22/01/2023, 16:20 Sociological Concepts: Comparison with other social sciences

Sociological Concepts
Understanding society through Sociology

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Comparison with other social sciences

Sociology is one of a group of social sciences, which also includes anthropology, economics, political science and
history. Also it is the youngest social science, so it had advantage of borrowing concepts and ideas from other
sister social sciences. But, as it develops into distinct and specialized discipline, other discipline also getting help
from sociological theories and interpretations. The scope of sociology tells us that sociology is a
general science that deals with society as whole, and other social sciences as specific discipline which concentrate
on different aspects of the social life. Except this, the divisions among the various social sciences are not  clear-
cut, and all share a certain range of common interests, concepts and methods.

Sociology and History

Historical dimensions of sociological understanding are indeed basic. We can only understand distinctive character
of the world  today  through the  comparison  of present (sociology) with the past (history). The common ground
between sociology and history is the society. But while sociology concerns with the present and to some extend
with future, history studies past only. We know this very well that present can not be analysed without reference to
the past. Thus, sociological analysis is based on historical data. The relationship between these two stems from
the facts that both are social science disciplines and both are concerned with human activities and events. Except
these commonalities, there are subtle differences also. Sociology looks into only those past events which
exemplify social process and pattern that they exhibit. History occupies itself with difference in similar events and
sociology deals with the similarities in different events. History is about description of the past events while
sociology deals with the causes of those events and their present and future implications. While history
is  particularizing and descriptive, sociology is a  generalizing  and analytical discipline. Robert Bierstedt  has rightly
put it - 

If past is of as a continuous cloth unrolling through the centuries, history is interested in the individual
threads and strands that make it up; sociology is in the patterns it exhibits.

History  without  sociology is fruitless, sociology without history is rootless. Present stands on the edifice of the
past. Thus, relationship between sociology and history is symbiotic.

Sociology and Philosophy

Philosophy is believed to be mother of every faculty of knowledge. All disciplines i.e., natural sciences,
organic,  behavioral  or social sciences trace their roots to philosophy. Philosophy is study of the existence with
intent of developing epistemological, moral or imperatives to support decision making as a matter of principle.
Sociology, on the other hand, is a study of society to put it generally. But even from there we have to ask ourselves
what society is. In retrospect, sociology is a study of integral aspects that constitute society: politics, economics,
culture, religion, family, gender, race, global  stratification  etc. Unlike philosophy, sociology is more or less a
scientific discipline that depends on scientific methods (interviews, statistics, evidence of empirical importance).
Earlier, sociologists developed philosophical speculations e.g. August Comte, Saint Simon favored modern society
while  Bonal,  Joseph de Maistre  denounced it. Also, most sociological theories like functionalism, Marxism,
feminism and postmodernism are all largely driven by strong ideological doctrines. Thus, sociological theories have
various dimensions to study a given social reality. Hence, imagination, speculations and critical  judgement  are
central to both sociology and philosophy.    The philosophical theories of Kant and Hegel gave rise to many theories
like Marxism, environmentalism, feminism etc. but they based these on empirical realities. Therefore, philosophy
may ask what is moral while sociology assumes that morality is set of social norms which vary in every society.In
Ideology and Utopia  Karl Mannheim indicates that it is hard to distinguish sociology from ideology.

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22/01/2023, 16:20 Sociological Concepts: Comparison with other social sciences

Sociology and Economics

Economics deals with production, exchange, distribution and consumption of material goods and services among
the members of the society. Also, it analyses the choices of consumers. Therefore, economics studies economic
behaviour of the people while sociology is interested in social life including economic life such as income,
occupation, consumption patterns and life style etc. It is the emphasis on the particular aspect that distinguishes
sociology from economics. Adam Smith  said that for more production, division of labour had to come while
Durkheim argued that transformation from mechanical (simple) to organic (complex) society was not for large scale
production but it was a need of the society itself. Increased population, differentiated needs and rules &
regulations  necessitated division of labour. Marxian theory of historical materialism bases existence of society on
economic infrastructure. Based on this, Marx goes on to produce sociological theories of alienation, capitalism etc.
Thus economics and sociology have a two way relationship. For example, anthropologists have described the
exchange theory in terms of marriage relations drawing from the property system. the origin of caste system has
also been analysed in terms of economic division of labour reflected through the Jajmani system. Thus, relation
between economics and sociology is deep rooted.

Sociology and Political Science 

Political science studies political institutions such as state, government, political parties and judiciary. It is also
interested in the behaviour of the people in the power. In  political science, the concept of the power is important.
That is why political science is also equated with the study of power. Sociology studies power in its social context.
In other words, process which makes one  wield  power in the society. Thus, stratification of society in terms of
wielding of power by different groups, castes, classes etc becomes basis of sociological analysis.
Therefore, political science mainly studies power as embodied in the formal organizations and its primary attention
is on government processes while sociology deals with social aspect of power such as inter-relationships between
different institutions. For example, on caste system in India, these two disciplines have different takes.
From political science point of view caste is resource or infrastructure to have access to power in time of elections,
sociology analyses how caste becomes an interest group and an instrument of mobilization.  

Sociology and Psychology

Inter-linkage  between sociology and psychology is a matter of academic debate. Generally, psychology studies
individual mind while sociology studies collective lives. That's why they seem apart. Psychology involves clinical
testing, medical science approach which an not be used in the field of sociology. According to J S Mill, individual
behaviour is foundation to collective life. Psychic patterns i.e. fear, greed etc. largely influence social action of man
which is manifested in social realities. Thus, society can not be studied in the isolation of individual
mind.  Durkheim  argued that society is making of collective conscience. Thus, collective behaviour always guides
individual behaviour. He defines individual behaviour as pathological if it is not in conformity of collective will of
society. He distinguishes social facts and psychological facts and indicates that they are pole apart. Max
Weber  and Dilthey  believed that sociologist must follow law of general psychology to understand meanings and
motives behind social action or behaviour of individual. Actions are driven by psychological dispositions. Thus, a
good sociologist should be a good psychologist. Therefore, sociology was to be treated as behavioural discipline.
Erich Fromm  indicates that most human behaviour is instinctive. Thus, instincts and rationality together guide
everyday behaviour of the man. Ginsberg holds that sociology can not ignore prejudices, preferences and emotions
of man. Man as psychic being goes to socialization process to inherit social ability to make structural life of society
possible. C H Cooley and G H Mead  were original contributors to the discipline of social psychology. Also, during
1970s, phenomenology and dramatological approaches of sociology brought it close to psychology. In conclusion,
there is need to understand psychic aspects of human behaviour for that sociology and psychology share symbiotic
relation with each other.

Sociology and Anthropology

One of the important difference between these two disciplines is the subject matter. Sociology deals with interaction
of individuals, groups, social institutions of norms and values, culture etc. of present society. On the other hand,
anthropology grew and built its knowledge from archaeology, physical anthropology, cultural history, linguistics and
studies of life of primitive man. Sociology grew out of philosophy of history, political thought and social surveys.
Anthropology has its origin in physical anthropology and ultimately in biology. Anthropologists live in the
communities they study and therefore its analysis is qualitative and clinical. Sociologists rely on statistics and
questionnaires. Thus analysis is often formal and quantitative. But except these differences, there are many
similarities between these two. Sociology depends very much on material supplied by anthropology. It has borrowed
cultural areas, traits, cultural lags and other conceptions from social anthropology. According to Hoebel, sociology
and social anthropology are, in their broadest sense one and the same. A L Kroeber  argued that sociology and
anthropology are twin sisters. Evan Pritchard  believed that social anthropology is a branch of sociology. In
conclusion we can say that there are similarities, differences and mutual dependence between these two

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disciplines.

References
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_sociology_and_philosophy

Posted by Yashpal Meena at Sunday, December 09, 2012

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