The Origins of Sociological Thinking

•Sociology and the Age of Enlightenment•Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization

The Origins of Sociological Thinking

•Where did social thought originate?

–Early Greeks studied society, but spent most of their time discussing what it should be like – not how it actually was

–With the development of modern science in 1700s, social thinkers began to study society in a more scientific, systematic way

The Origins of Sociological Thinking

•The origins of sociology were influenced by two separate “revolutions”:

–The Age of Enlightenment (a revolution of thought)

–The Industrial Revolution (a revolution of technology)

The Origins of Sociological Thinking Sociology and the Age of Enlightenment

•From the late 1600s to the mid 1700s, some philosophers began to demonstrate a skepticism of religion, while emphasizing the importance of reason

–They believed (optimistically) that human society would be improved by scientific discovery and individuals’ pursuit of self-interest

–By the late 1700s / early 1800s, sociology as we know it (ie. observing and analyzing society in a systematic manner) began to take shape

The Origins of Sociological Thinking Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization

•The introduction of industrialization changed society irreversibly

–Industrialization transformed agriculture- and craft-based societies into industry- and manufacturing-based societies

–As a result, people left their farms to go work in the cities, creating a new social ‘class’ of people (the working class)

The Origins of Sociological Thinking Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization

•Another result of industrialization was the emergence of urbanization

–As people moved to the cities to work in factories, population distribution were changed such that more people lived in cities and fewer people lived in rural areas

•This process is called urbanization

The Origins of Sociological Thinking Sociology and the Age of Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization

•Urbanization meant that many people shifted from being producers to being consumers

–ie. if you move to the city and you no longer grow crops, you have to use your money to buy your own food and pay rent

–This led to new social problems (eg. poor housing, poverty, unsanitary conditions, crowding, etc.) and forced entire families to work under poor conditions with no job security

•Social thinkers began to try to understand how and why society was changing…