Philosophical and Sociological Concepts: Key Thinkers & Theories
Key Philosophical and Sociological Concepts
Philosophical Perspectives on Humanity and Society
Descartes
René Descartes understood the human being as a self-consciousness.
Kant
Immanuel Kant argued that reason orders and imposes its laws on the world, thereby configuring it.
Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau contended that men have lost their natural state of goodness due to society. He believed they must decide what their nature should be.
Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche was a thinker who dared to push the concept of moral autonomy in modernity to its logical conclusions.
Foucault
For Michel Foucault, the idea of human dignity is not solely a Christian and enlightened cultural phenomenon.
The Concept of Society
Society in Plato and Aristotle
Plato and Aristotle proposed the idea that man is social by nature. This suggests that while some societies emerge and disappear, others continuously arise.
Society in Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant
These thinkers argued that society emerges from a rational agreement among individuals, which, by necessity or desirability, gives rise to social groups.
Sociological Foundations and Theories
Sociology
Sociology is the science that studies the social dimension of human beings.
Auguste Comte
Auguste Comte proposed not only to give a scientific explanation of society but also to ensure the best possible government. In his view, societies have gone through two stages: the theological and the metaphysical.
Marx
Karl Marx proposed a conception of the structure and dynamics of society based on class struggle.
Liberalism
Liberalism is a set of philosophical, social, economic, political, and religious doctrines characterized by an overvaluation of individual freedom, an undervaluation of everything not rational, and the reduction of all reality to the natural order.
Adam Smith
For this Scottish economist, the activity of individuals is what shapes the social structure.
Social Structures and Dynamics
Social Norms
Social norms are rules by which people guide their behavior.
Ethical Limits of Culture
Not every element of a culture favors human progress. A culture that supports ethical goods, responds to human nature, and promotes the common good can be denominated a civilization.
Process of Socialization
Socialization is the social experience through which people develop their human potential and learn the patterns of their own culture. This process has three main aspects:
- The acquisition of culture
- The integration of culture into personality
- Adaptation to the social context
Social Classes
A social class is defined as a community of people sharing similar status or strata, characterized by comparable family and occupational standing, and accepted by other layers as equal members.
Status
Status and prestige lead to the formation of different levels of social standing.
Civil Society
Being a citizen involves participating in the various associations that make up civil society. This refers to all fields of social relations that operate neither mandated by the State nor solely for economic gain.