the first sentence of his most famous work, The loving ContractMan is born free but everywhere in chains. (Rousseau (1762), 1973 165).Rousseau, J.J (1762 1973) The kind ly Contract, EverymanThe liberals welcomed the dramatic changes because individuals are by nature rational and should be able to pursue their own interests, the removal of traditional restraints and the emergence of governments which guaranteed the rights of the individual were therefore seen as progressive developments. For socialists this did not go far enough, human beings are graphicly sociable and their needs can only be met collectively, this necessitates the permutation for capitalism which divides people by socialism which enables them to cooperate. On the other hand to these two optimistic responses to social change, conservatives exhibited horror human beings are naturally a member of a social organism, unequal but depending on each other. These revolutions in their disregard for tradition and their rupture of the natural tack together were seen as dangerous developments.The three most communally mentioned sociological persuasions are Functionalism, which is a system theory. Marxism which is a great deal seen as a conflict theory and in addition there is also brotherly Action Theory. rattling(a) Comte, Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons are known as the three best-known Functionalists. When you look into the Social Action Theory you come across many articles by liquid ecstasy Weber, who is one of the earliest known Social Actionist and George Herbert Mead. Very few sociologists in truth write about Marxism other than Karl Marx himself.Functionalism is a theoretical perspective base on the notion that social events can be best explained in terminal figures of the functions they perform, that is the pieces they make to the continuity of caller. Moreover, they view society as a complex system whose several(a) parts work in race to each other in a way that needs to be understood. (Giddens 4th Edition, 2001, page 689). Functionalism is based on a systems theory. The ideas buttocks the perspective are that our behaviour is governed and con strained by social forces. In other words, we are what we are because of the social groups that we belong to. Functionalists see society as a system based upon the uniform lines as the human body. The psychoanalysis used to describe functionalism is often compared to the working of the human body. Therefore, if you describe how the human body works, you can compare society to the same system. Each part of the body i.e. the heart/family, lungs/workplace and brain/government, have a item job to fulfil within the overall system. However, you need them to be working in conjunction for the system to work properly. In a homogeneous way it is the contribution we make within our society, which enable us to flourish. The various parts of the society, such as the family or religion must be seen in relation to society as a whole. (Haalambos and Halborn, fifth Edition, 2001,page 9)The term sociology was coined by a French man named Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in 1838. He wanted to understand the great social changes that had occurred around him and made the earliest contribution to the development of sociological thinking. He set about devising a light of sociology. A science in the manner set bring down by the scientist and philosophers of the Enlightenment. He believed that the methods used in the natural sciences could be employ to the study of society, thus Comte was a proponent of Positivism, defined as an epistemological position that advocates the application of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of social reality and beyond (Bryman, A, 2004 542). Bryman A. (2004) Social Research Methods, New York Oxford University Press Comte has particular prominence inclined to him because his thinking reflected the turbulent times of his age and also because he coined the word sociology in other to be different from other thinkers. He was a French man who noticed that the French revolution had introduced significant changes into the society and he also sou ght to explain and create a science of the society that could explain the social laws of the world just as science explained the laws of the physical world. He argued that the society conforms to the invariable laws in much the same way that the physical world does. His law of three stages claims that the human efforts to understand the world have passed through the theological and metaphysical and positive stages. He was keenly aware of the state of the society that he lived. He was concerned with the inequalities being produced by industrialization and the threat they posed to social cohesion. In his view, the long term solution was the work of moral consensus that would help to cross or hold the society together. His visions for the society were never realized, his contribution to systemizing and merge the science of society.Another Key thinker is Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), He did draw on many aspects of Comtes Work but he believed that Comtes ideas where too speculative and bleak and that Comte had not successfully carried out his programme (Giddens, 2001 8). Giddens, A. (2001) sociology (4th edition), Cambridge polity Durkheim did believe that social life could be study with the same objectivity as the natural world and he authentic the concept of social facts, which should be studied by sociologists social facts are aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals, such as the state of economy or the influence of religion (Giddens, 2001 9). Giddens, A. (2001) sociology (4th edition), Cambridge polity for him his main intellectual concern of sociology is the study of social facts. He stated that the aspects of social life shape our actions as individuals, such as the state of the economy or the influence of religion. However, he conceded that social facts are difficult to study because they are invisible and intangible and they cannot be observed directly. He instead states that they must be revealed indirectly which is by analyzing th eir make or by considering attempts that have been made at their expression, such as laws, religious texts or written rules of conduct. He was concerned with the changes that were transforming society in his own lifetime. He was particularly interested in social and moral solidarity this was in other words what held the society together and held it from descending into chaos. He stated that there are two types of solidarity and he contrasted them together, mechanical and organic, relating them to the office of labour and the exploitation and distinctions between the different occupations. However, the forces of industrialization and urbanization led to a growing division of labour that contributed to the breakdown of solidarity.Karl Marx (1818-1883) Marxs ideas were strikingly different from that of Comtes and Durkheim. Marx ideas where inspired by the industrial revolution and argued that the system of capitalism affected human experience. He decocted on conflicts between the c lasses, and the need for straight social change to a communist society. His political activities brought him into conflict with the German authorities, after a brief stay in France, he colonised permanently in exile in Britain. He however witnessed the growth of factories and the inequalities that resulted. His viewpoints were grounded in what he called the materialist conception of history. According to this view, it is not ideas or determine human beings hold that are the main sources of social change. Rather social change is prompted primarily by the economic influences. He believed in the inevitableness of a workers revolution which would overthrow the capitalist system and usher in a new society in which there would be no classes, the rich and the poor. Marx gave names to the haves and have nots, they are known as the Bourgeoise and the Proletariats. One way of assessing the power of the upper class is through the study of elites (people who look at the top positions in ea ch of the major institutions of society) most of the sociological debates have centered on economic elites and political elites. (Sociology in focus 5th Edition, 2000, page 53) They differ from functionalists in the way that they see the difference. He did not mean that inequalities would disappear he rather stated that society would no longer be split into a small class that monopolizes economic and political power and the large mass of people who benefit poor from the wealth their work creates. He believed that in the society of the future production would be more advanced and efficient than production under capitalism. Karl Marx is quoted as saying ideology is a distortion of reality, it binds members of society to the contradictions and conflicts of interest that are built into their societys. (Haralambos and Holborn, 5th Edition, 2002, page 13)Max Weber (1864-1920) was influenced by Marx, but saw class conflict as less significant and believed that ideas and determine had as much impact on social change. He developed the idea of ideal types, which are conceptual and analytical models that can be used to understand the world. Weber made use of ideal types in his writing on forms of bureaucracy and the market. He therefore simply cannot be labelled a sociologist as his interest and concerns ranged across many areas. He was born in Germany where he spent most of his academic career. He was most concerned with the development of modern capitalism and the ways in which modern society was different from earlier forms of social organization. In common with thinkers of his time, he sought to understand the nature and causes of social change he was influenced by Marx but was also critical of some of his views. He saw class conflict as less significant than Marx. He believed that sociology should focus on social action, not structures he argued that human motivation and ideas were the forces behind change. According to him, individuals have the free will to act and shape their future.Social Action Theory is often described as the alternative theory. Social Actionists see people as individuals who have a right to respond as and how they wish. They say that how we react with each other in our society is largely up to us as individual social being. It is a social perspective that focuses on the meaning and intensions that underpin human actions. Social active perspectives are concerned with the way in which the human actively and creatively interprets the world around them. Rather than the external forces which could be used as a guide (Giddens 4th Edition, 2001, page 698)It is worth pointing out here that sociology did not become the institutionalised and professional discipline that we know today until the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. As Jenkins puts it Comte first gave it a name and Marx sketched out some of its most enduring ideassociology as we know it today was establishedby Weber, Simmel, Durkheim and Mead (Je nkins, 200221). Jenkins R. (2002) foundations of sociology, Basingstoke PalgraveThe enlightenment period is often referred to as the age of reason. The enlightenment influenced people lives a great deal, and without this period, the world would not be how it is today. It enabled people to have the right to express their views freely and publicly without the fear of being imprisoned or even killed.