Test 3 Flashcards
(102 cards)
1
Q
Inequality/stratification
A
- Marx focused on social class and the economic dimensions of inequality (bi-polarization of class).
- arrangement of class into certain groups
- Weber expanded on this
2
Q
‘rounding out’ of Marx
A
- Weber is often cited as ‘rounding out’ the Marxian tradition or ‘economic determinism’
- Weber argues that social stratification should be extended to include elements of ‘prestige’ such as ‘status and power’.
- Weber includes these dimension not to refute Marx, but to extend (round out) his ideas – making it more NUNACED
- Multiple classes / sources of power
3
Q
Class
A
- Some economic situation
- group of people who can be found in the same ‘economic’ or ‘market’ situation.
- not a ‘community’ but a group of people who share the same kinds of ‘resources’. The individuals may or may not know each other – but they have similar experiences because of they access (or lack of access) to resources.
- They are not a “COMMUNITY” but act together on the basis of self (individual) interest.
- Class is not just about wealth but also about the individual’s ability to access and control economic resources. It focuses on the material factors of social life.
4
Q
Status
A
- Refers to a group of people who share a similar ‘style of life’.
- This group of people may or may not be affluent (rich) but they share similar prestige or similar experiences of social life.
- social estimation of honor
- Class and status do not always go hand in hand
5
Q
Status Monopoly
A
- “If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it”
- Ask how much it costs?
- For Weber, status is about more than wealth; it’s about respect, cultural capital, lifestyle, and belonging to certain social networks.
- Honour and prestige
6
Q
power and attainment of power
A
- Refers to a group of people who are ’organized around a particular political order. [ex. Type of government].
- Most obvious form of organized power is politics
- *Most often, political parties are focused on the active attainment of power.
- Politicians leading change
- Democratic process
- For Weber different forms of POLITICAL power have the opportunity to eliminate inequality and to push for change.
7
Q
Historical sociologist
A
- Sociologists might study trends in social inequality or patterns of political authority.
- History is more focused on understanding the specific, unique events, actions, and individuals that have shaped particular times and places.
- Sociology abstracts from the particularities of history to build theories about general social processes.
- The two go hand in hand. We need to look at social life historically, to understand / generate concepts that help us understand society.
8
Q
ideal types
A
- The use of ‘concepts’ as tools
- Methodological tool for comparative sociology
- Sociologists create logically constructed ‘concepts’ (from their historical observations) that help them understand the empirical world.
- ‘Concepts’ are not the “empirical world” but they are ‘tools’ to gain a better understanding of reality.
- ‘Concepts’ should be considered ‘ideal types’ that are more heuristic devices (tools / conceptual tools) to assess social reality.
- Ideal types allow sociologists to identify ‘divergences’.
- ‘Empirical reality’ is a lot different from the ‘ideal type’.
- Not always positive or utopian
- Never fully found in the real world
- Can be combined to create theoretical models
- Can exist in various forms
- Tools of interpretation
9
Q
four ideal types
A
- Historical ideal types (modern capitalism)
- Action Ideal types (effectual action)
- Sociological ideal types (bureaucracy)
- Structural ideal types (traditional authority)
10
Q
historical ideal type
A
These relate to phenomena found in some particular historical epoch
*modern capitalism
11
Q
action ideal types
A
These are pure types of action based on the motivations of the actor (for example, effectual action).
12
Q
sociological ideal types
A
These relate to phenomena that cut across a number of historical periods and societies (for example, bureaucracy).
13
Q
structural ideal types
A
These are forms taken by the causes and consequences of social action (for example, traditional domination).
14
Q
accentuation
A
- ‘exaggerated’ forms of the ‘outside world’ that are only useful when applied to the ‘outside world’ to see how the ‘world’ is similar/not similar from the ideal style.
15
Q
traditional authority
A
- Based on long standing beliefs, customs and practices. Common in pre-industrial societies – ex. King, queen, or royal family. Authority is granted irrespective of skills and is based on ‘blood line’ or ‘divine designation’.
16
Q
charismatic authority
A
- Based on the extra-ordinary powers of individuals. Charismatic leaders may exercise authority (good & bad) over a whole society or a smaller group ex. Hitler, Jesus, Buddah. Charismatic authority depends on the followers to admire them and follow them.
- Charismatic authority is the least stable form of authority.
- The routinization of charisma is the process by which charismatic authority is transformed into institutional authority.
- Bureaucracy: A new bureaucracy is created to formalize the charismatic leader’s principles.
- Return to tradition: The charismatic leader disrupts a tradition, which is then returned to.
- Death of Charismatic leader
- routinization of charisma
17
Q
Rational Legal Authority
A
- Based on the assumed legitimacy of societies lays and rules and the rights of leaders to act under the rules to make decisions and set policies. Common in modern democracies, power is given to people who are elected by voters.
- Note: Justin Trudeau
- peaceful transfer of power
- Bureaucracies
18
Q
ideal type of ‘rational legal authority’
A
- Bureaucracy
- rationalization
- Highest degree of efficiency
- Rules and procedures allow for high efficiency and the consistent execution of work by all employees. Rules and procedures are detailed and stable, and can be easily understood by employees – the rules are registered in permanent archives, and made accessible to all.
- The rules and procedures make it easier for management to maintain control and adjust when necessary.
- In Weber’s view, a bureaucracy is “escape proof”, “practically unshatterable” – one of the hardest institutions to destroy, as it continues to play an increasing role in modern society.
- Not emotions or values or lineage
19
Q
task specialization
A
- 1 of 6 basic principles of Bureaucracy
- Tasks are divided into simple, routine categories
- Everyone takes on a task on the basis of their competencies
- Everyone knows what is expected of them
- Everyone has a specific place in the organization
- Each department has specific responsibilities
- Going beyond specific responsibilities is not necessary
20
Q
Hierarchical authority
A
- 1 of 6 basic principles of Bureaucracy
- Managers are organised into hierarchical layers - there are many hierarchical positions.
- highest on the hierarchy has the greatest power.
- The bottom layers are always subject to supervision and control.
- The hierarchy outlines how people communicate and how power and responsibilities are distributed.
21
Q
Formal Selection
A
- 1 of 6 basic principles of Bureaucracy
- All employees are selected on the basis of skills & competencies
- All employees are trained, educated, and experienced
- All salaries are a reflection of the level of their position
- Employee contracts are determined by organization rules and requirements
22
Q
uniform rules and requirements
A
- 1 of 6 basic principles of Bureaucracy
- Formal rules and requirements are required to ensure uniformity,
- All formal expectations are predetermined and predictable
- All administrative processes are defined by official rules
- Rules are enforced so as to achieve uniformity and so efforts are well co-ordinated
- Rules and expectations are (more or less) stable and formalized in ‘reports’ and ‘policies’
- New rules and requirements are introduced by senior members, management or directors
23
Q
impersonal regulations
A
- 1 of 6 basic principles of Bureaucracy
- Regulations and clear requirements create distant and impersonal relationships between employees,
- Impersonal rules prevent nepotism or involvement from outsiders or politics.
- All social exchanges are regulated through tasks or ‘impersonal’ relationships
- Official views are free from any personal involvement, emotions and feelings.
- Decisions are solely made on the basis of rational factors, rather than personal factors
24
Q
career orientation
A
- 1 of 6 basic principles of Bureaucracy
- Skilled tasks
- Gain expertise and move upward
- Employees are selected on the basis of their expertise.
- It is agreed that the right people are in the ‘right positions’ because of their training and skill.
- People accurately use their ‘human capital’ and can build their careers by continuing to build their skills.
- People can continue to become experts in their field by improving their performance.
25
Iron Cage
*escape proof
*a metaphor for the rationalization and bureaucratization of modern society, and the loss of individual autonomy and creativity that can result.
* In Western Capitalist societies life is increasingly ‘rationalized’.
* People are ‘trapped’ in systems or organizations that are “efficient” “rational” and “controlled”.
* The ‘iron cage’ of rationality reflects the pressure to behave in certain ways.
* Bureaucracy (and efficiency) is often presented as a “beneficial” strategy for us.
* Social relations, however, are impersonal and alienating.
* IRON CAGE as a product of specific historical conditions – Capitalism and the ‘spirit’ of capitalism – enabled by rationalization.
26
Verstehen
* Rejection of positivist sociology
* ‘meaning’ and ‘understanding’; putting yourself in other shoes
* Positivism reduced humans to a number
* Anti-positivism: Qualitative methods
* Ethical approach
* Participant observation
* Interviews
* Understanding lives
27
Escape Proof
* Iron cage is escape proof
* Bureaucracy is escape proof “practically unshatterable”
* Institutionalization of Rationality: Once systems are rationalized, they create a set of norms, rules, and expectations that are self-reinforcing.
* Socialization: From a young age, individuals are socialized into rational systems (calculability, efficiency), learning that this is the only "realistic" way to think and act.
* Momentum: As technology advances and bureaucratic structures grow, they become harder to resist or modify. Each new development reinforces the existing rational framework.
* Commodification of Life: People are reduced to "human resources" or economic units, and personal fulfillment is measured in terms of productivity or consumption.
* Loss of Meaning: As rational systems increasingly dominate, traditional sources of meaning (like religion, community, and personal relationships) diminish.
* surveillance in modern society further entrenches systems of control and regulation – you know you are being watched – so you ‘feed into’ being as productive and as efficient as you can – you know others expect that from you.
* bureaucracy – ideal form
28
is there an alternative to the iron cage
* In a highly rationalized society, alternatives often seem impractical or even irrational, or unsustainable (make stupid things?).
29
what is Simmel's main focus?
His main focus remains on forms of interaction and the ways in which social actors (in their interactions) create society.
30
practical rationality
* Day-to-day experiences
* Selfish interests
* Means-end rationality
* Closely related to instrumental rationality
31
Theoretical rationality
* Concepts – logic – meaning
* Construction of abstract concepts
* Requires cognition (ideas and concepts in our mind)
* Does not involve ”means – end” calculations.
* describe, explain, or understand the world.
32
Substantive rationality
* realm of values
* means-end calculation
* “universal rules” – rules that are community based – and are not about individual interests.
* Friendship for example involves values like ‘loyalty’ ‘passion’ ‘mutual assistance’ ---- is a form of ‘substantive rationality’ – the values allow us to ‘measure’ the meaning of social interaction
* Weber claimed that substantive rationality has become increasingly difficult to achieve in modern society.
33
formal rationality
*thinking and logical deduction that people use to determine what is most important in particular situations and the most effectual method they should use for reaching desired goals.
* “universally applied rules, laws, and regulations”
34
six characteristics of formal rationality
* calculability
* predictability
* replaces human technology with non-human technology
* gain control over uncertainty
* efficiency
* discard less effective methods
35
What are the consequences of formal rationality?
* irrational consequences emerge – “irrational” because they are “less meaningful”
* hyper rationalization means the emergence of a “less meaningful” world
* increased secularization: religion has decreased in socio-cultural importance
36
what leads to formal rationality?
* Weber sees the emergence of a formal rationality based on substantive rationality.
* protestant work ethic
37
how did we get here? (formal rationality)
* The “spirit of Capitalism” is found within the religious.
38
calvinism
* type of Protestantism (ascetic)
* gave rise to the “spirit of capitalism”.
* provided the rising capitalists “with sober, conscientiously and unusually industrious workmen who clung to their work as to a life purposed willed by god” (Weber 1904-1905/1958: 117)
* Calvinists believed that only a small number of people were ‘chosen’ for salvation
* Only a small number of people were ‘predestined’
* Either part of the ‘saved’ or you were part of the ‘damned’
* There was very little the individual or the religion could do to change that.
* People were left confused, so they tried to reduce the uncertainty.
* Calvinists urged people to work hard and be diligent.
* Success was a path to salvation.
* The work ethic required self-control, a systematic life of economic activity.
39
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
* did not give rise to modern capitalism – but that it gave rise to a particular ‘spirit’ [force] that eventually made modern rational capitalism expand and dominate.
* Note: The Spirit of Capitalism is rooted in the substantive rationality of “Calvinism”
* The ‘spirit of capitalism’ is a moral and ethical system.
* The ‘spirit of capitalism’ was an “ethos” that stressed economic success.
* Economic profit is accepted but it is not fuelled by ‘greed’.
* Hard work was a reflection of a need for ‘salvation’.
40
otherworldly asceticism
* norms and values that go against the secular (non-religious world). Individuals reject everything that is secular.
41
innerworldy asceticism
* norms and values that do not reject the secular (non-religious world). Individuals work within the secular world in order to find ‘signs of salvation’. [Like the Calvinists]
* Working within the secular
* ‘signs’ of salvation
* hard work & salvation
42
Ethos
* the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.
* Spirit of capitalism was an ethos
43
Asceticism
* to a lifestyle characterized by self-discipline and abstaining from indulgences in material pleasures, often for religious, spiritual, or philosophical reasons.
* Ascetics often embrace simplicity and focus on spiritual growth, self-control, and meditation.
44
what is spirit? (capitalism)
moral and ethical system
reduced to rational and systematic routine
45
rational side of rationalization
* allowed the development of modern, western society
* the guiding principle behind bureaucracy and the increasing division of labor.
* leads to efficiency, coordination, and control over both the physical and the social environment.
* practical process of the application of specific knowledge to a desired end.
46
irrational side of rationalization
* Technocratic thinking - zweckrational
* limits human values like social justice, peace and human happiness
* Undermining human freedom + democracy
* Technocratic thinking rarely involve goals and means in terms of ultimate human values like social justice, peace and human happiness.
* Rationalization (while highly rational in the form of technical efficiency) is not rational in terms of morality.
47
micro-sociologists
* Simmel
* Social interactions
* Experiences under modernity
* Association (sociation)(social interaction)
* Sum of individual elements
* Emerging out of interaction
* subjective experiences of individuals
* Social relationships emerge / create social life
* structure of the ‘spirit’ of his time (mainly related to cultural shifts) – focus on how the context and historical period influences (creates) the ‘objective’ social life comes to dominate our personal lives.
* changes related to the cultural and social ‘spirit’ of his time (which he and others refer to as modernity) – focus on how ‘modernity’ (ex. money, the metropolis) come to shape social interactions in unique and novel ways.
48
emergence
* moves from lower level concerns and applies them to higher level or macro level processes.
49
dialectical approach
* Simmel
* dualisms, conflicts, paradoxes, and contradictions
* Ex. Fashion
* Note: A paradox or ‘dialectic’ can be seen with his example of money – money allows for greater individual flexibility and autonomy but at the same time leads to a hardness of social relationships and a domination by larger force.
* Note: In particular, Simmel uses a dialectical materialist and historical approach, but without class and class struggle as central theoretical concepts.
- His main focus remains on forms of interaction and the ways in which social actors (in their interactions) create society.
50
dualisms, conflicts, paradoxes, and contradictions
Social life is complex, two sides can be right and occur at the same time.
51
methodological 'relationist'
* everything interacts in relation to everything else
52
Fashion
* ‘admiration’ and ‘envy’
* Fashion as ‘remedy’ for envy
* Envy is a social reaction / relation
* Expression of individuality
* uniqueness fades
* union & isolation
* universal acceptance
* destruction of a trend
* Admiration and envy both create ‘sociation’ – a connection to others.
* The double function of fashion consists of two social tendencies – the need for union and the need for isolation.
* Fashion is the synthesis
* Distinctiveness of any fashion trend will be destroyed by the group.
53
society & totality of social interactions
- Sociation: an interaction among the individuals that form human society.
- Sociation: the result of paradoxical categories of interaction; paradoxes are important ingredients, structuring all relationships and giving them enduring form. (eg. harmony and conflict, attraction and repulsion, love and hatred)
54
paradox
Fashion is an ideal form of expression of individuality, but at the same time, this individuality must involve imitation.
55
envy
A negative feeling that stems from a lack of self-worth, and is based on comparison, inadequacy, and pain.
56
admiration
A positive feeling that stems from appreciation, joy, and emotional generosity.
57
Forms
* The structure or mode of the interaction (is consistent)(usually paradoxical)(is identifiable)
* the underlying structure or pattern of how interactions and activities are organized. It's the shape, method, or manner in which content is expressed or enacted.
* EX. Domination and subordination
* Within predictable forms of social interaction are various “forms”.
* Forms of social interaction are case specific, they vary, they are relate to the specific social interaction.
* Content varies, form remains the same/consistent.
58
Types
* The recurring roles or characters individuals adopt in interactions (e.g., leader, follower, moderator)(is consistent)(is identifiable).
* Social types are defined by the specifiable reactions and expectations of others.
* A social type becomes a type because of his/her relations with others who assign a certain position to this person and have certain expectations of him/her.
* Simmel made an attempt to understand a whole range of social types such as “the mediator,” “the stranger” “the adventurer,” “the miser” [someone who doesn’t spend much money’], “the spendthrift” [someone who spends a lot] and “the nobility”
59
Content
* The specific matter or subject of a social interaction (varies)(is case specific)
* Identifiable and limited
* Content refers to the specific material, ideas, practices, or experiences (social interactions) that people (social types) engage with in social life. It's the "substance" of social interactions and activities—what people do, believe, or produce.
* Ex. The desire for money
60
Role of Sociologists
* common features
* The real world is made up of countless events, actions, interactions, and patterns all of these constitute “forms” and “types” that are identifiable and limited in number.
* The tasks is to illuminate the social forms & types that reoccur across diverse social interactions.
* The content is not as important as the “form” & “type” that are consistent and identifiable.
* Sociologist needs to identify ‘forms’ and ‘types’
61
The Stranger
* Type
* assigned a role by others
* a confidant & intermediary with objectivity
* Distance plays a central role in ‘The Stranger’ (1908)
* The stranger is someone who is neither ‘close’ nor too ‘far’.
* If they were too ‘close’ they would not longer be a stranger.
* If they were too ‘far’ they would have no contact with the group.
62
The Poor and special status
* characterized by poverty
* It is only from the moment that [the poor] are assisted (by others) that they become part of a group characterized by poverty.
* The poor are should not be viewed by what they do, but by virtue of what is done to them.
63
Content and Form
* content matters less than form
* CONTENT Varies – FORMS remain consistent.
* Content: desire for money. Form: domination and subordination
* You want freedom from the domination of your boss (from your subordination).
* The interaction exposes a struggle for supremacy (or power and domination), a desire to be at least equal or eventually superior.
* Note: Social forms like domination or cooperation can occur in workplaces as much as they do in families and gangs.
64
Co-operation and conflict
* Cooperation: The boss knows that to keep you happy and productive they might have to give you that raise.
* Conflict: The boss wants to keep as much profit as possible for herself. CONFLICT AND COOPERATION HAPPEN ANYWHERE – the content doesn’t matter – the form will remain consistent
* At the same time ‘the content’ can be the same – but different ‘forms’ can guide the content.
* SAME CONTENT – can be expressed through VARIOUS FORMS
* ITS ALL RELATIONAL – it is occurring at the same time
* The boss wants to ‘dominate’ you as much as they want to encourage ‘cooperation’ which can also be interacting with different forms of ‘conflict’.
* gaining supremacy over others
* Complex social reality
65
Modernity and Culture
* Subjective culture
* Cultivating individuals
* Reacting to objective culture
* Must cultivate objective spirit
* Cannot fully assimilate
* Objective culture dominating
* Industrialization and complexity
* Impersonal, large scale, abstract, formal
* Blassé
66
brain rot
* Supposed deterioration of a person's mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.
67
objective culture
* we create social life from ‘ideas’
* relates to the external, social, and cultural structures that exist independently of any single individual. Includes language, art, science, religious dogma (etc.).
* expands and grows under modernity, increasingly dominating and moving beyond the individuals that create it.
* We ‘reify’ we make real
* Expansive nature of objective culture
* Objective culture can be ANYTHING
* Information Overload
* not entirely meaningless
* not intrinsically meaningful
* suppresses the individual
* Overwhelming the subjective
* Too much choice
* We are going towards an increased objective culture
* More-than-life/alienating
68
subjective culture
* Described as the ability to individually control, re-create and influence objective culture.
* "the capacity of the actor to produce, absorb, and control the elements of objective culture.”
* “In an ideal sense, individual culture shapes, and is shaped by, objective culture. The problem is that objective culture comes to have a life of its own." (Ritzer, p. 162).
* necessary for “cultivation”
* Absorb objective spirit / culture
* “unnecessary” knowledge
* “maintain the independence and individuality”
* More-life/species being
69
objective spirit
* encompasses the broader, shared patterns of life that exist outside of individual consciousness but still affect individual thought and action.
* The ‘objective spirit’ is necessary for the cultivation of individuals in society.
70
subjective spirit
* refers to the inner, personal consciousness of the individual.
* It involves an individual’s thoughts, feelings, experiences, and interpretations of the world. It is about the internal mental and emotional world of the person.
* Too many choices impacts our subjective spirit
71
The central tension
* With increasing modernization, specialization, calculability (etc.) it becomes more difficult to maintain individuality or create (influence) objective culture
* Result is the tension between the ‘subjective spirit’ and ‘objective spirit’.
* It is because of this limited relationship [of a balanced interplay between both] that aspects of subjectivity, like the emotional development of individuals, for example, often become stunted and unrefined
72
The Metropolis
- Simmel
* This is the city where tension between objective and subjective culture are most apparent
* The ‘mental life’
*that the modern city, driven by money, is a space of both opportunity and alienation.
* Become more intellectual and less emotional
* People are bound by clocks, tasks, and quantifiable measures.
* Leads to a blasé outlook
* Increasing stimuli
* Forces individuals to be more rational and calculated in their interactions
* Dominated by objectivism
* Division of labour is most prominent in the metropolis
* “has become a mere cog”
* money economy
73
what is the way we cope in the metropolis?
* Self-preservation
* Psychological response to the blasé atmosphere
* lack the emotional intensity and personal connections
* Head vs. heart
* The individual has to scream out much of the surrounding stimuli to cope
* Constantly interacting without forming connection
* Impersonal relationships
74
creative capacities
- more-life
* subjective culture
* enabled them to produce objective culture
* where the creative process is part of the individual
* Under modernity, ‘more life’ (the creative/subjective side) has been overshadowed by ‘more than life’ (the objective side)
* intellect & rationality
* Expression of individuality
* ‘tool making animal’ (species being / more life)
* Species being
75
objective culture (more than life)
* where the objects we create take on a life above and beyond the individual
* irreconcilable
* more than we can handle
* alienating
76
philosophy of money
* Simmel writes that ultimately, “the metropolis has always been at the seat of the money economy”.
* Simmel argues that money in modern cities becomes a universal medium of exchange that allows people to interact and transact across various spheres of life.
* Money is impersonal and effective.
* Connect and communicate with money
* Paradoxical…it is efficient but allows us to engage in choice
* “the purest form of the tool”
* Money has possibility for self-expression
* Money is instrumental
* Money allows for ‘precision’ and ‘calculability’ – in the city is allows for the ‘objective spirit’ to continue. Money allows individuals in the city to have ‘impersonal’ and ‘distant’ although rational experiences.
77
universality of money
* rationalizing forces
* ‘quantity’ vs ‘quality’
* Freedom from traditional bonds (objective cultural forces)
* Market driven opportunities
* Personal identity and self-determination
* Consumer choice and personal expression
* freedom
* Pursuit of personal interests
* Individual choice
* the modern city, driven by money, is a space of both opportunity and alienation.
78
money and social mobility
* Urban centres are seen as a place of upward social mobility
* Can continuously shift and redefine their position in society
* Social mobility is more limited in traditional societies
*The overarching objective is to be able to ‘control’ or influence the ways in which others interpret who we are, how they see us.
79
lottery
* Weber's analysis of social status is "social closure." This refers to how groups seek to preserve their social status by restricting access to resources, opportunities, and privileges. As such, you can rarely gain status with wealth.
* Simmel also highlighted that the possession of money gives access to material goods and conveys symbolic power. As such, they can gain status with money.
80
tragedy of culture
- Occurs as we modernize society
* Powerless, disconnected, alienated
* Loss of ‘art’ for art sake
* Art becomes an object of passive consumption
* ART has increasingly become dominated by the money economy and the consumption of commodities, the work of art becomes an object of passive consumption.
* This too has been the ‘tragedy of culture’
* Although we might be presented with increased options, we have more increased options than we can ever hope to experience in one lifetime.
* BRAIN ROT
* “for itself” should stand alone
* “for us” should be admired for its original quality
81
Blase
* “all things as being of an equally dull and grey hue”
* captures the psychological and social consequences of living in a rapidly changing, urbanized world where personal relationships are often reduced to mere transactions or superficial encounters.
* This occurs because everything becomes relative/comparable but only in relation to external value that is socially constructed, not in relation to intrinsic value.
* We have commodified everything.
* Everything can be quantified.
* The objective spirit dominates.
* unimpressed or indifferent to something because one has experienced or seen it so often before.
* "she was becoming quite blasé about the dangers"
82
“a status group is every typical component of the life of men that is determined by specific, positive or negative, social estimation of honor”
Weber
83
“Sociology seeks to formulate type concepts and generalized uniformities of empirical processes. This distinguishes it from history, which is oriented to the causal analysis and explanation of individual actions, structures, and personalities possessing cultural significance”
Weber
84
“An ideal types is formed by the one-sided accentuation of one or more points of view and by the synthesis of a great many diffuse, discrete, more or less present and occasionally absent concrete individual phenomena, which are arranged according to those one-sidedly emphasizes viewpoints into a unified analytical construct…In its conceptual purity, this mental construct…cannot be found empirically anywhere in reality”
Weber
85
Calvinism provided the rising capitalists “with sober, conscientiously and unusually industrious workmen who clung to their work as to a life purposed willed by god”
Weber
86
“The religious valuation of restless, continuous, systematic work in a worldly calling, as the highest means of ascetism, and at the same time the surest and most evident proof of rebirth and genuine faith, must have been the most powerful conceivable leveler for the expansion of….the spirit of capitalism”
Weber
87
"the influence of certain religious ideas on the development of an economic spirit, or the ethos of an economic system. In this case we are dealing with the connection of the spirit of modern economic life with the rational ethics of ascetic Protestantism."
Protestant
88
“If society is to be an autonomous object of independent science, then it can only be so through the fact that, out of the sum of the individual elements that constitute it, a new entity emerges; otherwise all problems of social science would only be those of individual psychology”
Simmel
89
“The fashionable person is regarded with mingled feelings of approval and envy; we envy him as an individual, but approve him as a member of a set or group. [...] The moment we envy an object or a person, we are no longer absolutely excluded from it; some relation or other has been established”
Simmel
90
“In every social relation there are two forces at work: one pushing us to bind ourselves to others through imitation, and another pushing us to unbind ourselves from each other, to undo the social network, through distinguish ourselves from others”
Benvenuto
91
“Society…is only the synthesis or the general term for the totality of these specific interactions… ‘Society’ is identical with the sum total of these relations”
Simmel
92
"He is not radically committed to the unique ingredients and peculiar tendencies of the group, and therefore approaches them with the specific attitude of 'objectivity.' "
Simmel
93
“In an ideal sense, individual culture shapes, and is shaped by, objective culture. The problem is that objective culture comes to have a life of its own."
Simmel
94
“The deepest problems of modern life flow form the attempt of the individual to maintain the independence and individuality (subjectivity) of his existence against the sovereign powers of society (objective culture)”
Simmel
95
“the metropolitan type of man…develops [to protect himself] against the threatening currents and discrepancies of his external environment…He reacts with his head instead of his heart”
Simmel
96
"The individual is reduced to a negligible quantity…The individual has become a mere cog in an enormous organization of things and powers which tear from his hands all progress, spirituality, and value in order to transform them from their subjective form into the form of a purely objective life."
Simmel
97
“Money is concerned only with what is common to all: it asks for the exchange value, it reduces all quality and individuality to the questions: How much? All intimate emotional relations between persons are founded in their individuality, whereas in rational relations man is reckoned with like a number, like an element which is in itself indifferent”
Simmel
98
"Money is the purest form of the tool…It is an institution through which the individual concentrates his activity and possessions in order to attain goals that he could not attain directly. The fact that everyone works with it makes its character as a tool more evident…The nature and effectiveness of money is not to be found simply in the coin that I hold in my hand; its qualities are invested in the social organizations and the supra-subjective [above any one individual] norms that make this coin a TOOL of endlessly diverse and extensive uses."
Simmel
99
“The work of art is something for itself, the product of applied sprit is something for us
Simmel
100
what does Weber argue about social stratification?
* Weber argues that social stratification should be extended to include elements of ‘prestige’ such as ‘status and power’.
101
What did Weber's preoccupation focus on?
- Sociology should be a legitimate science
- Sociology should be concerned with causality (adequate causality *we can only know so much)
- Sociology should use ‘interpretive understanding’ (verstehen)
102
