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
Symbolic Interactionism: How Reality is Created Symbolic interactionism emphasizes the micro-processes through which people construct meanings, identities, and joint acts. In doing so it accentuates how symbols, interaction, and human agency serve as the cornerstones of social life. Is a theorical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and Society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols. In this approach, humans are portrayed as acting as opposed to being acted upon.
With the comment, Althusser stress on the close relation of how interpellation functions in constructing subjectivity. In the following essay, different elements of the theory are exhibited and the aim of this essay is to compare the idea of interpellation and subjectivity by comparing few arguments taken from cultural theorists. Our sense of being is actually engaged with the concept of interpellation. This is due to the concept of interpellation, through the role of ideology, it does not only just giving identity to an individual, but also functions in ensuring social stability. For example, we interpellate an individual with police uniform as an individual who have power of law, therefore we feel obligated to follow what the officer said and indirectly feel like subjected to the law.
Habermas critiques Gadamer’s thought by questioning the overall concept and the central role of tradition, arguing the possibilities of certain sub-conscious interests and specific authorial forces that distort tradition. In order to accurately explore the thoughts and beliefs of Gadamer and Habermas surrounding that of the concept of “tradition”, one must first establish the basic foundation of hermeneutics upon which these ideas are to be centred. Heidegger offers an effective ground on which to base the majority of these philosophical positions for that of classical hermeneutics by initially revealing hidden meanings in hermeneutical texts, exploring authoritative objectives and developing a clearer overall understanding of them. A later shift in focus in hermeneutics during the 20th century brought about an apparent lean toward specifically “epistemological foundations… or the methodological principles which lead to objective knowledge in the human sciences” (Ormiston, G & Schrift, A, 1990), thus encouraging the questioning of knowledge to be centred upon that of “truth” and “Being”. To Heidegger, it is the former understanding which leads to a solid basis of
Browne once said "sociological perspectives centre on how much freedom or control the individual had to influence society" He goes on to comment on the two main approaches "structuralism is concerned with the overall structure of society and the way social institutions act as a constraint, or limit and control individual behaviour". Structuralism offers a view of the individual being controlled by the society they live in, Marx and Durkheim are similar in that they can both be described as structuralists, however their individual ideas are somewhat different. Functionalism was developed by Emile Durkheim, he believed like Comte that sociology should be viewed as a precise science and that society should be studied objectively. Durkheim placed an enormous amount of emphasis on social facts which he saw as ways of acting, thinking or feeling that are external to individuals and have their own reality outside the lives and perceptions of individual people. This is known as the macro approach, which places a great emphasis on the structure of society and how an individual operates with that society.
Its theories were then taken on within the work of Emile Durkheim and a lot more recently by Talcott Parsons in America 1940-50's. From as far as functionalism has gone back, from about the 1830's onwards, it has been largely based on society being a system like the human body requiring a combination of social institutions in order to function. Its theorists seek to explain the existence of social institutions in accordance to the role they perform for society and focuses on society rather than the individual in it and hence it is a structural theory. Functionalist uses positivist methodology which is currently at decline as a modern research technique. Within society the functionalists outline what they call functional prerequisites, these are what society requires in order to exist.
With reference to both form and content, demonstrate that the film The Truman Show can be considered post-modern. Postmodernism, as the word suggests, follows on from the era known as modernism. It is said to have stemmed from late Eighteenth Century and early Nineteenth Century theory on Enlightenment. It came, theorists of the subject argue, from the ends of decadence and from Nihilism. Stanley James Granz writes about the origins of postmodernism in his book A Primer on the Postmodern: “Many historians place the birth of the modern era at the dawn of Enlightenment... it became the God of human intellectual quest to unlock the secrets of the universe in order to master nature for human benefit and create a better world”.
They suggest norms and values are flexible guidelines. We apply meanings to social behaviour and are aware of how others see that behaviour and how we should act in a given situation. ----------------------- Social action theory Phenomenology Symbolic interactionism Ethnomethodology Structuration theory Weber Blumer Meaning Goffman Cooley Mead Schutz Garfinkel Giddens Structural and action approaches are both important to fully understand human behaviour. To get a full sociological explanation involves two levels: The level of cause and the level of meaning. (E.g.
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
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist approach to society...(33 marks) Functionalism is a macro, consensus theory. They see human behaviour as being influenced by social forces, because it is a macro-scale approach is therefore seen as a strength as it allows functionalist sociologists to observe society, and its institutions, as a whole. Functionalists argue that, individuals are socialised into a shared value which is also known as a value consensus to ensure conformity and social order. However, this functionalists approach is criticised by action theorists, as they argue that individuals create society through their interactions. Marxists may argue that these norms and beliefs are all in interest of the Bourgeoisie and they can prevent or make change by ideological manipulation or force.