SOCY 122 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Raymond Williams, Rein, Herd Behavior

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Social Sci, Edu and Soc Work - Sociology
• Course: SOCY 122
• Professor: Rob Beamish

Document Summary

To consciously extend the scope of scientific rationalism to the realm of social behaviour. The book is a manifesto on behalf of the cause of a sociology that is objective, specific, and methodical". (steven. Durkheim believes that sociology is a unique area of inquiry: to substantiate that claim he has to identify its unique subject matter, if sociology is to be a science, it must study empirical, observable facts. Durkheim begins to distinguish sociology from biology and psychology. Biology deals with living beings, similar to sociology. Sociology deals with shared ideas and patterns of conscious action as well as with social institutions and structures. Social structures and processed are analogous to biological structures and their functions: they are distinct enough to distinguish easily the subject matter of sociology from biology. Distinction between sociology and psychology is less obvious. The way durkheim differentiates the two determines his conception of sociology as the study of society as a macro entity.