SOCI1503 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Mathematical Proof, Ancient Philosophy, Scientific Method
Document Summary
As a social science, sociology involves the application of scientific methods to the study of the human aspects of the world. The social science disciplines also include psychology, political science, and economics, among other fields. As a generalization, psychology is the study of the human mind and micro-level behavior; sociology examines human society; psychology focuses on mental and thought processes, whereas sociology focuses on human behavior. Political science studies the governing of groups and countries; and economics concerns itself with the production and allocation of wealth in society. The use of scientific methods differentiates the social sciences from the humanities. In ancient philosophy, there was no difference between science and humanities. Only with the development of mathematical proof did there gradually arise a perceived difference between scientific disciplines and the humanities or liberal arts. Thus, aristotle studied planetary motion and poetry with the same methods; plato mixed geometrical proofs with his demonstration on the state of intrinsic knowledge.
