This PSEB 11th Class Sociology Notes Chapter 12 Western Sociological Thinkers will help you in revision during exams.
PSEB 11th Class Sociology Notes Chapter 12 Western Sociological Thinkers
→ During the 19th and 20th centuries, many changes came in the European society and it is said that Sociology originated to study such changes.
→ From the 17th-19th centuries, many philosophers wrote new books which gave a great contribution to the emergence of sociology. Montesquieu and Rousseau are quite important among them.
→ Auguste Comte was a French philosopher and is considered as the Father of Sociology.
→ He wrote a book ‘The Course on Positive Philosophy’ in which in 1839, he used the word ‘Sociology’. He called it a science of society.
→ Comte gave the theory of Positivism and said that social phenomenon can also be understood with scientific explanation and positivism is that method.
→ So, positivism is the systematic method of observation, experience, comparison, and historical method with which society can be scientifically studied.
→ Comte studied different societies and said that to reach the present stage, society had to cross through three stages and these stages are the Theological stage, Metaphysical stage, and Positivistic stage. This is Comte’s law of three stages.
→ Karl Marx was a German Philosopher who is known for his views given on class and class struggle.
→ The concepts of communism and socialism were also given by Karl Marx.
→ Marx was of the view that the history of society, is the history of class struggle.
→ There exist two classes in all the societies-capitalist class which owns all the means of production and labour class which is not having anything to sell except its labour.
→ There is the existence of conflict between the both to get more and this is known as class struggle.
→ Emile Durkheim is also known as one of the founding fathers of sociology.
→ He tried to establish sociology as a science. He was the first professor in the subject of sociology.
→ Durkheim gave a great contribution to the subject of sociology and some of the important concepts given by him are the concept of Social Fact, Theory of Suicide, the theory of Division of Labour, the Concept of Religion, etc.
→ Durkheim was of the view that the concept of division of labour existed in society right from ancient times.
→ The nature of society is determined due to the division of labour.
→ Max Weber is one of the important sociologists and founding fathers of sociology.
→ Like Marx, he was also a German Philosopher.
→ He gave many concepts to sociology such as the concept of social action, Verstehen, Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism, Authority and its types, Bureaucracy, etc.
→ Class: Group of people whose means of production are common.
→ Authority: It is a form of power supported by the norms of a social system and accepted as legitimate by those who participate in it.
→ Social Action: It is an act that cares about the actions and reactions of individuals. If the acting individual takes account of others’ behaviour, it is social.
→ Class Consciousness: The awareness among members of a class about their common motives.
→ Class Struggle: There exists a conflict of interests between capitalist and labour classes. This conflict of interests becomes a reason for class struggle. When class consciousness increases among the people, class struggle also increases.
→ Positivism: In positivism, it is considered that society acts according to certain rules which can be discovered.
→ Mechanical Solidarity: The sense of unity among the members of a homogeneous society is called mechanical solidarity.
→ Organic Solidarity: In many societies, people have differences among them and that’s why they depend upon each other. The unity which exists in such a society is known as organic solidarity.