Week 2 Flashcards
(24 cards)
What is Functionalism?
A theoretical perspective that sees society as an organism. It has differentiated parts that fulfill varying functions in the social body, seeing society as evolving from simple to complex.
Who coined Functionalism?
Herbert Spencer
What is Empiricism?
The theory that all knowledge is based on experience and that the senses are the ultimate source of human knowledge. The natural world operates according to natural laws.
Main British empiricists: John Locke and David Hume
What is Ontology?
The nature of being or reality
What is Epistemology?
The study of how we KNOW our reality.
What was Durkheim’s key concern/question?
“what causes social stability and solidarity?”
What was Durkheim’s main sociological theory?
Structural Functionalism, which is the belief that society is an integrated system
What was Marx’s key concern/question?
“what divides society?”
What was Marx’s main sociological theory?
Conflict Theory, which is the essence of society is conflict and change
What was Weber’s key concern/question?
concerned about the impact of values and their meaning on social action
What was Weber’s main sociological theory?
Interpretive Sociology, which is the focus on meaning and the context of human behavior
What is the main difference between Durkheim’s beliefs and Marx’s beliefs?
Durkheim believed in holism, but cooperation
Marx believed in holism, but conflict
What is Rationalism?
The belief that logic and rational thoughts make things real
What is Idealism?
The belief in metaphysics, meaning even if we can’t experience something with our 5 senses, it can still be real
Who created the bridge to symbolic interactionism?
Weber
What is Social Evolution?
The belief in the idea that society is evolving over time, for the better. The idea that population growth and evolutionary processes lead to differentiated social structures. It is a key theory within Functionalism.
Who coined “survival of the fittest”?
Herbert Spencer
The 4 universal stages of social evolution:
Primitive societies with casual political cooperation
Militant societies with rigid hierarchical control
Industrial societies (political hegemony collapses and markets emerge)
Self-regulating markets where the state withers away (complex relationship between economy and polity)
The 3 requisite needs of Functionalism:
Regulatory – structures that regulate between the internal organism and the external environment (ie, border control)
Operative – structures that meet internal system needs (ie, cultural or educational)
Distributive – structures that carry needed information and goods throughout the system (ie, transportation, distribution of goods)
Differentiated structures (AKA: Functionalism) requires what 3 things?
Specialization
Integration
Coordination
How are the needs of differentiated structures (AKA: Functionalism) met?
Through social institutions
What is Structural Functionalism?
A Functionalist approach that uses a Positivist theoretical perspective
What is the main problem in a Functionalist society?
The coordination between structures and the stability of our systems.
What is “society” according to Durkheim?
Society is a social product created by the actions of individuals that then exerts a coercive social force back on those individuals
