The Relationship of Sociology with Other Social Sciences

the life of man is many-sided. There is an economic aspect, legal aspect, an

aesthetic aspect, a religious aspect, a political aspect, and so forth. Sociology,
therefore, can understand social life as a whole by taking help from other social
sciences which study exclusively one or the other aspects of human activity.

Sociology, for example, in order to understand a particular society has to take

stock of the economic, political, cultural, geographical environments, language,
religion, morals, law and finally inter-action with the rest of the world. That
clearly shows that Sociology cannot have an existence independent of other social
sciences.

Sociology is a more comprehensive science and includes the special social

sciences. That is why Sociology has been called the mother of all social sciences. It
is thus obvious that the different social sciences cannot have their existence
independent of others.

Sociology and History:

Sociology and History are so intimately related that writers like Von-Bulow have
refused to acknowledge Sociology as a science distinct from History. History is the
record of the life of societies of men, of the changes which the societies have
gone through, of the ideas which have determined the actions of these societies
and of the material conditions which have helped or hindered their development.

Sociology is concerned with the study of the historical development of the

societies. It studies the various stages of life, modes of living, customs, manners
and their expression in the form of social institutions. Sociology has thus to
depend upon history for its material. Arnold Toynbee’s book, “A Study of History”
is proving very valuable in Sociology.