Sociology: Founders, Concepts, and Influences
Defining and Explaining the Term Sociology Etymologically
The word sociology is a compound word from the Latin word societas (society, socius = fellow) and the Greek word logos (study, science). Sociology is then a science of society, or association, or fellowship. So, sociology is the scientific study of the fundamental forms of human coexistence.
The Emergence of Sociology
Sociology was born of a radical change in society, resulting in the emergence of capitalism. The century was marked by change,
Read MoreNietzsche’s Critique of Western Culture and Values
Critical Values of European Culture
The rational, the religious world, and the moral world are the three worlds invented by Western man. Nietzsche interprets their values as symptoms of decay.
Criticism of Morality
Morality, as it has been taught so far, is under laws, decalogues, standards, and requirements that oppose life and its primary instincts. The moral philosophical foundation of this is a natural anti-Platonism. The center of gravity of these ideas is placed not in this life, but in the other,
Read MoreHistorical Development of Citizenship: From Ancient Greece to Modernity
Historical Genesis of Citizenship
Citizenship, in its classic sense, corresponds to a legal and political status through which citizens acquire, within a political group, certain rights as individuals: civil, political, and social. It also entails certain duties, such as paying taxes. In its modern sense, it corresponds to the right and duty to participate in community life and a democratic state.
Citizenship in Greece and Rome
The concept of citizenship began to develop in ancient Greece, mainly in
Read MoreFrom Renaissance to Postmodernism: A History of Philosophical Thought
Contemporary Philosophy
A first phase of optimism and confidence in the forces of man, in his reason and freedom, manifests itself in the philosophy of German Idealism. This provides the ideal reflection of the optimism with which bourgeois society saw their principal values rising: freedom of the French Revolution and the ratio of the Enlightenment. It presents man as an expression in the world of infinite reason. Then, awareness begins to grow regarding the serious problems and injustices of the
Read MoreNietzsche and Hume: Key Philosophers of Their Time
Nietzsche: A Philosophical Journey Through Time
Nietzsche’s Context: Friedrich Nietzsche was born in Röcken in 1844. From 1858 to 1864, he was trained in the humanistic study of the classics. He then studied theology and classical philosophy at the University of Bonn. In 1868, he met Richard Wagner and admired his free spirit, seeing in him a potential German resurgence of classical values against Christianity. In 1870, he wrote The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music. During the following
Read MorePersonalism and Freedom: A Philosophical Perspective
Personnel
A school of thought advocates the dignity of the human individual. According to Ferrater Mora, “Personalism is any doctrine that holds the higher value of the individual against the impersonal.” Emmanuel Mounier is the best-known representative of personalism. To Mounier, the human being is not merely a material object, nor is it a spirit. Nor can a person be divided into two distinct substances: mind-body, or mind-brain. Its design is unitary: the person does not live inside a body but
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