Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences

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Introduction to the Disciplines and their History

Introduction to the Disciplines and their

History

The following are the objectives for this module:

1. Compare and contrast the various Social Science disciplines and their
fields, main areas of inquiry, and methods
2. Trace the historical foundations and social contexts that led to the
development of each discipline

The Variety of the Social Sciences

As mentioned in the previous lesson, Social Science is not only composed of
one science or one subject. Since it concerns itself with all aspects of society
and human behavior, it is naturally divided into separate “disciplines,” all
of which share an interest in human behavior. (Harrison & Dye, 2008) This
module will look closely into each discipline, as well as their histories, so that
one can get a better insight into what comprises the structure of the social
sciences along with minor but important components.

The Disciplines of Social Science

According to Elizabeth Wilkins, “The big difficulty is that it would be quite
impossible for a social scientist to study all the complex mass of activities
that comprise social behavior. He would be so overwhelmed that he would
social science is
not a single hardly know where to begin.” (Wilkins, 1979). The fact of the matter is that
science. It is the study of society cannot be reduced to a single science or discipline. It is
composed of divided into different disciplines, that amplify one social element that has a
“disciplines.” great effect on the entire life of the society. Wilkins also mentions that “Social
scientists wear a variety of hats which carry such different labels as
sociologist, economist, psychologist, anthropologist, or political scientist.”
(Wilkins, 1979) All of these ‘hats’ fall under the family of the social sciences.
For this module you will be learning about the first two disciplines and their
histories: anthropology and economics.

Anthropology
The Word Anthropology
Anthropology comes from two ancient Greek words: anthrōpos
meaning “human being” or “human kind”) and logos meaning
“study”). Together it literally translates as “study of the human being or
human kind. From the word itself, one can see that the subject matter of
anthropology is man himself as a creature alone and as a part of society.

Course Module
 The Discipline of Anthropology
Anthropology combines a natural science–biology–and information gathered
from the social sciences to uncover the relationships between biological
traits and traits acquired socially, i.e., by living in groups. (Perry & Perry,
2003). Anthropology, therefore, is the study of humans; the social science
that seeks to understand human origins and adaptation, and the diversity of
cultures and worldviews. The discipline is divided into physical anthropology,
which is concerned principally with human biological origins and the
variations in the human species, and cultural anthropology, which has
anthropology
literally means traditionally dealt with the study and comparative analysis of preliterate
the “study of societies. (Perry & Perry, 2003)
human kind”
One can consider anthropology to be the social science that goes deep into
the roots of the human creature. This means that anthropology seeks to
unearth the very primitive in man, and creates for him a history that dates
back to thousands of years up to the present. Anthropology also concerns
itself with human culture, and how the human being is shaped by the
evolution of the culture that he is a part of. Wilkins said that “the
anthropologist is more likely to concentrate on the study of a single culture
which he observes subjectively – he may even live as a member of the
community and become an active participant in what he is studying.” In other
words, anthropologists go through great lengths to gain actual experience of
what he/she is studying. This is so to be able to give him/her deeper
knowledge about his/her point of research
The Origins of Anthropology
Franz Boas is considered the father of modern anthropology. However, this
discipline has been in existence far longer than the life of its titular father.
It is beyond doubt, however, that anthropology, considered as the science of
humanity, originated in the region we commonly refer to as ‘the West’,
notably in four ‘Western’ countries: France, Britain, the USA and Germany.
Historically speaking, this is a European discipline, and its practitioners, like
those of all European sciences, occasionally like to trace its roots back to the
ancient Greeks. (Eriksen and Nielsen, 2001) The Greeks were known for its
establishment of the city-states, and our knowledge of their culture and way
Franz Boas is of life is due to the fact that anthropologists have studied them extensively.
the father of Eriksen and Nielsen note that one particular Greek, namely Herodotus of
modern
Halicarnassus (c. 484–425 BCE), was one of the proponents of what is called
anthropology
a proto-anthropology, or the prelude to modern anthropology as we know
today. Herodotus is more known for his literary works concerning the
Persian War and, according to Eriksen and Nielsen, the question Herodotus
asked paved the way for the development of anthropology as we know it
today: “How should we treat Others? Are they the same as us?” By asking this
question, it lead to the inspiration for many future anthropologists to engage
in a study of the “other cultures,” and spawned a discipline that both enjoyed
the subjective experience of learning as well as the concise objectivity that
the scientific method brings to anthropology as a social science. The
development of anthropology soon gained a steady course, from the Greeks
to the Romans until the emergence of modern anthropology in the West.
 Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences
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Introduction to the Disciplines and their History

Economics
The Word Economics
Economics comes from the Greek (ta oikonomika meaning
“science of the household”). Oikonomika itself comes from the Greek word
(oikos meaning “house” or “home”). From the word itself, it concerns
itself with the “home” or society itself.
The Discipline of Economics
Economists limit their study to that of how individuals and societies make
use of the productive resources available to them and of how goods and
economics services are shared. (Wilkins, 1979). In other words, Economics is a social
means “study of science that deals with the optimum allocation of scarce resources among its
the household” alternatives to satisfy the unlimited human wants and needs of the people.
This means that economics deals with resources, and how the proper
scarce or management of these sources will lead to the prosperity of society as a unit.
scarcity is the According to John and Erna Perry, “The economy is a human institution, that
lack of proper is, an ingrained habit through which people have attempted to facilitate their
resources for the survival in the face of scarcity of resources. Economics is the discipline that
needs of a person
or a group of studies the systems that societies construct to help them in this endeavor.”
people (Perry & Perry, 2003)
Wilkins mentions too that “Economists perceive people not as complex social
creatures taking part in numerous overlapping and interconnecting
activities, but rather as part of the supply of labor available.” (Wilkins, 1979).
The implication of this is that economics does not look upon society like how
the other disciplines would. It does not concern itself with the identity of a
society or a particular culture, but only concerns itself with how the material
goods within society circulate in a manageable fashion so as to avoid a
scarcity of supply. It limits itself to that of the material component of society,
whereas the other disciplines are more inclined to discover the very ideals
that enable society to function.
“Economists do The Origins of Economics
not perceive
The discipline itself dates back to the earliest civilizations, especially those
people as
complex social who believe in the value of private or common property. A good example
creatures…” would be the Indians of the Americas, whose tribal system did not believe in
-Wilkins, 1979
the value of ‘private’ property, but believed that the resources of the tribe
should be divided equally, and not to be possessed by a number of
individuals only. The most concrete origin, however, can be found in Ancient
China with the writings of Fan Li (also known as Tao Zhu Gong) who wrote a
“golden body of laws” for businessmen. (Wang, 2012) In the West, the Greek
writer Xenophon wrote Oeconomicus, a dialogue on household management
and agriculture. Other notable Greeks that can be considered as proponents
of modern economics include Plato’s work The Republic that deals with the
proper management of the state, which included proper allocation of
resources, and Aristotle’s Politics, that analyzed different kinds of ownership.
Course Module
 Today, the father of modern economics is Adam Smith, the author of An
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and the titular
founder of the economic system of Capitalism.

Glossary
 Anthropology – comes from two ancient Greek words:
anthrōpos meaning “human being” or “human kind”) and
logos meaning “study”). Together it literally translates as
“study of the human being or human kind. It is the study of humans;
the social science that seeks to understand human origins and
adaptation, and the diversity of cultures and worldviews.

 Economics – comes from the Greek (ta oikonomika

meaning “science of the household”). It is a social science that deals
with the optimum allocation of scarce resources among its alternatives
to satisfy the unlimited human wants and needs of the people.

 Scarcity – is the lack of proper resources for the needs of a person or a

group of people.

References
Eriksen, T.H. & Nielsen, F.S. (2001) A History of Anthropology. New York:
Pluto Press
Harrison, B.C. & Dye, T.R. (2008) Power & Society: An Introduction to the
Social Sciences, 11th Ed. Boston: Thomson Higher Education
Perry, E. & Perry, J. (2003). Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Social
Science, 10th Ed. New York: Pearson Education
Wang, R.R. (2012). Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese
Thought and Culture. California: Loyola Marymount University
Wilkins, E. (1979). Elements of Social Science, 2nd Ed. Plymouth: Macdonald
& Evans Ltd.