Sociology 2240E Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Ethnocentrism, Common Rule, Quadroon

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2240E
• Professor: Amanda Zavitz

Document Summary

Martineau - beginnings of a science of society. Warns that if a sociologist observes something in one person and applies it to all people it would be a generalization. Generalizations could hold prejudice and take a long time to reverse. The mind of the observer is essential for them to do the observing. The sociologist (observer) must know what they want to find out. Explains that the sociologist knows that a society will have men and women and children, food, clothing and shelter this all contribute to what the author calls relative amount of human happiness. The observer should aim to exclude prejudice. The sociologist will find that there are universal feelings of right and wrong (everyone knows what is right and what is wrong and that can be applied across cultures) Law of nature is the only one by which mankind at large can be judged.