DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

EMERGENCE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (LESSON 1)

Social Science is a branch of science that deals with the institutions and functioning of human
society and with the interpersonal relationships of individuals as members of society. It is a
science (as economics or political science) that deals with a particular phase or aspect of
human society. It is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside
of the natural sciences.
Natural Science is a science such as physics, chemistry, or biology that deals with matter,
energy, and their interrelations and transformations or with objectively measurable
phenomena. It also studies the physical and natural world or the events that happen in
nature.
Whereas Humanities, which is derived from the Latin word “humanus,” meaning human,
cultured, or refined. Its broad field includes not only the fine arts such as painting, sculpture,
and architecture, but also the performing arts such as music, dance, drama, and opera, and
the literary arts such as prose and poetry. It encompasses all studies which aim to make
students “human” thus, it embraces the social sciences and the philosophy.

The study of social science includes different disciplines such as:

a. Anthropology. This refers to the holistic science of man, a science of totality of human
existence. Anthropology is derived from the Greek word “anthropos” which means
human being or person. The goal of anthropology is to provide holistic account of
humans and human nature and how human societies and social structures are organized
and understood.
This offers an unusual opportunity for delineating new developments in the
anthropological study of social life, especially in understanding the perspectives of the
field in facing the challenges presented by the changing historical conditions of cultural
practice and cultural analysis.
Anthropology does not only deal with study of excavated fossils but rather the
conditions and the way of life attributed in this valuable artifacts.

b. Economics. Derived from the Greek word “Oikos” meaning family, household or estate,
and “nomos” which mean custom or law. Thus, economics may simply be law or
custom in managing the family or household. Economics is usually separated from the
other social science due to its emphasis on quantitative analysis and mathematical
equations as a representation of social behaviour, focuses on markets, wealth, and
resources that people construct and make use in order to live.
Economics gives the explanation on how people satisfy their wants and needs. This
relates on the reaction of humans with scarcity and alternative uses. For example,
instead of buying branded clothing people opted to buy bargain products and allocate
their resources in purchasing new gadgets.
c. Geography. Came from the Greek word “geo” which means earth and “logos” meaning
study and “graphein” meaning description. Using it in layman’s term we can infer that
geography means study of the earth and its description. Aside from studying the
surface of the earth through latitudes and longitudes, geography also deals on how
humans manage earth’s resources.

d. History. From the Latin word “historia” which means inquiry and Greek word “eidenai”
meaning to know more. It is the chronological record of significant events often
including an explanation of their causes. History encompasses the past and how it
shaped the future. It does not necessarily mean memorizing the sequence of actions
but it gives emphasis on how the past had greatly affect the potentiality of human way
of life.

e. Linguistics. It is the study of language sometimes called the science of language. It

focuses on language and how people communicate through spoken sounds of words.
Originally, as practiced in the nineteenth century, linguistics was Philology: the history of
words. Coming from the word “lingua” meaning tongue, the most common form of
communication is the exchange of spoken words rather than gestures, facial expressions
and sign language because it is easily understood.

f. Political Science. Came from the Greek word “polis” meaning affairs of the cities,
political science is the discipline that deals with the explanation and practice of politics
and the relationship between people and policies. Considered eclectic, Political Science
borrows concept from other disciplines and overlaps from other philosophies. It
discusses the use of power and government system and how these power and system
greatly influence its constituents.

g. Psychology. The Greek word “psyche” pertains to mind and “logos” meaning study of,
psychology simply translates to study of the mind. It involves mental processes and
explanation of human behaviour. It captures the generalization of functioning and
reaction of the human person. It gives understanding on how people and groups
experience the world through various emotions, ideas, conscious and unconscious
states. To sum it up, it deals on how people behave with the way they do.

h. Sociology and Demography. “socius” pertains to association of people sum up the study
of sociology. While, demography constitutes the study of the statistics of human life,
death, and diseases.