Perspectives of Sociology

1. Compare and Contrast the three perspectives in Sociology.

Functionalism- A theoretical perspective, associated with Emile Durkheim, based on an analogy between social systems and organic systems. The character of a society's various institutions must be understood in terms of the function each performs in enabling the smooth running of society as a whole. Stable and made of intellectual social structures that work in harmony. Against change and believes changes reinforces the death of society.

Ć Conflict Perspective- Made up of only interest. Each society seeking to meet its own goals. Believes change is constant with potential positive consequences. A theoretical approach, such as Marxism, focusing on the notion that society is based on an unequal distribution of advantage and is characterized by a conflict of interests between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. Associated with Karl Marx.

Ć Symbolic Interactionism- A theoretical approach which focuses on the role of symbols and language in human interaction. Society consists of organized and patterned interactions among individuals. Interactionists focus on the subjective aspects of social life, rather than on objective, macro-structural aspects of social systems. One reason for this focus is that interactionists base their theoretical perspective on their image of humans, rather than on their image of society (as the functionalists do).

2. What did each of the following individuals contribute to Sociology?

Auguste Comte- ¡§Father of sociology.¡¨ Comte thought that sociology was a science employing observation, experimentation and comparison, which was specifically relevant to the new social order of industrial Europe. Comte's scientific positivism was conjoined with an evolutionary view of society and thought which he saw progressing through three stages: theological, metaphysical and positive. Comte studied the functional contribution of social institutions (such as the family, property and the state) to the continuity of social order. Human thought progressed by a process of decreasing generality and increasing complexity. Employing an organic analogy, Comte argued that society, through the division of labor, also became more complex, differentiated and specialized.

Ć Karl Marx- Marx was interested in the concept of alienation. One of the senses that he gave to the term was that of alienated labor, in which condition man had work imposed on him by others, a theme that was to run through all his subsequent contributions. Marx is best known for his views on the relationship between economic life and other social institutions. (Theory of Base and Superstructure). He thought that human labor was the basis of social activity, but also held that social institutions, like the state or the family, were relatively independent of the economy in their development and even had an influence on the operation of the economy.