Name: Lyra Kaye B.

Manlucob
Year & Section: BSA 2 SSP IJ1
Instructor: McChristian R. Mamaoag, DPA

Social Science and Philosophy

Comprehensive Summary

 SOCIAL SCIENCE

 Social Science
- study of people as individuals, communities and societies, their
behaviors and interactions with their environment.
- seeks to understand evolving human systems.
 According to:
 Martin Seligman: “Social sciences as those mental or cultural
sciences which deal with the activities of the individual as
member of the group.”
 Wesley Mitchell: “The term social science is loosely applied to
any kind of study concerning man and society.”
 Henrey Prat Fairchild: “Social science as a general term for all
the sciences which are concerned with the human affairs.”
 Peter Lewis: “Social sciences are concerned with the laws that
govern society and the social department of man.”
 Importance of Social Science
- helps us understand ourselves, our relationships to others, and our
relationships to the world.
 Branches of Social Science
1.) Sociology - the study of people in a group or social context.
- “socio” meaning society and “logy” means science.
- “science of society”
1.1. Importance:
- allows us to obtain information about society.
- we are able to understand society more objectively.
- we learn to apply scientific information to our daily
lives and problems.
- we learn to note many examples of objective and
nonobjective uses of data.
1.2. Forerunners:
 Auguste Marie Comte
- Father of Sociology
- coined the term “sociology” on 1839
- sociology was “social physics”
  Harriet Martineau
- First Female Sociologist
- wrote from a sociological, holistic, religious
and feminine perspectives.
- observed British and American social
practices and customs.
 Herbert Spencer
- famous for his hypothesis of Social
Darwinism.
- “The major focus of sociology should be
social evolution rather than the suggestion
and implementation of strategies for social
improvement.”
 David Emile Durkheim
- First French professor of Sociology
- “Behavior must be understood and
comprehended within a larger social
context.”
- “The group or society is the central object
of sociological study.”
 Maximilian Karl Weber
- “To comprehend social behavior, people
must understand the meaning attached to
their actions.”
 Karl Heinrich Marx
- proponent of Conflict Theory
- co-wrote The Communist Manifesto and
Das Kapital.
- “The history of civilization is the history of
class struggle and conflict is the main
source of social change.”
 Georg Simmel
- Father of Urban Sociology
-concerned with methodological
relationalist.
- “Conflict is necessary for unity, which can
also lead to social change.”
1.3. Major Theoretical Perspectives:
 The Sociological Perspective
- an approach in understanding human
behavior by placing it within its broader social context.
- “Human behavior is shaped by the groups
to which people belong and by the social interaction
that takes place within those groups”
 The Functional Perspective
- views society as a living organism whose
parts contribute to its survival.
- emphasizes society’s stability and
consensus.
  The Conflict Perspective
- emphasizes the social, political or material
inequality of a social group.
 The Feminist Theory
- way of looking at the social world through
the lens of gender inquality.
- addresses the roles women have in
society and the ongoing battle women face.
 The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
- focuses on meanings attached to human
interaction.
2.) Anthropology - study of humanity.
2.1. Main Divisions:
a.) Physical Anthropology - origins and evolutions of human
beings.
b.) Cultural Anthropology - study of total societies.
3.) Geography - originated from the Greek word ‘geographia’ meaning
earth description.
3.1. 4 Subinterests
a.) Physical Geography - subject matter is earth science.
- includes: Mathematical Geography,
Geomorphology, Climatology.
b.) Human Geography - a study of the way human beings live
in their physical & cultural environment.
- includes: Economic Geography,
Urban Geography, Political Geography.
c.) Systematic Geography - keeps the entire world in view
while investigating a single element.
d.) Regional Geography - focuses attention on a particular
region or country.
4.) Psychology - study of human behavior.
- Social Sociology: integration of sociology and
psychology.
5.) Economics - “the queen of the social sciences”
- deals with human behavior living in a society.
- study of how people allocate scarce resources for
production, distribution, and consumption, both
individually and collectively.
5.1. Two Branches:
a.) Microeconomics - focuses on the choices of individuals and
businesses.
b.) Macroeconomics - concentrates on the behavior of the
economy as a whole, on an aggregate level.
6.) Law - as the “system of rules” and “interpretive concept”, to achieve
justice.
- as an “authority”, to mediate people’s interests.
- as “the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a
sanction”.
 - legislation created and enforced through social or
governmental institutions to regulate behavior.
7.) Linguistics - the scientific study of language.
- concerned with the cognitive as well as the social
aspects of language.
- it involves the analysis of language form, language
meaning, and language in context.
8.) Archaeology - comes from the Greek word “arkhaios,” which
means “ancient.”
- the study of the human past using material remains.
8.1. Importance:
- it provides us with the opportunity to learn about past
cultures through the study of artifacts, animal bones and
sometimes human bones.
9.) Political Science - study of the political behavior of human beings
that focuses on the various aspects of
government, political institutions, processes, and
political parties.
10.) History - study of the chronology of significant events, people, and
places in the past.
10.1. Importance:
- essential in understanding ourselves and the world
around us.
- there is a history of every field and topic, from medicine,
to music, to art.
 Sociological Inquiry
- the systematic study of human social behavior, social structures, and
institutions, using empirical research methods and application of
scientific methods.
- use of quantitative and qualitative research methods, such as
surveys, experiments, observations, interviews, and textual analysis.
 Basic Goal: to obtain an understanding of the observable social
world.
 Sociological Inquiry Procedure:
 Concept - general idea of something.
 Hypothesis - an assumption on what is to be resolved.
 Gathering Data - provide a simulation or a model that can be
shown to correspond to certain principles.
 Analyzing Data - process of working out the data to come up
with reasonable and useful information, parts include
introduction, findings, and conclusion.
 Verifying Data - checking or finding out the accuracy of the
study conducted, preventing errors when data is copied from
one medium to another, include double entry and visual
check as verification methods.
 Methodological design, Techniques and Tools used in
Sociological Inquiry:
1) Sample Survey Method - a method for collecting data that
is conducted using a sampling process, types include
 Simple Random Sample, Systematic Random Sample,
and Stratified Random Sample.
2) Case Study Method - a detailed study about a specific
subject, such as person, group, place, event, or
organization, or phenomenon.
3) Cohort Study Method - identifies a group of people and
follows them over a period of time. The aim is to look at how
a group of people are exposed to different risk factors which
may affect their lives.
4) Interview - a qualitative research method that relies on
asking questions in order to collect data, types include
Structured Interview and Unstructured Interview.
5) Questionnaire - a written set of questions that respondents
are asked to answer, either by filling out the questionnaire
themselves or by answering the questions in an interview
with a researcher.
6) Quasi-experimental Method - groups are not randomly
assigned, but the researcher still compares groups and
controls for confounding variables.
7) Participatory Research - uses the people who are actual
targets of developments in the research process.
8) Longitudinal Method - involves collecting and studying data
from the same individuals or groups over a period of time,
sometimes several years.
9) Cross-sectional Method - a type of observational study
design where data are collected from a sample of individuals
or groups at a single point in time.
10) Naturalistic Observation Method - involves observing
individuals or groups in their natural setting without any
intervention or manipulation.
11) Cross-cultural Method - involves comparing and analyzing
social phenomena across different cultures and societies.

 PHILOSOPHY

 Philosophy
- “philos” means love and “sophia” which means wisdom.
- “the love of wisdom”
- study of general and fundamental problems.
- rational attempt to formulate understand, and answer fundamental
questions.
 Significance of Philosophy:
- enables us to think carefully and clearly about important issues.
- we learn to take a step back from our everyday thinking and to
explore the deeper, bigger question which underpins our thought.
- the focus in the study of Philosophy is to learn not what to believe, but
how to think.
- sharpens your analytical abilities, enabling you to identify and
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in any position.
 - hones your ability to construct and articulate cogent arguments of
your own.
- prompts you to work across disciplinary boundaries and to think
flexibly and creatively about problems which do not present immediate
solutions.
- develops your ability to think andwork independently.
 Subjects and Functions:
- primary concern of Philosophy is to explore ideas that are central to
the ways we live and that we commonly use without much reflections,
ideas such as truth and justice, the notion of consciousness, good and
evil.
- areas of Philosophy include Theory of Reality, Theory of
Knowledge, and Theory of Value.

Characteristics Functions

Conceptual Explaining Reality

Explains puzzling features of Changing Society

things
Digging beyond the obvious Anticipating future

Search for principles

 Special Branches of Philosophy:

1) Philosophy of Science - study of the inference, foundations, and
entanglement of natural science.
2) Philosophy of State - study of the mass or group of people
residing permanently within a particular area with an independent
government or state.
3) Philosophy of Politics - the study of essential questions about
the state, government, and politics and liberty, justice, property,
rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority.
4) Philosophy of Mathematics - makes one ask oneself what the
nature of mathematical entities consists in and how we can have
knowledge of mathematical entities.
5) Philosophy of Education - engaging with the nature of
education, as well as the philosophical issues that can come up
from educational theory and application. The three main types of
major philosophies of education are the following: teacher-
centered philosophies, student-centered philosophies, and
society-centered philosophies.
6) Philosophy of Law - also termed as jurisprudence, a branch of
philosophy that makes inquiries into the nature of law, especially
in its relation to human values, their practices, and political
communities, proceeds by expressing and defending propositions
about law that are either general and abstract.
7) Philosophy of Language - inquires into the nature of human
language, its origins and use, the connection between meaning
 and truth, and how language relates to human thought and
understanding, as well as to the reality itself.
 Five Branches of Philosophy:
1) Epistemology - the theory of knowledge, concerned with the
mind’s relation to reality.
2) Metaphysics - uses broad concepts to help define reality and our
understanding of it, generally focused on how reality and the
universe began. It is the foundation of Philosophy.
3) Ethics - derived from Greek word “ethos” which means “way of
living”, concerned with human conduct, more specifically the
behavior of individuals in society.
3.1. Difference between Moral:
- Ethics are the rules you abide by in order to remain
within a community or profession. While Morals are your
personal values that run to the core of your very being.
3.2.. Egoisms in Moral Decision:
A. Ethical Egoism - normative theory that the promotion
of one's own good is in accordance with morality.
B. Psychological Egoisms - suggests that every action
or behavior or decision of every person is motivated by
self-interest.
3.3. Major Divisions of Ethical Philosophy:
A. Virtue Ethics - defines good actions as ones that
display embody virtuous character traits, like courage,
loyalty, or wisdom.
B. Deontology - an ethical theory that says actions are
good or bad according to a clear set of rules.
C. Consequentialism/ Teleological Ethics - claims that
the “rightness or wrongness of an act is exclusively a
function of the goodness or badness of the
consequences of that act.”
3.4. Branches of Ethics:
A. Meta-ethics - concerned with the study of the nature
of ethics, investigates where our moral and ethical
principles come from and meaning behind using them.
B. Prescriptive/Normative Ethics - study of ethical
action based on what is morally right or wrong, applies
basic human behavior and actions, and deals with
questions of what we ought to do, or what things are
good to do.
C. Descriptive/Comparative Ethics - defined as
describing and explaining people’s moral attitudes and
the moral norms and practices of societies, deals with
what is believed to be good, right, or virtuous and moral
practices societies do have.
D. Applied Ethics - branch of moral philosophy that
attempts to apply ethical principles and moral theories to
real-life moral issues.
3.5. 4 Main Theories of Foundation of Ethics
 A. Instuitionisms - ethical judgements are verified by a
moral sense.
B. Naturialisms - ethical judgements verified by
observation.
C. Subjectivisms and Emotivism - interprets moral
judgments as statements that can be true or false, so a
sincere speaker is always right when it comes to moral
judgments as well as interprets moral judgments as either
commands or attitudes; as such, they can be neither true
nor false.
D. Skepticism - about moral truth is the claim that no
substantive moral belief is true.
4) Logic - study of the methods and principles uses to distinguish
correct reasoning from incorrect reasoning, derived from the
Greek word "logos" which is often translated in English as "word" ,
"discourse" , or "reason".
4.1. Logic as Reason:
1. Universal intelligence/Rational divine intelligence -
on its point of view, logos means the "light-giving
principle" which enables human person to understand
the nature, dynamics, and mysteries of the universe.
2. Human reason - seeks to attain an objectives or
universal understanding of the nature of reality, on its
point of view, logos means "study" that is rationally of
the human mind.
4.2. Logic as Reasoning:
- When we study the correct processes of reasoning, we
are necessary dealing with arguments. Hence, logic
primarily deals with the principle that governs the validity
of arguments whether a certain conclusion follows from
the given premises or assumptions.
5) Aesthetics - derived from the Greek word "aisthetikos" , meaning
“of sense perception”, concerned with the nature and appreciation
of art, beauty and good taste and examines questions about our
experiences concerning things in the world.
5.1. Significance of Aesthetics:
- teaches us to value our perceptual qualities, perceptual
imagination, and experiences.
- has a significant role in the human experience.
- makes us happy.
5.2. Aesthetic Judgements:
- According to Immanuel Kant, beauty is objective and
universal.
- culturally conditioned to some extent, and can change
over time.
5.3. What is Art?
- skill is being used to express the artist’s creativity, or to
engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw
the audience towards consideration of the “finer” things.
5.4. Aesthetic Universals
 A. Expertise or Virtuosity - technical artistic skills are
cultivated, recognized and admired.
B. Non-Utilitarian Pleasure - people enjoy art for art's
sake, and don't demand practical value of it.
C. Style - artistic objects and performances satisfy rules
of composition that place them in recognizable styles.
D. Criticism - people make a point of judging,
appreciating and interpreting works of art.
E. Imitation - with a few important exceptions (e.g.
music, abstract painting), works of art simulate
experiences of the world.
F. Special Focus - art is set aside from ordinary life and
made a dramatic focus of experience.
G. Imagination - artists and their audiences entertain
hypothetical worlds in the theatre of the imagination.
5.5. Aesthetics:
- is broader in scope than the philosophy of art and is
also broader than the philosophy of beauty.
 Philosophical Doctrines:
1) Atomism - an ancient philosophical theory, developed by
Democritus and expounded by Lucretius, that the ultimate
constituents of the universe are atoms.
2) Determinism - all events including human actions and
choices are fully determined by preceding events and states
of affairs, and so that freedom of choice is illusory.
3) Dualism - reality consists of two basic types of substance
usually taken to be, mind and matter or two basic types of
entity, mental and physical.
4) Hedonism - moral value can be defined in terms of
pleasure.
5) Idealism - the monistic view that material objects and the
external world do not exist in reality independently of the
human mind but are variously creations of the mind or
constructs of ideas.
6) Intuitionism - considers intuition to be responsible for some
particular knowledge.
7) Mechanism - holds that natural phenomena can and should
be explained by reference to matter and motion and their
laws.
8) Monism - the person consists of only a single substance, or
that there is no crucial difference between mental and
physical events or properties.
9) Naturalism - a theory that relates scientific method to
philosophy by affirming that all beings and events in the
universe are natural.
10) Pluralism - reality consists of more than two basic types of
substance.
11) Positivism - any system that confines itself to the data of
experience and excludes a priori or metaphysical
speculations.
12) Realism - accords to things which are known or perceived
as an existence or nature which is independent of whether
anyone is thinking about or perceiving them.
13) Transcendentalism - centers around the belief that
spirituality cannot be achieved through reason and
rationalism, but instead through self- reflection and intuition.