A wide range of people all over the world inaccurately come to the conclusion that sociology is merely, ‘the study of the obvious’ and the application of common sense, this statement could not be further from the truth. Common sense derives from statements such as, ‘opposites attract’, however the Sociological sense takes this belief and carries out numerous tests to discover whether it is fact, or fiction.
Bauman regards common sense knowledge and common sense understandings as powerful social mechanisms which can fundamentally shape attitudes about the world in which humans live. Sociology is the ‘social science’ that studies human behaviour and characteristics based on their development within society. Common sense however is, what a person has learnt from society due to them being socialised. Michael Jacobson illustrates Bauman’s opinion of common sense, ‘Defamiliarization shatters the impenetrable walls of common sense that prevents us from experiencing and understanding the world anew’. Bauman’s argument depicts that humans have grown with society’s changes and are now dependent upon ‘common sense’ due to the lack of interest in exploring the world they live in at greater depths. This is reiterated further as Jacobson continues to exemplify Bauman’s argument, ‘he always points to the yet undiscovered human potential and the – in principle- unlimited possibilities waiting to be uncovered by humanity beyond the constraining confines of common sense’. Bauman persistently disputes that if the human race was to distance themselves from any beliefs they have heard, or have been raised with, that are originated from common sense they would discover a world of greater potential.
I have looked at three articles based on educatio...
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...at life from unexpected and unexplored angles, constructing the well known as strange’. This strategy forms the link between the sociological sense and common sense. Common sense expects the individual to believe in society’s concepts and not further their own understanding by deciphering a certain belief as a sociologist. For instance the common sense belief that opposites attract, when scrutinized it seems that people are more likely to seem attractive if they share things in common with another person than if they had very different beliefs. This is the concept of sociology according to Bauman.
Works Cited
Hurd, G.E & Johnson, T.J (1963) Education and Development. Journal of The Sociological Review. Vol 15, No.1, pp59-7.
Jacobsen, M.H and Poder, P. (eds). (2008). The sociology of Zygmunt Bauman: challenges and critique . Ashgate: Ashgate Publishing Ltd
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty (Gandhi). The power society has over citizens is explored in the two texts Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. The story Fahrenheit 451 depicts firemen who start fires instead of stop them. In this society censorship is valued and books are a main reason firemen burn. Books give you knowledge and knowledge is power which is what this society tries to prevent. In the short story “Harrison Bergeron” the topic similarly is about censorship in a more extreme way. People must wear masks and handicaps to prevent them from being different or unique. Intelligent people get a sharp noise in their ear every twenty seconds to prevent people from taking unfair advantage of their brains.
... Education: An Introduction to Social and Political Aspects. 4th ed. New York & London: Longman, Inc., 1989.
Kendall, D., Linden, R., & Murray, J. L. (2008). Sociology in our times: The essentials (4th Cdn
In order to understand the production of sociological knowledge one must first examine the thought processes that lay behind each piece of research. Before a particular subject matter is researched, the researcher firstly makes certain assumptions about that matter. These assumptions differ dependent on the theoretical approach that is taken. They can be divided into three logical areas, namely ontology, epistemology and methodology.
Bartlett, S and Burton, B (2007) Introduction to education studies. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Today in society, people follow these “cultural myths”, which tells us what is and what is not acceptable in life because these morals have been instilled in us since childhood. People created cultural myths as a set of social norms they expected people to follow. In Kenneth A. Gould’s and Tammy L. Lewis’s article, The Sociological Imagination, they talk about society and the way or how it affects us. It examines the relationship between an individual and society. Everything we do and how we do it is affected by society and others around us. Everything that happens with society in turn affects us and those around us. The way we live and we respond to society can have a major impact on the rest of the world.
In Harry Potter in International Relations, Nexon and Neumann argue that “popular culture is a crucial domain in which social and political life are represented” but that “such representations are not merely passive mirrors; they also play a crucial role in constituting the social and political world.” Durkheim explains that social life is created through human agency, consisting of entities that, as Durkheim asserts, exist “as realities external to the individual” and “as a product of human agency.” The production of these facts is not founded by individual opinion but through collective understanding, manifested in popular culture. Popular culture artifacts, then, assume the agency of the individual in predetermining the interpretation to be accepted.
Sociology emerged from the desire of humans to understand our behaviour. However, throughout the years the way humans behave and believe has been passed through generations; and it was mainly explained in religious terms. The origins of sociology started with the social movements of the late XVIII century such as the French Revolution in 1789 and the subsequent Industrial Revolution in Europe. (Giddens, 1997)
In Peter Berger's "Invitation to Sociology", the sociological perspective was introduced. Berger asserts that it is important to examine new or emotionally or morally challenging situations from a sociological perspective in order to gain a clearer understanding of their true meanings. This perspective requires a person to observe a situation through objective eyes. It is important to "look beyond" the stereotypical establishments of a society and focus on their true, hidden meanings. Consideration of all the hidden meanings of social customs, norms, deviations and taboos, allow one to establish an objective image about the truth behind it. This method can also be applied to understanding people. This questioning, Berger says, is the root influence of social change and personal understanding of others. To do this well, it involves much intellectual prowess and ability to reason.
Sociological Imagination vs. Common Sense This essay will aim to explain the differences between the sociological imagination and common sense. What the sociological imagination and common sense are and how they are at work in our society today. Using the area of educational achievement I will bring into this essay examples through research and findings from sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Culture Capital (1977), Bernstein (1961)speech patterns’ and Paul Willis (1977)learning to labour, and use these examples as evidence to show how these would explain educational achievement in relation to the sociological imagination and common sense assumptions. I shall begin this essay by discussing where the sociological imagination arose from and what this is in comparison to common sense.
Theories in sociology sometime provide us with the different perspectives with which to view our social...
Sociology is a social science that enables people to understand the structure and dynamics of society. By using a scientific approach, and by critically analysing society using qualitative and quantitative methods, sociologists can find patterns and connections within human behaviour to provide explanations of how society affects people. Sociological views are based on theories that have been tested through unbiased research and attempt to take all values into account. Common sense theories are generally individualistic and naturalistic assumptions that are based on opinions than can vary depending on an individuals class or cultural background. During this essay I will aim to provide examples of the differences between the sociological viewpoint, and the common sense viewpoint of human behaviour, using theories of some renowned sociologists.
Sociology is a study of society social life, social change, and social causes and consequences of human behaviour and allows us to gain an understanding of the structure and dynamics of today’s society, looking at the interlinking links patterns of human behaviour. Sociology looks at the in which social structure and institutions affect our everyday life. Sociological imagination was founded by C. Wright mills in the 1950`s it is an overall understanding of that some of the things that happen in society may lead to a particular outcome. Mills said it is “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and wider society.” sociological imagination can also be defined as the ability to look at how sociological situations can unfold due to how everyone is different. The way we behave is shaped by the situation that we find ourselves in, the values and norms that we have and the way that other members of society act around us. It is also a way of thinking about how things in society have led to a particular outcome, and understanding of what led to that specific outcome. Sociological imagination is an ability to look at things socially and how they interact and influence each other gaining an understanding of different cultures and class systems.
To Quote Anthony Giddens: "Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes“(1989). Gidden’s statement describes sociology as a study that helps us understand our own behaviour as human beings in a social word. Sociologist study everything from the interaction between people in the street to the interaction between different countries. Sociologists aim to study how societies have changed over, how societies are structured and organized, the norms of society. It’s also important to understand that not all sociologists agree with each other, Sociologists often debate with one another to prove/disprove certain theories and concepts. By studying Sociology is it helps us analyze social conflicts on a micro and macro scope. Through a macro level, we can study large-scale social organization and large social categories it also examinees social processes and patterns society as a whole. We can analyze individuals much deeper on a micro level. This way we study a human by face-to face interactions. Its important as humans to understand the way our society came together and the reasons to how elements work and function together. Sociology gives us a deeper
The discipline of sociology provides a perspective that allows for individuals to expand and dig beyond “common knowledge” and inherit an approach to society that allows an advanced analysis of the root cause of activity in a certain society, opposed to assessing it on an assumption. A beneficial component to sociology is that it can be individually directed to different components of society that all contribute to its overall functioning. Under a sociological perspective we can use an engaged approach that once applied to social issues can improve the functioning of societies on both local and global scales that are considered complex, degrading, or facing considerable amounts of neglect. When we take into consideration the environment and