SOCIOL 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Rational Agent, Social Fact, Concentrated Poverty
4.23.18
- Where have we been
- Common sense and college for all (week 1)
- Norms, Sanctions (week 2)
- Social Order, social facts (week 3)
- Where are we at?
- Choice vs. constraint (week 4)
- Conflict vs. Consensus (week 5)
- Debates
- Two key debates that organize thinking in the discipline of sociology
- Debate is different in the scientific sense when compared the the popular sense
- Debate is more about dialogue that will lead to objective proof
- Crucial to any scientific activity
- Debates structure and organize intellectual activity around key issues
- Professional mandate of academic sociologists ties back to two key
debates
- Choice vs. constraint (week 4)
- Conflict vs. Consensus (week 5)
- Having a conversation between one another where scientists will usher in
evidence to validate/ falsify claims and theories
- Choice/ Constraint
- Coming up with sociological explanations for human behavior, even at the
individual level
- Do people actively make choices from a universe of options, or are our choices
limited in many ways
- Are these behaviors results of conscious choices or results of constraints that we
face?
- How much free will do each one of us have in our daily life?
- To what extent are our behaviors shaped by external constraints?
- CHOICE
- The act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more
possibilities
- CONSTRAINT
- A limitation/ restriction on behavior
- Rational Choice Theory
- Popular in economics
- Theory of the rational actor
- Individual is the fundamental agent in society
- Each individuals primary actions should be used to evaluate human
behavior
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Common sense and college for all (week 1) Two key debates that organize thinking in the discipline of sociology. Debate is different in the scientific sense when compared the the popular sense. Debate is more about dialogue that will lead to objective proof. Debates structure and organize intellectual activity around key issues. Professional mandate of academic sociologists ties back to two key debates. Having a conversation between one another where scientists will usher in evidence to validate/ falsify claims and theories. Coming up with sociological explanations for human behavior, even at the individual level. Do people actively make choices from a universe of options, or are our choices limited in many ways. The act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. Each individuals primary actions should be used to evaluate human behavior. Human cognition is unlimited; nothing we can"t figure out if we exercise enough mental power.
