Theoretical Orientations In Sociological Analysis

Theoretical Orientations In Sociological Analysis The social world that we inhabit comprises of several peoples, groups, communities, relations, etc. Those who are interested in comprehending the social world around them and trying to make sense of the same, make use of reason and logic to clarify, label and develop ideas about who we are. These commonsensical notions about the world around us are different from ideas informed by logic and reason. Logical understanding of society finds expression in the ordering of ideas into concepts and the careful arrangement of concepts into hypotheses to be tested, validated and tested for reliability in order to arrive at universal generalisations of social phenomenon. The central purpose of this essay is to understand two interrelated questions: What is theory? And why do we need theory? We will explore the aforementioned questions by examining two different models of conceptualising society: Naturalistic and humanistic. While examining this point, we would also seek to clarify the need of social theory to exist in a separate domain from commonsensical and lay knowledge. This would be followed by bringing to light the methodological premises on which theory building rests and its implications on the production of sociological knowledge. The argument would attempt to clarify the case for finding a middle ground between methodological individualism and methodological collectivism in methodological situationalism for production of social theory. But before moving to these arguments, we would begin by understanding the relation of theory and concept, as one the most widely used definitions of theory uses concept. Social Theory and Concept We begin with the proposition that theories can be described as sets of inter-related concepts and ideas that have been scientifically tested and combined to magnify, enlarge, clarify, and expand our understanding of people, their behaviours, and their societies. A theory is a unit of knowledge that comprises facts, assumptions and hypotheses. This unit shows how facts can be subordinated to general principles or laws and how they relate to them. Theories can be verified by experiments or by methodological observation. Usually theories focus on one selected aspect of a phenomenon under consideration. This means that several or even many theories can be constructed dealing with the same phenomenon. Blumer highlights the issues concerned with using concepts in social theory. In terms of both origin and use, social theory, seems in general not to be geared into the empirical world. This is problematic because theoretical formulations rely heavily on concepts as means of capturing the em pirical world. It is quite evident that the concepts in social theory are vague because the objects of study include social values, norms, institutions, etc which cannot be grasped in their entirety, but can only provide a rough identification of attributes that can be included in the study. There is thus, a need to have clear concepts which can be used for social theory. The difference that Blumer points out is that there is a distinction between definitive concept and sensitising concept. A definitive concept refers to what is common to a class of objects, by the aid of fixed benchmarks of empirical science. A sensitising concept on the other hand gives a general sense of reference and guidance in approaching empirical instances. Concepts used in social theory largely belong to the latter category. They lack the precise referent and benchmark which can be used to grasp the concept. The empirical world of our discipline is a social world of every day experience. Every object can be subjected to consideration for social theory. This distinctive character of the empirical world and its settings make our concepts sensitising in nature. This is not to say that these concepts are unscientific in any way. Sensitising concepts can be tested, improved and refined. Their validity can be analysed through careful study of empirical references that they seek to cover. Dealing with questions of Agency through an exploration of the Naturalistic and Humanistic perspective The next section of this essay we will begin with the naturalistic model of social theory. The naturalistic model with its focus on developing a true and valid science of society aimed to align social theory along the lines of empirical science. An empirical science of society analyses the world abstractly as composed of objects and attempts to establish relations among these classes of objects. It is this analytical scheme of empirical science which influences research and also methods of data collection, classification and its implications on formulation of new theories. Social theory finds its fundamental problem, in such a scheme of analysis, as the relation between the empirical referent and the concept used to denote the referent in theory as social theory is largely made of well defined concepts and the relational value attached to them. The concepts that are used in social theory can be vague in nature, in the sense that they may not be able to determine with exactitude the p recise specification of attributes to be studied. (As mentioned before) The domain of sociology has at its centre the analysis of society, and all its related components. The subject matter of sociology becomes problematic because we inhabit the world we seek to analyse. The most critical question that presents before us is to understand how does a member of society become an objective observer of social phenomenon, while being a part of the social model, and thus produce scientific sociological theory. The task therefore is to delineate general phenomenon from sociological phenomenon. This brings us to the difference between common sense knowledge and sociological knowledge. There are different ways of approaching this question. We begin with the proposition that all the knowledge that we possess about the world may not have the element of truth in it. Human agents as concept bearing actors are aware of their actions and attribute certain meanings to them. To be a human agent is to knowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ what one is engaged in and why. There is a sense in which we cannot be wrong about what are actions are.. Giddens (1987:5). As actors, individuals operate out of their own understanding of what is true knowledge derived from social conventions and is contextual in nature. This knowledge at all times is contested knowledge. While there may be acceptance of different points of view, there could also the possibility of ideas being borne out of false premises or slanted beliefs. Our presumed knowledge about institutions (maybe)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ inclined to error Giddens (1987:4). The point is that knowledge can be false in the sense that it can be contextual, holding validity only for a particular cultural and social setting. Our actions are always oriented in a setting and a significant part of what a sociologist does is to uncover these premises and lay them bare for an outsider to grasp in the same manner as the actor. This non-discursive si de to our activities is of relevance to social theory and forms an important aspect of sociological analysis. This is where the role of social theory then begins to take shape. Social theory has the task of clarifying the generally held beliefs about social institutions and society at large. In fact, as pointed out by Giddens, our understanding of the social world owes a lot to sociological studies and researches. One should not underestimate the contributions which social research and theory can make to identify false or slanted beliefs widely held about social phenomenon. For such beliefs may often take the form of prejudices and hence contribute to intolerance and discrimination or might inhibit social changes that would otherwise be seen as desirable. Thereby to assert the difference between sociologically true and valid concepts from commonsensical notions, social theory makes use of its own conceptual metalanguage in order to grasp aspects of social institutions which are not described in lay terms. The study of the non-discursive aspect of social action reveals to us what we already know about the social world but also re-emphasises the need to know what we do and why we do. This also calls our attention to the category of unintended consequences of our action. Actors may perform certain actions being cognisant of only the intended results, while the unintended consequences may remain obscure. Social theory reveals these unintended consequences to help us understand the course of development of any sociological phenomenon as it takes into account what we know and intend to produce as well as the consequences that we are not aware of since they are not intended. This analysis is critical since, there is interplay between society and agency and that although agency creates social life in individual and personal experience and biographies, and it also reproduces the larger social history which exists independent of an individual actor. In performing duties as a daughter, sister or mother, women in any society reproduce the social institutions of family and kinship which they did not bring into existence. The activities are thus embedded within, and are constitutive of, structured properties of institutions stretching well beyondà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ time and space Giddens (1987:11). While Durkheim argued that the domain of social phenomenon is largely the ways of acting, thinking and feeling, which possess the remarkable property of existing outside the consciousness of the individual Durkheim (1982:51), he did not give enough recognition to individual freedom, volition and autonomy. This reduction of the individual as a mere reproduction of society makes the study of larger social institutions the object of analysis. This would not hold true in micro-sociological analyses, which give due importance to interaction between actors to understand basic features of larger social institutions. Methodologically, the study of sociology can either be informed by the concerns of the naturalist model or can follow a humanistic approach. The 19th century sociologists were advocates of a science of sociology and therefore, adopted a natural science model for the study of society. The natural laws however could not suffice in their explanation of social phenomenon. The humanistic approach, with its focus on, Verstehen as propounded by Weber found its ground as a methodological tool to take into account the meaning of social action. This contrast between explanation and understanding represented by a choice of either model becomes problematic for social theory. The point is that social theory is bound in what Giddens called double hermeneutics. Anthony Giddens (1982) argued that there is an important difference between the natural and social sciences. In the natural sciences, scientists try to understand and theorise about the way the natural world is structured. The understanding is one-way; that is, while we need to understand the actions of minerals or chemicals, chemicals and minerals dont seek to develop an understanding of us. He referred to the above as the single hermeneutic. In contrast, the social sciences are engaged in the double hermeneutic. Sciences like sociology study how people understand their world, and how that understanding shapes their practice. Because people can think, make choices, and use new information to revise their understandings (and hence their practice), they can use the knowledge and insights of social science to change their practice. In outlining his notion of the double hermeneutic, Giddens (1987: 20) explained that while philosophers and social scientists have often considered the way in which lay concepts obstinately intrude into the technical discourse of social science that Few have considered the matter the other way around. He explained that the concepts of the social sciences are not produced about an independently constituted subject-matter, which continues regardless of what these concepts are. Social theory studies human beings who are concept bearing individuals, engaged in social interaction which produce and reproduce larger social structures. The understanding of social actors and theorising about the same, is also appropriated by the same actors who reflexively reflect upon their actions. The findings of the social sciences very often enter constitutively into the world they describe Giddens (1987:20). Social Theory and its Methodological Concerns. The development of social theory cannot be understood completely without taking into account the methodological premises on which the production of social theory were built. We begin by categorising the theories as macro-sociological theories and micro-sociological theories. Macro-sociology can be understood as dealing with social phenomenon and institutions on an aggregate level. Such an approach entails the use of both theoretical concerns on a system level and the use of aggregate data to arrive at generalisations. Micro-sociology deals with smaller groups as the object of analysis focusing on cognitive order and social interaction between actors, significance of meanings, etc. Theories which can be categorised as macro-sociological in approach have at their core, the study of normative order. This proposition can be further explored by looking at Durkheims view of society. Durkheim was one of the chief proponents of a normative-functional integration model of society. For Durkheim, individual actors acted out of social norms which had been internalised by the individual through socialisation and education. These norms informed all the actions and contributed to the overall functioning of the society in perfect equilibrium. The social facts existed independent of the individual, were external and coercive in nature while being collective and general. For Durkheim, the pre-established harmony of society through individual agents was internally controlled and imposed. Micro-sociological approach has brought a remarkable shift in theorising where cognitive order has become the object of analysis. The methodological structure on which micro-sociological theoris ing is based takes into account cognitive processes that represent and interpret the relevance of values and obligations. It begins with the premise that the actor is a knowing, active subject. Micro-sociologists like symbolic interactionists view actors and meanings attributed by actors in social interaction as ways of understanding the larger macro issues of order. Meads conception of the self has the underlying notion of the individual as a composite whole of selves and also the notion of interior audiences where men attribute motives to each other from the perspective of the generalised other which can also be seen as an internalised reference group for giving meaning to action. Such a social theory then recognises the significance of a knowing and acting agent, and the study of related phenomenon not as coerced human action, but as informed human action, to study the manner in then social phenomenon is produced, contested, repaired, organised and displayed in social situations. Social theory then stands to reconcile both macro and micro approaches to the study of social phenomenon. Taking the above example, social order can be redefined by moving away from the traditional normative-functional-integration model to a cognitive model of micro social action which would take into account the actor not as a puppet in the hands of society but as an active agent in society. The distinctive feature of micro sociological approaches is the fact that they accord a privileged status to small scale social situations. These social interactions also have their place in macro sociological theory where they may be considered as building blocks for larger systemic conceptions. The point to be made is that social theory must find its ground between methodological individualism and methodological collectivism. Methodological individualism demands that all aspects of social theory be analysed in terms of the interests, activities, etc., of individual human beings. Methodological collectivism holds the view that the society is a whole which is more than just a sum of its parts and that society moulds individuals in socialisation so that they must be seen as dependent upon social institutions rather than their active constituents. An alternative to the dominant approaches of methodological individualism and methodological collectivism is methodological situationalism. Methodological situationalism replaces the model of the actor as the ultimate unit of analysis and leads to the production of knowledge that takes into account the practice through which members reproduce and acquire a sense of order while at the same time searching for order of rules and resources which presumably underlie and generate social conduct. We can summarise this section with the following remarks. Macro sociological theories have focused primarily on interrelations of social action. Micro sociological theories on the other hand, look at micro-social situations for theory building and theory formulations. Concluding Remarks The aim of sociological theory is not limited to understanding conceptual ambiguities but to reason systematically and scientifically about some of the major social problems that we face, to illuminate which values are relevant to the context and why, and to give some direction to what we should do. The general goal is to accomplish an understanding of reality. The importance of studying theory can be discerned by understanding the possible functions of theory- descriptive, analytical or explanatory, and to a certain degree predictive as well, and inherently prescriptive. Theory enables the researcher to make sense of the world around him. They guide and give meaning to what we see and observe. Theory helps in orienting the researchers mental framework to an established and accepted base from which the researcher can extract an understanding of the social reality around him, and proceed to develop his own hypothesis. Theories are often used to orient the mind of the reader to the pur pose of the research study. A strong theoretical background helps in introducing and justifying the need for undertaking a certain research study. When a researcher investigates and collects information through observation, the investigator needs a clear idea of what information is important to collect, which could be solved by using a theoretical tool to dictate the research enquiry. Theory and empirical research are intrinsically interrelated in the scheme of sociological enquiry. Following the scientific model of sociological enquiry, theory and research are linked in the both the inductive and deductive analysis of social reality. In the deductive model research is used to empirically test the validity and reliability of theory, while in the inductive model theories are developed on the basis of careful understanding and analysis of research data. If theory answers the question of what, why and how, research helps in indicating the purpose, object and end of what a particular theory is aiming to achieve. The significance of social theory can therefore, never be undermined.

Insanity vs Cleverness

Insanity and cleverness are defined as the state of being seriously mentally ill; madness and mentally bright; having sharp or quick intelligence. In this essay I will analyze the similarities Insanity and murder versus cleverness and murder as demonstrated in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"Twins†. The information being examined will convey how insanity and cleverness are proven by the two characters the wife, Lucy, and the narrator, how both murders are planned and viewed in both perspectives, and the reactions towards their murders. To begin, insanity and cleverness are proven by the characters in a variety of ways.In â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† the narrator displays insanity by the characters desire to eliminate the eye, due to his mental instability. It was not his intentions to rob the old man nor kill him, it was his perceived threat and his obsession that consumed him and Influenced actions. â€Å"You should have seen how wisely I proceeded – with what caution – with what foresight – with what dissimulation I went to work! † (Poe, 1) the narrator, at this point had it planned in his mind that he needed to pursue his impulse and eliminate the eye. With precession and caution he knew exactly how he anted to proceed with this madness.The constant obsession of the eye demonstrated that in fact he was insane, shown by his periodic observations of the old man at night through the crack of his door, and his fixation with destroying the eye. The narrators frequent reassurance to himself that he was not mad rationalize his abnormal behaviors. The wife In â€Å"Twins† demonstrated cleverness by remaining calm about her husbands plan to murder her. As a result of her intuition it resulted in her survival. Lucy had no plan to react towards her husbands madness until he recorded with making his story come to life. â€Å"It wasn't a game.She said, it wasn't going to work† (Eric, 3) At this point she k new that her husband was going to shoot her, and with the advantage of knowing he had a gun she had unloaded it in order to save her life. This proves that she was clever by her removing the bullets out of the gun, and how she reacted to the gun being pointed at her. Due to her applied intelligence and understanding of the situation allowed for a positive outcome. Both murderers, Lucy and the narrator, had two deferent ways of proceeding with heir actions. The narrator displays madness when planning his murder by evolving the suspicion that he wanted to kill the evil eye.This was demonstrated by him changing his actions to be perceived as being pleasant towards the old man. With that, in his perspective he wasn't doing anything wrong but eliminating the eye, which increased his level of insanity. Also he appreciates the thought of murdering the evil eye to end the horror It put him through. â€Å"l made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye fore ver† (Poe, 1) this quote hill Lucy didn't. She had waited to see if her husband would re-load the gun when the time came to kill her.Lucy had listened to her husbands story and it allowed her to be intuitive and manipulated how the story was going to end. She had found the gun and unloaded it and waited in anticipation for her husband to pull out the gun and try to shoot. As she said â€Å"if she had not long known about the lady in the condominium, and if she had not come across his fishing tackle box with a loaded gun, the wig, the makeup kit, packed ready to go, while she was searching for a pair f pliers, she would never have wondered what he was up to† (Eric, 3), when the wife had found everything she did not allow the gun to make her react differently.As her husband pointed the gun at her she was confident that the bullets were not in the gun and had shot him her self. When the time came for the cops to find him she would be sure that a story could be made up. Fin ally, Lucy and the narrator had individual reactions towards their murders which caused them to be clever and insane. The narrator had woken the old man and had to make his move or there wouldn't be another chance † I placed my hand upon the earth and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more. At this point his conscience had taken over and created a heart beat that only he could hear. The heart beat had made him panic and give in and admitted to the murder â€Å"Villains! † I shrieked, â€Å"dissemble no more! I admit the deed! ?tear up the planks! ?here, here! ?it is the beating of his hideous heart! â€Å". This proves his insanity for the reason that he continuously heard a heart beat that was boisterous. When Lucy was at gun point and she noticed there were no lets, her response was to kill her husband with the knowledge that her husband would try to kill her.Lucy had remained calm and collected and co ntinued his story however the story flipped and he was killed. In addition, she used her cleverness to wait until she called the cops to report her husband missing. When the cops had been called she was positive towards her reactions and her husband would not be found until spring. â€Å"When the first snow fell she knew they wouldn't find him until spring at the earliest, and then what would they find? A body, with no money in the allot, and the gun that killed him. She had used her cleverness to overpower her husbands murder plan and to her advantage her husband had already arranged the murder. The evidence above shows that the wife, Lucy and the narrator demonstrate insanity and murder versus cleverness and murder by the two characters the wife, Lucy, and the narrator, how both murders are planned and viewed in both perspectives, and the reactions towards their murders. As you can see with the evidence provided you are able to determine the differences between insanity and murde r versus cleverness and murder.

Morality and Obligation Essay

1. Two preliminary steps taken, that may be necessary, before one can intui? vely appreciate the rightness of an ac? on are thinking fully about the consequences of an ac? on. In other words, think before you act. Also give thought (considera? on) to the persons involved in said ac? on or your rela? on(ship) with the persons involved. 2. An ac? on is considered morally good in addi? on to being right when it is the right thing to do, while also stemming from a good place. When the person or â€Å"agent† performs said act because it is right, from a feeling of obliga? on, a morally good act is also right. 3. According to Prichard, an ac? on done from a sense of obliga? on, there is no purpose â€Å"consis? ng either in the ac? on itself or in anything which it will produce†. A mo? ve, being something that moves one to act, can be the sense of obliga? on, an ac? on done from a sense of obliga? on can indeed have a mo? ve. 4. Avirtuous act is done from a desire that is intrinsically good. A moral act may be done from obliga? on. There can’t be an obliga? on to act virtuously, because we can only â€Å"feel an obliga? on to act† or do something. We cannot, however, feel an obliga? on to act from a certain desire 5. It is a mistake to expect moral philosophy to prove through argumenta? on that we ought to ful+ll our obliga? ons, because moral rightness â€Å"cannot be demonstrated, only apprehended directly by an act of moral thinking†. The sense of obliga? on is a result of a moral thought or thoughts. Moral philosophy can provide re-ec? on on the â€Å"immediacy of our knowledge of moral rightness† and the intui? ve recogni? on of the goodness of the virtues.

Gettysburg The Confederate Tragedy Essay - 3327 Words

Gettysburg: The Confederate Tragedy In the summer of 1863, the United States was sharply divided in a brutal civil war. The Union army of the northern states was pitted against the Confederate army of the separatist southern states in what would prove to be the bloodiest war that the nation has ever been involved in. That summer was especially harsh on both sides. The casualty lists were extremely lengthy as the two sides faced off in some of the deadliest engagements of the war. The summer of 1863 was a particularly desperate time in the war for the South. The southern stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was under siege by a powerful Union force. The economic state of the South was all but destroyed by the ravages of war and†¦show more content†¦By the time he had replaced Hooker with General George G. Meade, the gap between the two armies had already become dangerously small. By then, only one small town stood between them and it seemed as if every road in the area led to it. On July 1, 1863, a division of Confederate infantry marched to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in hopes of seizing a supply of desperately needed shoes for the ill-shod, sore-footed infantry of the Army of Northern Virginia. Much to their surprise, however, a division of Union cavalry, who had reached the town only a few hours earlier, had dismounted and was awaiting their arrival on the northwest side of town. Fierce fighting broke out as the Confederates slowly pushed their oppo nent back through the town itself and into the highlands to the south. That night, thousands of troops from both sides were rushed to the vicinity of Gettysburg and by morning there were over 100,000 soldiers in position there. The Battle of Gettysburg had begun, and it would soon prove to be one of the most pivotal battles of the entire war. Ever since the conclusion of the American Civil War, there has been constant debate over the causes for the Confederacys collapse. 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