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Comte: POSIVITIST
Positive philosophy, to discredit negative b/c he thought it caused conflict by giving proletariat false hope.
o Positivism: to achieve an organic & conflict free social order
o Positivism: only one scientific method than can be used for all questions + issues Marx rejected this
because he felt when studying humans there needs to be meaning and motives, SO, there is more
than one way to study something.
o Revolution: total transformation of social system totally opposed this it would only shatter existing
order, without bringing about any fundamental change to majority of ppl.
o Each stage in organic society was viewed as a necessary one working class must adjust to present
stage Improvement would come about organically as society progressed harmoniously through each
stage.
^ New positive science: Proletariat should accept lower standing & condition; reconciling conflicting tendencies
by educating all classes, especially lower ones.
Marx: not positivist or empiricist
Marx opposed Comte:
o Perfectibility of man: a concept of natural man his needs and development. Mans creative power stifled
under social conditions of class society.
o Capitalism deprived man of basic natural/animal needs: food, sex, fresh air.
o Ppl became less than animals due to alienation - separation of man from means of production/sustenance. =
capitalist/worker relationship of conflicting interests.
o Opposing Comtes positivism:
perfectibility of man - infinite perfectibility; a natural man: his needs/potential for development.
Marx wants a truly human society: Man can achieve highest forms of creativity, thought and action
but systems like capitalism keep men from achieving this perfection; hunger is often a condition
imposed on man by other men.
Religion: product of social alienation. Religious ideas are an expression of human suffering/protest
against it as well. People seek happiness in the divine hereafter, not real world. Illusory
Happiness/Escapes for proletariats.
Alienation can only be overcome by rational reconstruction of society that meets needs of all
Feurbach viewed god as a creation of human imagination, a symbolic expression of humanitys unfulfilled promises
and aspirations, worshipping the product of their mind
Hegel: IDEALIST
Those who broke away were left Hegelians
Hegel: Reason embraced and governed the total universe.
Hegel: process of thinking or Idea is independent of real world, whereas Marx: idea is real world reflected by the
human mind, translated into thought
Something is truly what it is if it fulfills its objective possibilities - possible relation to Marx and infinite perfectibility of
Man
o Existing factual order imposes a subhuman condition on man; must be transcended/changed for man to
realize true potential
o Against positivism which views only the immediately observable as fact
Marx - leaving the domain of necessity and entering the domain of freedom - men would begin to consciously
determine their own futures.
o Must abolish private property/socialization of means of production to abolish alienated labour
Marx saw danger in viewing society as a separate thing to the individual, the individual is the social thing and his life
is a expression and confirmation of social life
o Freedom of the individual was paramount for Marx
o This is why he criticize class society for basing ones freedom and human realization on their social class
placement
o Rejected idealism & materialist notions that ideas are to brain as urine is to kidneys
Positivism - facts in their immediate form as truth
Materialism - ideas stand in the same relation to the brain as bile does to the liver or urine to the kidneys
Marx rejects any doctrine that ignores the active, creative and determining side of man: rejects Feuerbach for treating
humans as no more than passive, determined objects
Defect of Feuerbach: treated humans as objects (similar to behaviorists) neglecting their active & creative side.
Marx rejects H & F
Marx: not a positivist, empiricist, philosophical idealist, or materialist but spoke of materialist conception of history he
was a HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGIST.
Marx: there's no social evolution except for history, what does he mean by history? History is a unique and
unrepeatable process of events and individuals. History is to society as memory is to an individual
Marx: Alienation to capture the dehumanization - This was a term he borrowed from Hegel. Hegel's Alienation refers
to the failure to recognize oneself in the otherness that one acts upon or relates to. Marx applies this to
proletariat: fails to recognize himself or herself in the labor that they were doing.
Secular Humanism: moral commitment to reducing dehumanization + alienation nature of so many things imposed on
humans.
Counterfactual Thinking: psychology term describes tendency that ppl have to imagine alternative realities.
Dialectic (dialectics/dialectical method: method of argument for resolving disagreement.
o Negation of Negation: As Comte chose positivist, Hegel opposed as he said there was no positive, just the
negation of the negation
o Quantity to quality: there is a cycle to nature; quantitative changes to qualitative changes.
o Unity of opposites: every form has internal conflicts & contradictions; ex: military/warfare, but love/marriage
CHAPTER 15
Engles outlived Marx, becoming the chief authority on Marxism.
Marxs open view has come under attack, and viewed him as a narrow, technological and "productive force"
determinism.
Marxs approach is open, non-dogmatic, and a multi-factor one
In Marx's "Preface," he speaks of "forces of production" and "relations of production" and refers to the economic
structure of society as the real "foundation" on which there arise legal and political "superstructures" where the
"foundation" is the cause of historical development and "superstructure," the effect.
Mode of production: determines general character of the social, political & spiritual processes of life &
o Social existence determines social consciousness.
o Causal priority of forces of production in bring about social change.
Productive forces:
Social cooperation of producers themselves,
Tools of production
Technology
Nature
Relations of production:
Property relations or forms of ownership.
Tribal Ownership:
o 1st form of ownership.
o undeveloped stage of production: hunting, fishing, rearing of beasts or, in the highest stage, agriculture.
o In the latter case it presupposes a great mass of uncultivated stretches of land.
o Division of labor is at this stage still very elementary
o The social structure is, therefore, limited to an extension of the family; patriarchal family chieftains, below
them the members of the tribe, finally slaves. The slavery latent in the family only develops gradually with
the increase of population, the growth of wants, and with the extension of external relations, both of war
and of barter.
o Tribalism: loyal
Marx states that if human beings are conquered along with their land, then they are equally conquered as one of
the conditions of production, and in this way arises slavery and serfdom, which soon corrupts and modifies the
original forms of all communities. Warfare (earliest occupation) for the defense of peoples property & obtaining new
property.
To steal a slave is to steal the instrument of production directly.
Engels describes the earliest known forms of communal landed property among the German tribes. A large portion
of these migratory peoples cultivated their fields in common when they temporarily settled down. However,
hereditary, private property existed among them from earliest times.
Germanic tribe leaders elected for military expertise. But also, leading men organized retinues: private
associations of warriors w/ militant skills.
Recruited form diverse clans and tribes, young men joined a retinue eager for the booty they would gain in raids
upon neighbouring groups.
The spoils primarily cattle, slaves, and jewelry remained the private property of the retinue members, and
never became communal clan property. Differences of wealth thus increased inside the clans, severely weakening
the democratic-communal character of Germanic society as it existed at the time.
For Engels, private property among the Germanic peoples developed out of several condition:
o Roman influence
o Retinues: went to war along with retinues instead of own kinsmen.
Primitive agricultural societies, womans work = tillage ~~ men: hunted and looked after the domesticated animals.
Then horse-drawn plough, tillage/other heavy work went to men. But when retinues grew, went back to young men
engaged in wars and forays while the women, old men, and children tended to the fields/running homes.
Retinues got used to booty as source of wealth so they disdained agricultural labour, leaving it more to women,
children, and slaves. This undermined older communal institutions:
o Retinue leaders became largely independent of the discipline of their kinsmen and even of the tribal
assembly of warriors
o ^ Became monarchs/nobles whose wealth/power raised them higher than kinsmen.
o ^ Became international: cut across boundaries of tribes
o Left property to their kids instead of their entire kindred family elevated at clans expense.
The decline of the "mark," that is, German communal institutions and the prevalence of the retinues was
accompanied by the formation of feudalism.
For Marx and Engels, feudal serfdom was a result of war and military conquest, which disrupted the old tribal
pattern by turning retinue leaders and other military chieftains into sovereigns and lords.
The Feudal Mode of Production:
o Marx: origin of feudalism = disintegration of Roman Empire into multiplicity of chieftainships, a process
accompanied by barbarian invasions & decline of the towns.
o A polycentric system unlike centralized Asiatic mode.
o No real center in the feudalistic mode.
o Feudal political systems tended to be in Western Europe, Japan in a certain period.
o So polycentric that even a powerful ruler could not go into the feudal domain of any lord without his
permission.
o Feudal lords not easy to give up power.
o The only way to then have a centralized political system is by dominating and lessening the power of the
feudal lords.
Asiatic Mode of Production: Egypt under Pharoahs
o Pharoah had all power
o All society was his OKIOS (household)
o He was divine/good leader: b/c responsible for good things: river Nile, artificial irrigation.
o Asiatic mode has nothing to do with Feudal mode. It is highly centralized, stationary & conservative.
o Marx/Engels: oriental despotism system where all power was centralized in hands of emperor, political
sovereign, absolute landlord.
Capitalist Mode of Production:
WEBER:
Marx:--his reason for why kinship was supported-RETINUES-ORIGNIS OF FEUDALISM (converging ideas of both
weber and marx)
Retinues were a loyal group of advisors etc that the king was surrounded by ususally as a result of a military leader
winning and bribing men around him to pledge him which they did in greed for bootythese people after the roman
empire fell became the FEUDAL NOBILITY and the military leaders became KINGS.
These kings according to ENGEL stole land from the people(crown land)LAND OCCUPIERS AUTHORITY
PROFEESIONAL WARRIOR CLASS
DOES WEBER AGREE?to an extent yes he also thought that FEUDALISM emerged from personal retinues of tribal
chefs.
-These existed in the Middle ages
(medival nobility never became urban aristocracy) (shift onto inland areas from the previously rural areas)
(and Anitquity (the manors remained the econ foundation of the urban rentier
class)
Hence further differentiation between the different classes-peasants were defenseless whilst the retinues gained in
power
AGREED with MARX:--that the feudal lord was a warrior not a farmer but was powerful and collected dues from
farmers who gave them in return for protection.
MARX said the walls of his stomach set the limits of his exploitation of the peasant
Weber agreed that the peasant only wanted for himself and the lord wanted yield for himself as well so the DUES were
FIXED to the benefit of lord and peasant as well.
However when market economies were introduced the idea of profit drove the economy in the direction of capitalism.
Both peasant and lord favored material interest in the exchange econ.
BUT there were limits set on this move towards capitalism because:
- the relationshop between lord and peasant (manorial system)stayed same as peasants could not really produce for
the market and thus could not increase purchasing power (constraints)
-the manorial system also called for attachment of the peasants to soil therefore the free labour market could not really
be created.
-new capitalists wanted land (opposing manorial system)
FEUDALISM WAS A DECENTRALIZED POLITICAL SYSTEM IN WHICH THE PRONCES OFFICIALS WERE
FORBIDDEN TO ACCESS LORDS TERRITORYa division of powers a way in which these lords could gain freedom
from the political authority above them.
Weber is not only compatible with Marx; much of his work is complementary to Marxs. There is great
convergence between the two thinkers.
Nothing Weber says or does contradicts anything that Marx does or says.
Weber paid close attention to superstructure whereas Marx focused on the socio economic foundation.
Truth is Weber, was a great economic historian. Nobody had to tell importance of economics.
When it comes to modes of production in history, Marxs modes are epochs
Forces of productions- speaks to the question how they produce
Relations of productions- addresses the question of who owns and or controls major means of production
Paying attention to these both is important to understand society.
Weber Luther did one thing in translating the bible. He used the word in German Beruf meaning
calling
He gave job, our work a moral colouring
This was the first time work was given moral, positive meaning.
It also gave biblical support to this idea. Opened door to something important
Protestant ethics was not of Luther or Calvin.
Calvin- doctrine of predestination; He was a great reformer
His doctrine was that before we come into the world, it was Gods grace whether you are among the
chosen or of among the damned
You cannot do anything to change your fate
Corruption of Catholicism. When ppl succeed they took it for granted. Unsuccessful ppl were the ppl
among the damned and nothing could be done about it.
2. Value rationality
3. Affectual rationality
4. Traditional rationality
The common sense taken for granted attitude in everyday life, converges with pragmatists
The Asiatic mode of production: Webers fruitful elaboration of Marxs concept
-
Rational capitalism emerged first in the west not the east, Weber wanted to know why
Asiatic mode of production: dependence on fixed payments in kind rather than production of the market :::
agreed upon by Marx and weber
Weber agrees with Marx, but tries to analyze religious as well as political and economic and political
institutions
Like marx, weber sees the roots of the Asiatic mode in the need to construct complex, artificial irrigation
systems
Oikos - huge household - The ancient Egyptian society ( the entire oikos) was shaped by the basic
requirement of regulating the great river Nile - such a society Weber called a liturgy state was one where
every individual is in principle unfree
o Thus Weber described the earliest forms of oriental despotism based on forced labor and liturgies
exacted from the population by a highly repressive, centralized bureaucracy
o Economic conditions largely determine which form would win out - East or West, which show the usual
contrast. For oriental economy - China, Asia Minor, Egypt - irrigation husbandry became dominant
while in the west where settlements resulted from the clearing of land, forestry sets the type
o The distinctiveness of the east rests on the fact that in Egypt western Asia, china and india irrigation
was crucial
o Thus Weber acknowledges that Marx was right in tracing the stationary character of indian society to
the peculiar position of the artisan in the indian village> webers analysis largely coincides with Marxs
concept of Asiatic mode of production
Asian Religions
China: - an enchanted garden
Webers concern: why rationalism emerged in the west
- 2 factors stressed upon in the west that gave rise to capitalism: the great influx of precious metals and growth
in population. Weber observes however that similar conditions were present in China :
o Increase in the stock of metals did not shatter traditionalism, instead it strengthened it
o The increase in population also did not stimulate capitalism, rather it was associated with stationary
economy
o In the west, the cities of antiquity, the papal curia, the towns and the emerging states of the middle
ages were vehicles of financial rationalization of money economy and of political capitalism > in
china there were no cities like Florence, and the state failed to establish a money economy
o In china, no independent bourgeois class centering in autonomous towns came to exist - different from
the occidental one
- The differences between the occidental and oriental cities can be traced to their different origins
- In China, the government employed various means to prevent any officals from becoming independently
powerful in their areas of assignment.
o nO WESTERN type feudalism occurred either, as appointment of office was based on educational
qualifications not birth or rank
o The dependence of the central government on its officials and officials on the provincial assistants
contributed to strengthening of traditional structures
07.03.2013 LECTURE 1
Classical Sociological Theory II: Inequality & Authority
Introduction and Background Information
Heraclitus
saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice" (see panta rhei, below). The rive
the entire universe. It captures reality perfectly. Nothing is static, nothing stands still.
Everything is in a constant state of change. Reality is always a process. In order to u
condition, we need biography, but also history. You need history because it tries to c
"War is the father of all things, especially in the human condition." The human specie
conflict, murder and war. Conflict is a chief conduct of our nature. It applies to relatio
Hegel and his thoughts on the negations and contradictions of human life - the cond
He believed in the unity of opposites, stating that "the path up and down are one and
characterized by pairs of contrary properties. His cryptic utterance that "all entities c
(literally, "word", "reason", or "account") has been the subject of numerous interpreta
Cratylus
Cratylus went much further that Heraclitus, saying that we cannot step into the same
thing as the present - there is no real "now" or "present." For all practical purposes w
present.
Democritus
Materialism
A materialist is someone who believes
that you don't need any spiritual concept
to explain matter in the universe.
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter
material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material inte
substance, and reality is identical with the actually occurring states of energy and ma
Comte
The Democritus Atomic Theory revolves around the atoms that are present in the atm
present in all the forms of existence; for instance, solid or liquid. The theory states th
cannot be separated, no matter what scientific procedures are applied. The Democr
ideas are portrayed in manner that can be easily understood. The theory also claims
attributed to the various atoms and that they can differ depending on the various fac
the atoms cannot be split no matter what their size. So, we see how the Democritus
and also its features.
Both a positivist and an empiricist.
A positivist claims that there's only one scientific method and that you should use the
studying. You don't need separate methods for different experiments. Weber would d
motives as two key concepts that need to be understood in human beings.
A working definition of
Positivism
Positivism
An empiricist (John Locke, Barkley and Hume), from an epistemological point of view
can claim it to be valid knowledge),
Empiricism
Comte's stages were (1) the theological stage, (2) the metaphysical stage, and
1
1
Behaviorism
How can we understand human beings
without turning to behavior? (Mind,
consciousness and will.) Even though
ontologically it doesn't exist, it's real. We
cannot locate it, but it's real because of
its consequences. There are very real
consequences of the mind.
The Theological stage was seen from the perspective of 19th century France
man's place in society and society's restrictions upon man were referenced to
taught by his ancestors. He believed in a supernatural power. Fetishism playe
By the "Metaphysical" stage, Metaphysical stage involved the justification o
plane than the authority of any human ruler to countermand, although said rig
mere metaphor. This stage is known as the stage of investigation, because pe
no solid evidence was laid. The stage of investigation was the beginning of a w
In the Scientific stage, which came into being after the failure of the revolutio
to social problems and bring them into force despite the proclamations of hum
started to answer questions in full stretch. In this regard he was similar to Karl
idea of a Scientific stage was considered up-to-date, although from a later sta
and academic history. Comte's law of three stages was one of the first theorie
Karl Marx
Alienation
The work requires little knowledge and
hands - we build that with our own hands and its a product of our own work. In art it
beautiful and complex - music, sculptures, etc. Marx felt that when you work 69 hour
certain number of ways.