Lesson 1: Key Concepts and Principles and Processes of Humanities and Social

Sciences
Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
• Define the roles, functions, and responsibilities of members of the production team
• Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts, principles, and processes of humanities
and social sciences
• Make appropriate decisions on how understanding of the key concepts, principles, and
processes of humanities and social sciences shall be demonstrated based on sound
criteria.

Introduction
In this lesson you are able to understand and identify the different key concepts and
principles of humanities and social sciences. This is an overview of your different subjects you
have taken or to be taken. This will help you widen your knowledge about the subjects.

Lesson Proper
1. Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems

a. ‘Materialism’ is the philosophical doctrine that physical matter is the only ultimate
reality. It maintains that all that exists is reducible to matter or to qualities or upshots of
matter.
b. Theists believe that unlike opposing ethical theories, theistic moral system (which is also
called ‘moral supernaturalism’) can satisfactorily explain the existence of objective
ethical values and moral laws.
c. Worldview is more than culture as it extends to perceptions of time and space, of
happiness and of well-being. In fact, the beliefs, values, and behaviors of a culture stem
from its worldviews.
d. Derived from the German term ‘weltanschauung,’ the term ‘worldview’ refers to the
cluster of beliefs an individual holds about the most significant concepts of life such as
God, the cosmos (universe), and humanity. These beliefs, which may or may not be true,
form a general picture, a broad-spectrum outlook, or a grand perspective on life and the
world.
e. ‘Spirituality’ is one’s integrative view of life. It involves a quest for the meaning and
ultimate value of life as opposed to an instrumentalist or materialistic attitude to life.
f. The word ‘philosophy’ came from the Greek words ‘philo’ (love) and ‘sophia’ (wisdom)
and is thus literally defined as “the love of wisdom”. Considered by some as ‘the mother
of all branches of knowledge’, it may be defined as the systematic examination of
principles and presuppositions of any field of inquiry, including religion.
g. “Seekers” are those people who are looking for a spiritual home but contemplate
recovering earlier religious identities. These SBNRs embrace the “spiritual but not
 religious" label and are eager to find a completely new religious identity or alternative
spiritual group that they can ultimately commit to.
h. Belief systems are often deemed as convictions, often in the form of supernatural or
religious beliefs, though they may also take the form of scientific views, or any
philosophical belief relating to the sphere of daily life.
i. Religious scriptures are the so-called sacred texts which religions consider to be central
to their faith. Religious texts may be utilized to “evoke a deeper connection with the
divine, convey spiritual truths, promote mystical experience, foster communal identity,
and to guide individual and communal spiritual practice” (“Religious Text,” n.d.).
j. Generally, a ‘ritual’ is a “sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects,
performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence” (“Ritual,”
n.d.). Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious
community.
k. Other polytheists are ‘kathenotheists,’ that is, worshiping different gods or goddesses at
different times.
l. The term ‘monotheism’ comes from the Greek ‘μόνος’ (‘monos’) meaning “single” and
‘θεός’ (‘theos’) meaning ‘god.’ It characterizes the traditions of Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam—religions that had grown up in opposition to polytheism.
m. The spiritual dimension (spirit) is described as a unifying force within individuals,
integrating and transcending all other dimensions. This dimension is also described as
God-consciousness, or related to a deity or supreme values.
n. This worldview finds its roots in empiricism, which claims that all valid knowledge is
derived from experience, and in positivism, which denies all metaphysical concepts.
Ethically, naturalism proposes that morality must be limited to non-spiritual context since
it denies any supernatural end for humankind.
o. A religion is also viewed as “an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems,
and worldviews that relate humanity to an order of existence” (“Religion,” n.d.). Many
religions possess holy scriptures, narratives, or sacred accounts that aim to explain
the origin and meaning of life and the universe.
p. Webster’s dictionary defines theology as “the science of God or of religion; the science
which treats of the existence, character, and attributes of God, his laws and government,
the doctrines we are to believe, and the duties we are to practice. . . the science of
Christian faith and life.” In the fifth-century, the philosopher Augustine defined theology
as “rational discussion respecting the deity” (“Theology,” n.d.).
q. ‘Philosophy of religion’ refers to the philosophical study of the main themes and
concepts involved in religions. It may also include an enquiry into the religious
significance of historical events (e.g., the Holocaust) and the general features of the
cosmos, the laws of nature, and the occurrence of conscious life.
r. A ‘mosque’ is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Many mosques” have elaborate
domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture … The mosque serves
as a place where Muslims can come together for ‘salat’ (prayer) as well as a center for
information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement” (“Mosque,” n.d.).
s. Monism is a philosophical, cosmological, and metaphysical stand which proposes an
ultimate unity of all things, and that all seeming differences, distinctions, divisions, and
separations are ultimately only apparent or partial aspects of an ultimate whole. It is a
 theological stance that “all is one, that there are no fundamental divisions, and that a
unified set of laws underlie all of nature.
t. Evolutionists claim that the existence of all life is explained by natural selection which
for them is a “blind, unconscious, no purpose, no mind, no vision, no foresight, no sight
at all, automatic process” (Dawkins, 2000, p. 14). In other words, all life allegedly
originated through intrinsically directionless series of processes as opposed to the
planned and decisive creation by God.

The following 25 concepts and terms are also important in studying world
religions and belief systems:

‘Belief system’ refers to a particular way of ordering the realities of one’s world. It is
often interchangeable with the term ‘worldview,’ hence, the two shall be predominantly
used as synonyms in this book.

A ‘worldview’ is a theory of the world used for living in it, serving as a mental model of
reality, a framework of ideas and attitudes about ourselves, the world, and life.
Simply put, a worldview may be defined as how one sees life and the world at large.

Theism or theistic worldview holds that a deity or deities exist/s. Many theistic
worldviews consider this supernatural being as an infinite personal God who is the
creator of the universe, and who supernaturally acts on things in it.

‘Atheism’ refers to the disbelief, denial of, or lack of belief in the existence of God or
gods. The term comes from the Greek prefix a-, meaning ‘without,’ and the Greek
word theos, which means ‘god.’

‘Naturalism’ is a belief system that rejects all spiritual and supernatural explanations of
the worldand affirms nature as the totality of reality. It holds that we can comprehend
nature only through scientific investigation since science is the sole basis of what can be
known.

‘Materialism’ is the philosophical doctrine that physical matter is the only ultimate
reality. It maintains that all that exists is reducible to matter or to qualities or upshots of
matter.

Religion’ refers to the pursuit of transformation guided by a sacred belief system. It is

defined as “people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of
a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life” (“Religion,”
2009).

‘Spirituality’ is one’s integrative view of life. It involves a quest for the meaning and
ultimate value of life as opposed to an instrumentalist or materialistic attitude to life.
Simply put, theology is the study of God. It comes from the word ‘theos’ which is Greek
for ‘God,’ and ‘logos,’ meaning ‘word’ or ‘study.’
‘Philosophy of religion’ refers to the philosophical study of the main themes and
concepts involved in religions. It may also include an enquiry into the religious
significance of historical events (e.g., the Holocaust) and the general features of the
cosmos, the laws of nature, and the occurrence of conscious life.

‘Religious rituals’ refer to the behavior performed by a religious member or a group of

believers with reference to supernatural power or a deity. It includes varieties of behavior
such as reciting prayers, singing of hymns, dancing, fasting, putting on of special types of
cloth, taking birth in holy rivers, crawling, etc.

‘synagogue’ is a Jewish house of prayer. Synagogues have a large hall for prayer (the
main sanctuary).
A ‘mosque’ is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Many mosques” have elaborate
domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture … The mosque serves
as a place where Muslims can come together for ‘salat’ (prayer) as well as a center for
information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement” (“Mosque,” n.d.).

Monism is a philosophical, cosmological, and metaphysical stand which proposes an

ultimate unity of all things, and that all seeming differences, distinctions, divisions, and
separations are ultimately only apparent or partial aspects of an ultimate whole. It is a
theological stance that “all is one, that there are no fundamental divisions, and that a
unified set of laws underlie all of nature.

Polytheism’ refers to the worship of or belief in more than one deity, especially several
deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own
religions and rituals. Especially in a sociological perspective, the emergence of
polytheism has been attributed to the desire to pacify the uncontrollable forces of nature,
the need for supernatural moral sanctions, and the attempt to justify specialization and
class distinctions.

‘Monotheism’is the “belief in single God: the belief that there is only one God”
(“Monotheism,” 2009). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines it as the
“belief in one personal and transcendent God.”

‘Atheism’ stands for the disbelief, denial of, or lack of belief in the existence of God or
gods. The term comes from the Greek prefix ‘a-,’ meaning ‘without,’ and the Greek word
‘theos,’ which means ‘god.’

Darwinism, the advocacy of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and evolutionism, the
belief in the theory of evolution by natural selection, are fundamentally related. Both
ideologies attribute the origins of all life forms and other things not to the purposeful
creation by God but to the behavior of random chemical and physical forces.

A spiritual but not religious (SBNR) individual associates faith with the private realm of
personal experience rather than with the public realm of religious institutions, creeds, and
 rituals. He or she may ignore membership in religious institutions, participation in formal
rituals, and adherence to official denominational doctrines.

“Dissenters” are the people who, for the most part, make a conscious effort to veer away
from institutional religion.

“Casuals” are the people who see religious and/or spiritual practices as primarily
functional.

“Explorers” are the people who seem to have what Mercandante refers to as a “spiritual
wanderlust.”

Seekers” are those people who are looking for a spiritual home but contemplate
recovering earlier religious identities.

Immigrants” are those people who have found themselves in a novel spiritual realm and
are trying to adjust themselves to this newfound identity and its community.

Religious but not spiritual (RBNS) man is thus sketched as someone who can give gifts,
pray, and do many good works, but he or she does not understand what it is to offer
oneself. Accordingly, this person may pay ‘tithes’ exactly, but he or she will not put
himself or herself to death in the moments of temptation.

2. Creative Writing

Developing your writing style

To be an excellent creative writer, it’s not necessary to have a vivid imagination though
that helps a lot. Many great writers of the English Language weren’t particularly creative.
Instead, they honed down their technique and style to garner interest in their stories. The most
significant thing about creative writing is that it’s all yours (unless, of course, you decide to
plagiarize, which would ultimately defeat the purpose). But to be a good creative writer, the most
important thing is practice.

There are four things to keep in mind while writing a story or play. These are:
• Plot
• Characterization
• Dialogues
• Theme

These are the essential things required to write a story, but the tackling of the concept is
where many would-be writers lag behind. Developing one’s writing style takes time, patience,
and constant practice. Attempting too much or writing to consciously may hamper your prose,
not improve them. Here are a few ways you can improve your writing style and add color to your
work.
 • Read: Reading can help improve your writing style immensely. There’s nothing wrong
with being influenced by an individual author’s writing technique. You can even take a
particular form a few steps further.
• Write: Without constant writing practice, you can’t expect your creative writing skills to
improve. Regularly write, even if you think your work is awful. It’s not necessary to stick
to one genre even; experiment and innovate. There is an excellent possibility you’ll latch
on to your style soon enough.
• Be natural: Use the language and words that come naturally to you. Opening a thesaurus
and taking our difficult words will not make your writing better; in fact, it makes it
pedantic and pretentious.
• Be concise and clear: nobody knows what you want to say better than you do, and most
of the time, simple, clear sentences make more of an impact than heavy longwinded
phraseology.
• Avoid being clichéd: try to craft original new sentences. Steer clear from done-to-death
wordings and metaphors. You can create interest in your writing by being spunky,
creative, and bold in your word choice.

CREATING REALISTIC CHARACTERS

You can create complex, well-rounded characters quickly by asking yourself questions about
what type of person you wish to create. For example, where is your character from? What does
he/she do for a living? How old is your character, and what family background is he/she coming
from? Etc. Following is a list of questions you could ask yourself about your character.

• What does he/she look like?

• What is your character called?
• How does your character deal with conflict and trouble?
• Are there other people in your characters live? How does he/she relate to them?
• What is the purpose of your character in this story?

Once you’ve got your characters figured out, you can turn to dialogue, and how you can create
realistic and exciting conversations between your characters.

Writing convincing dialogue

Writing good dialogue takes practice and observation. People tend to over-dramatize or
understate, in either case leaving the reader with a sense of disbelief. Conversations play a
significant role in bringing fiction to life, and if handled correctly, can help create a beautiful
piece of art.

So how can you make sure your dialogue writing seems genuine and colorful?

By following these tips:

• Listen to how people talk: You will rarely find a priest swearing, or an English Professor
using slang. Observe the way people speak and note down any new figure of speech they
might use. Good writers are often good eavesdroppers too.
• Cut down on extraneous words and phrases: real speech does not flow as smoothly as it
seems to on paper, but most readers do not care to read unnecessary words like “err…”
“uh…” and “oh,” between dialogues.
• Use action to highlight your dialogues: Remind the reader that the characters they are
reading about areas physical (theoretically) as they are. ‘He said’ ‘she said dialogues got
monotonous if they are not broken up with movement.
• Do not stuff with too much information: It should not be evident that you are using
dialogue to communicate information. In general, apply the three-sentence rule: give no
character more than three uninterrupted sentences at once. Let the story unfold naturally.

Avoid stereotyping your characters through dialect: this is not only offensive, but it also
challenges the reader’s intelligence. Just like all Irish men do not have red hair, similarly, not all
Englishmen say, “Bollocks.”

3. Creative Nonfiction
The Creative Nonfiction (CNF) genre can be rather elusive. It is focused on story,
meaning it has a narrative plot with an inciting moment, rising action, climax and
denoument, just like fiction. However, nonfiction only works if the story is based in truth,
an accurate retelling of the author’s life experiences. The pieces can vary greatly in
length, just as fiction can; anything from a book-length autobiography to a 500-word food
blog post can fall within the genre.
Additionally, the genre borrows some aspects, in terms of voice, from poetry;
poets generally look for truth and write about the realities they see. While there are many
exceptions to this, such as the persona poem, the nonfiction genre depends on the writer’s
ability to render their voice in a realistic fashion, just as poetry so often does. Writer
Richard Terrill, in comparing the two forms, writes that the voice in creative nonfiction
aims “to engage the empathy” of the reader; that, much like a poet, the writer uses
“personal candor” to draw the reader in.
Creative Nonfiction encompasses many different forms of prose. As an emerging form,
CNF is closely entwined with fiction. Many fiction writers make the cross-over to
nonfiction occasionally, if only to write essays on the craft of fiction. This can be done
fairly easily, since the ability to write good prose—beautiful description, realistic
characters, musical sentences—is required in both genres.
So what, then, makes the literary nonfiction genre unique?

The first key element of nonfiction—perhaps the most crucial thing— is that the
genre relies on the author’s ability to retell events that actually happened. The talented
CNF writer will certainly use imagination and craft to relay what has happened and tell a
story, but the story must be true. You may have heard the idiom that “truth is stranger
than fiction;” this is an essential part of the genre. Events—coincidences, love stories,
stories of loss—that may be expected or feel clichéd in fiction can be respected when
they occur in real life.
A writer of Creative Nonfiction should always be on the lookout for material that
can yield an essay; the world at-large is their subject matter. Additionally, because
Creative Nonfiction is focused on reality, it relies on research to render events as
accurately as possible. While it’s certainly true that fiction writers also research their
subjects (especially in the case of historical fiction), CNF writers must be scrupulous in
their attention to detail. Their work is somewhat akin to that of a journalist, and in fact,
some journalism can fall under the umbrella of CNF as well. Writer Christopher Cokinos
claims, “done correctly, lived well, delivered elegantly, such research uncovers not only
facts of the world, but reveals and shapes the world of the writer” (93). In addition to
traditional research methods, such as interviewing subjects or conducting database
searches, he relays Kate Bernheimer’s claim that “A lifetime of reading is research:” any
lived experience, even one that is read, can become material for the writer.
The other key element, the thing present in all successful nonfiction, is reflection.
A person could have lived the most interesting life and had experiences completely
unique to them, but without context—without reflection on how this life of experiences
affected the writer—the reader is left with the feeling that the writer hasn’t learned
anything, that the writer hasn’t grown. We need to see how the writer has grown because
a large part of nonfiction’s appeal is the lessons it offers us, the models for ways of
living: that the writer can survive a difficult or strange experience and learn from it. Sean
Ironman writes that while “[r]eflection, or the second ‘I,’ is taught in every nonfiction
course” (43), writers often find it incredibly hard to actually include reflection in their
work. He expresses his frustration that “Students are stuck on the idea—an idea that’s not
entirely wrong—that readers need to think” (43), that reflecting in their work would over-
explain the ideas to the reader. Not so. Instead, reflection offers “the crucial scene of the
writer writing the memoir” (44), of the present-day writer who is looking back on and
retelling the past. In a moment of reflection, the author steps out of the story to show a
different kind of scene, in which they are sitting at their computer or with their notebook
in some quiet place, looking at where they are now, versus where they were then;
thinking critically about what they’ve learned. This should ideally happen in small
moments, maybe single sentences, interspersed throughout the piece. Without reflection,
you have a collection of scenes open for interpretation—though they might add up to
nothing.
 4. Discipline and Ideas in the Social Sciences

ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTHROPOS- man or human being
LOGOS or LOGIA- to study

• It is the scientific study of the human being.

• Branch of knowledge that deals with the scientific study of man, his works, his body, his
behavior and values, in time and space. It studies the physical, social and cultural
development and behavior of human beings since their appearance on earth.
• It analyzes data on cross-cultural and intersocietal differences in social institutions,
cultural beliefs and practices, and communication styles.
Key Concepts in Anthropology
1. Evolutionism - Charles Darwin argued that species develop through time due to
responses made toward the changes in their environment. This perspective was later
adapted by social scientists in understanding the development of human societies through
the theory of unilineal evolution which states that human groups go through stages of
development.
2. Cultural Relativism - promotes the study of people’s and their lifeways based on the
context of their culture/ local contexts adhered to by the people and not that of the
researcher.
3. Culture - Culture differentiates man from other forms of animals. Culture has been
defined as way of life of a people, man’s social heritage socially transmitted from one
generation to another by means of language, symbols, enculturation and socialization.
Culture is learned, shared and transmitted independently of genetic inheritance. It can be
tangible or intangible.
ECONOMICS
Etymologically, its origin could be traced back to two ancient Greek words- oikos
(house) and nomos (custom or law) - referring to the rules implemented in the household to
ensure its efficient management.
Conceptually,
1. It is the proper allocation and efficient use of available resources for the maximum
satisfaction of human wants.
2. Study of how societies use scarce resources to produce valuable commodities and
distribute them among different people.
3. Science of choice. It studies how people choose to use scarce resources to produce
various commodities and to distribute these commodities for consumption.
 4. As a scientific study which deals with how individuals and society in general make
choices.
5. Therefore, economics is the study of proper allocation and efficient use of scarce
resources to produce commodities for the maximum satisfaction of unlimited human need
and wants.
Key Concepts in Economics
1. Market
Market as an economic concept takes on three meanings: (i) literally, a place where
exchange between consumers and sellers transpire; (2) a system where such exchanges of
goods take place; and (3) a theoretical arena where sellers compete for the patronage of
customers. For most economists, the market is an arena where consumers and sellers are
independently interacting for goods that are priced equally due to the ongoing competition
among sellers.
2. Supply and Demand
Supply refers to the entirety of available goods that the market can offer, while demand
represents the actual quantity of goods or services that he public requires from the market.
3. Specialization
It refers to a method in production wherein the process of producing goods and services is
concentrated to a particular group of individuals or region. In a wider context, some regions or
countries specialize on the production of certain goods. For example, Singapore is well known
forms of technology, while Vietnam is known more for agricultural products.
4. Production
It is the process wherein raw materials are transformed into usable goods. This process
involves various factors like quantity and quality of raw materials, availability, and cost of
labor. The elements of production include land (source of natural resources), labor (human
resources), capital (financial resources), and entrepreneurship (the process of engaging in an
economic activity).
GEOGRAPHY
Etymological Definition: came from Greek words
GEO- EARTH
GRAPHE/ GRAPHIA- TO WRITE/DRAW
Conceptual Definition:
It literally means as “earth description”. It is a broad and interesting discipline that brings together
two important aspects of both physical and social sciences, as well impinging on the humanities.
 The description and explanation of the world’s landscapes and scientific description of
inhabited landscapes and their description over the globe. (Longmans, 1965)
The science of the Earth and its life, dealing with land, sea and air conditions; the distribution
of the plant and animal life especially with man and his industries. (John W. Frazier, 1982)
The collection of facts intended to give a complete picture of a continent, a state or region.
(Mcknight, 1990)
Key Concepts in Geography
Here are some notable concepts to keep in mind in geography:
1. Spatial pattern refers to the arrangement or placement of objects on surface of the earth.
2. Spatial interaction is the process involved in understanding the relationship between the
movements of things from one location to another. An example of spatial interaction is the
migration of humans from one habitat to another or the distribution of products starting
from the factory down to its clients.
3. Geographic process refers to the series of interrelated events that affect places, societies,
culture, and environment. Among these geographic processes are globalization, soil
erosion, and deforestation.

HISTORY
The word history comes from the Greek word historia, which means "finding out: "inquiry," and
"narrative." In some interpretations, historia means "knowledge acquired by investigation.' The
American Historical Association defines history as "the never-ending process whereby people seek
to understand the past and its meaning." History in many ways, is away torus to understand
ourselves and make sense of the world.
Key Concepts in History
• Significance Finding the significance is a process of determining which part of a historical
event has more value to be included in a narrative. This process, of course, entails the
critical thinking and selectivity of the historian.
• Continuity and Change Historians have the goal of examining the shifts and transitions of
institutions, actors, and landscapes over time. Through the chronological method,
historians trace the changes that transpire in societies and in a larger extent, the world.
• Cause and Effect A common theme in historical analysis is that of cause and effect.
Through this paradigm, historians inquire on the factors that led to the events in history.
• Perspective As history is primarily based on written records or oral traditions made by
different people in different eras and cultures, the reconstruction of the events require
historians to adapt analytical lenses or perspectives.
 LINGUISTICS
Communication is a process by which a speaker sends a message through verbal and non-
verbal channels in order to elicit a desired effect. Language allows us to express and understand
each other’s thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Linguistics professor Robert A. Hall defined language
as “the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of
habitually used oral-auditory symbols.” This definition provided the key ideas of how linguistics
approach and understand language and its use as it highlighted the interplay between symbols,
communication, and their role in human interaction.
Linguistics was derived from the Latin word lingua, which refers to language. It is an
interdisciplinary field of study; it intersects humanities and social sciences as it inquires on the
basic element that allows societies to communicate ideas across time and space. Since the late
1500s, individuals who study language have been called linguists.
Key Concepts in Linguistics

• Cohesion refers to linguistic links such as pronouns and adjectives that provide a
recognizable structure.
• Coherence is the logic within discourse that takes into account our knowledge of the
world. Take, for example, this exchange:
Question: Who is going to take care of the baby?
Answer: Daniel has a fever.
The answer “Daniel has a fever” in response to the question "Who is going to take care
of the baby?" might seem irrelevant, but it still makes sense because we know that fever
is contagious and could make the baby sick. Thus, Daniel cannot take care of the baby.
• Critical discourse analysis is the study of a text within its social context.
• Dialect is an identifiable regional or social variety of language. A language
communicated over an area can be spoken differently in some form or another in
different places, and this is called regional dialect.
• Discourse is any connected piece of speech or writing, which serves as the chain that
holds communication together. A discourse is produced either by a single speaker or
writer or by two people engaged in a conversation and even in written exchanges.
• Etymology is the study of the history or origin of a particular word.
• Functionalism is an approach to language structure that primarily focuses on the
purpose in which language is used.
• Grammar refers to the rules of constructing words and sentences within a particular
language.
• Grapheme is a single character in a recognized writting system such as letters and
punctuation marks.
• Lexicon is the total words available to a speaker or the vocabulary of language.
 POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political science is the study of political power relations, behavior, and activities as well as
systems of government from a domestic, international, and comparative perspective. Traditionally,
the study of political science focuses primarily on the state and its institutions.
The term politics is derived from the Greek word politikos, which means "of, for,or relating
to citizens" or in Aristotelian terms, "affairs of the cities." In the broader sense, politics is the
theory and practice of influencing other people; in the narrow sense, it is the theory or principle of
organizing control or governance over a people, community, or state.
Key Concepts in Political Science
• Power is an important concept where relations are based on. Power is the capacity to
influence another, may it be a state, a non-state, or an individual actor. From this concept
of power, questions such as authority, rights, and justice emerge. These questions can be
analyzed historically, comparatively, or even philosophically.
• Politics is the state's exercise of power and management of internal issues and international
concerns.
• State the Oxford English Dictionary provides a simple definition of the state as "an
organized political community under one government." Classically, it consists of four
elements: territory, sovereignty, government, and people.

PSYCHOLOGY
The root word of psychology comes from the Greek word psyche which means "soul";
hence, psychology is, in essence, the study of the soul. The earliest use of the word in its modern
sense was made by the Dutch physician Steven Blankaart when he distinguished anatomy as that
which treats the body and psychology as that which treats the soul. The definition of psychology
has evolved through time. Some psychologists would define it as "the study of behavior and mental
processes." Psychology is an interdisciplinary study that involves disciplines in the social sciences,
natural sciences, and even humanities and philosophy.
Key Concepts in Psychology

• Personality is defined differently by psychologists throughout different periods and schools

of thought. But in general terms, personality is defined as the consistent pattern of an
individual's behavior, attitude, and thoughts.
• Unconscious Mind As theorized by Sigmund Freud, the unconscious is the hidden or
underlying structure of consciousness where a person's repressed emotions, feelings, or
traumatic memory is stored. Repression is a form of self-preservation inasmuch as it
removes unpleasant thoughts from our conscious mind. An example of repressed thoughts
surfacing is a slip of the tongue, where one suddenly utters words that he or she did not
mean to say in a particular event or situation.
 • Motivation is the reason why a person acts. It is the driving force behind actions and is
influenced by the environment, social factors, personal choices, behavior, intelligence, and
other psychological traits. Motivation serves as a guide as to how we could achieve our
goals.
• Development refers to the changes that occur in a person throughout his or her life. These
changes are physical (e.g., height, weight), emotional, and social. One example in the study
of development is the language acquisition of a child. Learning theory that states that all
children learn language through repetition and reinforcement; or Interactionist theory,
which states that children learn language out of the desire to communicate.

SOCIOLOGY
The term sociology was coined by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, who is also
considered as the Father of Sociology. The term was derived from the French word sociologie,
which is a combination of the Greek words socius that means "companionship" or "friendship"
and the suffix -ology, which means "the study of." Thus, sociology is simply defined as "the study
of humans and their relationships within a society."
The definitions of sociology vary depending on a sociologist’s perspective. Like the other
disciplines of the social sciences, confining sociology in a strict and formal definition is still a
matter of debate. Emile Durkheim defined sociology as "the science of social institutions." Max
Weber defined sociology as "the science which attempts the interpretative understanding of social
action in order thereby to arrive at a casual explanation of its course and effects." On the other
hand, Morris Ginsberg defined the discipline as "the study of human interactions and interrelations,
their conditions and consequences. From these definitions, one can deduce that sociology is an
inquiry on the human condition-how an individual lives and interacts with society and how that
relationship transcends individual perspectives.
Key Concepts in Sociology

• Society is defined as a "group of people who share in one form or another distinct
commonality." The term comes from the Greek word socius, which means
"companionship" or "friendship." Society is instrumental in studying this discipline as it
defines the nature of man (in other words, man is a social animal, according to Aristotle).
• Institutions is a complex and organized entity that aims to protect and enable the continuing
function of values adopted by society. The five basic social institutions include family,
government, economy, education, and religion.
• Norms refer to the values and behaviors which are considered acceptable in society. More
often, norms exhibit strictness as it requires a level of conformity. Social norms affect or
impose themselves on every type of human interaction and situation. For example, going
to malls just wearing your lingerie is possible but is not acceptable.
• Deviance is the straying away from or going out of what is the norm. Deviant behavior can
be punished, awarded, or accepted without punishment or reward. Deviance is punishable
 when it veers from normal behavior, expectations, societal values, or law. Deviance is
neither punished nor rewarded if the actions do not disregard societal values, but still
deviate from what is considered a norm. For example, since majority of the population has
at least one social media account, a person not having any account in any social media
platform is immediately questioned for it. Simply not having one does not violate any social
values, but it goes against social norms.
DEMOGRAPHY
• The term demography comes from the Greek words demos (people) and graphia (a
description of). From this etymology, we may derive that demography is a study of
describing people. As an academic field under the social sciences, demography is the study
of human populations through the use of statistical analysis and mathematical modeling.
Demography describes the composition of a population according to its basic and
socioeconomic features. A population's basic features include age, sex, family, and
household status. On the other hand, the socioeconomic features of a population are
religion, language, ethnicity, education, income, and wealth. However, beyond these
statistical descriptions is an inquiry on the causes and effects of population change and
what they mean for the future.

Key Concepts in Demography

• Fertility can either mean the live birth of a population or the number of women in
childbearing age (15-49 years old).
• Mortality is the death rate or frequency of death in a population. A low mortality rate could
contribute to an increase in population but could also affect social dynamics due to issues
relating to an aging population.
• Urbanization is the proportion of a country's population living in urban areas. It refers to
the growth percentage of the urban population to total population.
• Migration is the movement of people across a particular boundary to establish a permanent
or semi-permanent residence.
o International migration refers to the movement of individuals from one country to
another;
o Internal migration refers to the movement of people within the boundaries of a
country.
o Involuntary migration occurs when inhabitants of a certain location are forced to
move to another location due to political, social, economic, or environmental
factors.
• Population refers to the number of inhabitants in a given area such as countries and regions.
It also denotes a commonality or shared characteristics by individuals in a group.

5. Philippine Politics and Governance

POLITICAL SCIENCE (DE LEON, 1999)  Systematic study of state and government 
POLITICAL- derived from the Greek word “POLIS” – meaning a city or the sovereign state 
SCIENCE- comes from the Latin “SCIRE”-means “to know”

SCIENCE OF POLITICS 1. It is the basic knowledge and understanding of the state and the
principles and ideals which underlie its organization and activities 2. It is primarily concerned
with the association of human beings into ‘body politic’ or in a political community 3. It deals
with those relations among men and groups which are subject to control by the state with the
relations of men and groups to the state itself and the relations of the state to other state

HISTORY AND THE RELATIONSHIP IN POLITICAL SCIENCE  History is a study of

the various facts of human life and is closely linked with other social sciences which make a
specific study of different facts of human life.

HISTORY AND THE RELATIONSHIP IN POLITICAL SCIENCE  the relationship

between history and political science beautifully that, “History without political science has no
fruit and political science without history has no root.” A historian is not merely concerned with
the tracing of the history of the political process by a narration of the episodes.  But he has to
learn the nature of fundamental political principles and basic forms of political institution. In the
view of this closeness between two subjects, the development of political institutions, rules,
regulations, right and duties, law and mode of justice, executive, legislative and administrative
functions, economic and financial implications, nature of bureaucracy, fundamental principles of
state policy are all defined under the constitution history.

INTERPRETATION OF THE DIAGRAM PEOPLE as the FOCAL of all areas of

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT and CONSTITUTION because it is the human individual who is
the revolving actor of the state, it is to people why there is an existent laws. The right is vested to
and it simply denotes that the he/she is the MAIN ACTOR.

SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

1. Political Theory-the entire body of the doctrines relating to the form, behavior and purposes of
the state are dealt with in this study
2. Public Law
a. Organization of governments
b. Limitations upon government authority
c. Powers and Duty of government offices and officers

STAGES IN THE STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

 Religious Stage – the government, it’s leaders and laws was considered as divine or
divinely inspired.
 Metaphysical Stage – the state was considered as a human institution and it is therefore
absolute (cannot be changed).
 Modern Stage – the state was deemed capable of being improved by rulers and subjects
according to certain principles and laws.
 DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE  Aristotle  wrote “Politics”, the first
systematic work on political affairs.  Father of Political Science  Niccolo Machiavelli 
wrote “The Prince”, a handbook for rulers in the art of government.  Father of Modern Political
Science  Prof. Francis Lieber  wrote “Manual of Political Ethics”; the first systematic treatise
in political science

WHAT IS A STATE?
A group of persons, more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of
territory, independent of external control, and possessing a government to which a great body of
inhabitants render habitual obedience.

ELEMENTS OF A STATE
 People
 Territory
 Government
 Sovereignty

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATION AND STATE?

 State is a legal or juristic concept, while Nation is an ethnic or racial concept.
 Nasci = to be born indicates a relation of birth or origin and implies a common race.
Thus, a nation may comprise several states Example: Egypt, Iraq, Saudi, Lebanon, Jordan,
etc. belong to Arab nation.
 The words nation and state are sometimes used as synonyms. Sometimes, state is used as a
synonym for nation or country, but nation and state have their own respective identities. ... On
the contrary, a state can be defined as a patch of land with a sovereign government.

6. Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century Culture

Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking (TNCT) in the 21st century subject
provides area of knowledge where deep understanding is required, it will help us
to discover and differentiate relationships between causes and consequences. This subject
may also be applied in facing challenges addresses by the world today. With this subject,
the learners will be able to perform competently and accurately. It offers interesting topics
that we can apply in real life situations. We will learn many skills that we can use for daily
living. By studying this subject, we will become aware of what is happening around us.
We will have an idea on how to become a productive citizen and how to stand against
social issues and concerns.
 Activity: Reflect on Me!

Direction: Choose any two (2) subjects from the given above then make a
reflection paper. Make your own topic and concept depending on what you reflect on.