SOCIOL 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Macrosociology, Georg Simmel, Ethnography

• School: UMASS-Amherst
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 110
• Professor: Paul Knudson

Document Summary

Social institution: a complex group of interdependent positions that perform a social role and reproduce themselves over time. Any institution in society that works to shape the behavior of people within it. For example, college is a social institution because it shapes the behavior of the individuals in it. Auguste comte 1798-1857: positivism rose out of a need to make moral sense of the social order in a time of declining religious authority. Believed we could determine right from wrong without the influence of a higher order or a religious authority. He argued history had gone through 3 logical stages. Theological stage: society seemed to be the result of divine will. Scholars of this era would gain a better understanding of. God"s plan through the bible or other similar texts. Metaphysical stage: human behavior governed by natural, biological instincts. Understanding the nature of society meant analyzing our basic drives and instincts.