SOC 104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Sociological Perspectives, Auguste Comte, Charismatic Authority
Document Summary
Sociology: systematic study of human society and social interaction. The difference between sociology and common sense: common sense is not systematic, based on individual experience, one sided, tends to reflect prejudiced and mistaken interpretations. Society: a large social grouping that shares the same geographical territory and is subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Structure versus agency: structures refer to pre-existing arrangements that influence our behaviour, agency refers to choices individuals make. Sociological imagination and c. wright mills: the ability to see the relationships between individual experience and larger society. It enables us to distinguish between personal troubles & public issues. It helps us to see: see the general in particular, see the strange in the familiar. There are multiple sociological perspectives that provide different focus on various aspects of social reality and different main premises. Paradigms/ perspectives: general frameworks, fundamental assumptions about society that guides sociological thinking.
