Sociology as an Individual Pastime Peninsula College Abstract This paper introduces the student’s interpretation of the first chapter in Invitation to Sociology: A Humanistic Perspective by Peter L. Berger. Berger explains that conventional wisdom and the sociological studies are different than other academic practices. Sociologists believe our civilization is a large, collection of complex human relationships and their attendant systems of interaction. Berger says that sociology defines the objective meaning of human interaction within our homes, organizations, and communities. Sociologists concern themselves with issues that most people might find boring, but the goal of sociology is to focus on the ultimate importance of what men
Sociologists do not simply declare their beliefs indisputable truths – they do research to determine whether those beliefs are correct. Their investigations are rooted in the scientific method that distinguishes the sociological perspective from “commonsense” interpretations of the world. The sociological perspective emphasizes that people’s thoughts and action are strongly influenced by the groups to which they belong as well as by impinging social factors such as beliefs, values, practices and institutions. From birth to death individuals are imbedded within and influenced by groups and larger structures. As sociologists our main goal is to understand social situations and look for repeating patterns in society.
A term he coined to describe phenomena that have an existence in and of themselves, are not bound to the actions of individuals, but have a coercive influence upon them. Durkheim stated that “collective conscience governs what it is that we believe and the values and principles we have”. Collective conscience comes about because of our capacity to be moral, (ability to do what is right) and to look beyond our own selfish needs. As a group of people, we had recognized that we depend on society and that we need to maintain social order. This recognition promotes unity and consensus; it is done through institutions, such as religion and the education system.
It follows that specific agglomerations of ‘reality’ and ‘knowledge’ pertain to specific social contexts, and that these relationships will have to be included in an adequate sociological analysis of these contexts.” (p15) Berger and Luckmann believe that the sociology of knowledge should be concerned with a society’s criteria of knowledge and how this is developed. Their postpositivist stance is clearly laid out when they write of how members of society arrange their world view around their ‘here and now’, both originating and maintaining their ideas of reality and knowledge from their own thoughts and actions (and other significants in their life) rather than anything truly objective. The world of everyday life is not only taken for granted as reality by the ordinary members of society in the subjectively meaningful conduct of their lives. It is a world that originates in their thoughts and actions, and is maintained as real by these. (p 33) Berger and Luckmann believe that semiotics or signification is the primary means by which human beings categorise their subjective view of the world.
Culture as a concept is important to sociologists because it holds a society together. Rules, laws and morals guide our behaviours and creates stability and order throughout societies. Morals come from religion and our parents: different kinds of morals differ between social groups. Subculture is a culture within a culture. It shares definite features in relation with the dominant culture, but it also has particular values, norms, attitudes and behaviours that is specific to it.
Getting a little more depth, it is the study of society and human in groups and how they interact with one another. Sociology likes to get ‘behind the scenes’ of what seems to be happening and comes up with a much convincing explanation. Sociologists use theory to prove a point. They make a deliberate attempt to look beyond their own personal experiences and take into account the experiences of those whose life situation is different from their own. They do not always accept what they are being told is true.
Amongst family, community, religion, academia, business, media, and government are all equal but, when one gains predominance tyranny always emerges. Family ensures responsible citizens, preserve society, and balance desires of individual liberty. Therefore, preventing the centralization of power by keeping responsibility and decision-making close to the people in the community. Religion serves as a venue for citizens and their duties to and reliance on God. Along with academia advances culture through knowledge, helps to prevent sociology economic inequalities as it breaks through boundaries of human ignorance and fear.
These three different perspectives are the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives, and are the most commonly used views by sociologists. These three concepts can be used to explain the sociological effects religion can hold. Functionalists tend to view society as a living organism, in the sense that all aspects of society contribute to its survival. The functionalist perspective emphasizes the importance of the way parts of society are structured to maintain the stability (Schaefer, 2011). Religion for a functionalist would be viewed as more of a reinforcement for the values that society holds.
Berger and Luckmann (1967:15-22) argue that social relativity is inherent in reality and knowledge, hence, its collection is defined by social contexts imperative for sociological analysis. They contend that analysis should be conscious of varieties of knowledge in human societies to maintain their position on the social construction of reality. For them, there is a relationship between human thoughts, history and social context. They draw on Mannheim’s work that society is imperative for the content of human ideas to argue that knowledge is always from a particular position. The influence of ideology can only be mitigated by the analysis of diverse socially
These descriptive believe and meanings are nothing but interpretations given by the people thus the theory suggest that society is based on the interpretations of the people. The people interpret each other’s behavior and a social bond is thus created which is grounded on this interpretation. These interpretations are often called “definition of the situation” because they just define the situations. This theory says how humans develop a complex set of symbols that gives meaning to the world in their perspective. The