THE HUMAN PERSON IN

SOCIETY
 SOCIETY
•Organized group of people whose
members interact frequently and
have common territory and culture
•Refers to a companionship or
friendly association with others, an
alliance, a community or a union
 THE SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY

• Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean

Jacques Rousseau were among the most
prominent social theorist who tackled the
origin of human society
• to fully understand the true character of
society they imagined humans as living in
a so called “Natural state” remove from
modernity and civilization
 SOCIAL CONTRACT

•An agreement where individuals

sacrifice an amount of their freedom
and submit to higher authority. In this
way, society is able to function and
meet the needs of the many, ensuring
the survival of humanity
 GOVERNED BY THEIR DESIRES
•Thomas Hobbes, persons in their
natural states are governed by their
desires and these often lead to
conflict with their fellowmen. Society,
therefore, is the means by which
people seek to control their natural
tendencies and impose order.
 CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED
•John Locke proposed his own ideas on
the social contract with different
assumption
•Locke considered persons in their natural
states as more cooperative and
reasonable. And that society is formed
through the consent of the individuals
that organized it
• Locke’s social contract is a covenant among
individuals to cooperate and share the burden
of upholding the welfare of society
• The authority established to run society should
reflect the ideals of the people who organized
it
• Should this authority fail to uphold its obligation
or live up to the ideals of the people, it will be
discarded and replaced with new one
 GENERAL WILL
• Jean Jacques Rousseau's ideas on the social
contract led him to advocate the concept of the
general will
• Even if the people are the ones who organized
society and established an authority or government,
in extreme cases, the government is able to impose
its will on the people
• This is based on the assumption that the people
have empowered the government to act on their
behalf, and that it is considered to be the best judge
of what is most beneficial for society
 ORIGINAL POSITION
• John Rawls redefined the social contract
and explained that human beings approach
social cooperation in a rational manner in
order to meet their individual self interest.
• He imagined humans as having a veil of
ignorance or no knowledge of ones own
characteristics such as gender , race or
social status.
• In this state , humans would naturally seek a
just and fair society in an effort to look out for
their own interest
 SELF- INTEREST
• David Gauthier described as a significant
factor in building and maintaining societies
• Peoples choose to cooperate since it is
beneficial to meet their self interest
• But this selfish interest benefits society as a
whole. Since the actions of individuals in
meeting their individual needs also further
the interest of the other members of
society
 NOTE
• Although there are variations on the social
contract theory, perhaps one common
feature they all have is the fact that the
different individuals enter into a kind of
agreement with one another to form
society
• Individual members put aside their self –
interest in order to create a community
were they may live in harmony with others
 COMMON GOOD
• Society is founded on the concept of the
common good
• Philosophers who discussed the origins of society
traced the emergence of society to the human
desire to achieved the goal of survival
• Established relationships with each other, and
work together as a united group because of the
natural desire for goodness
• Our nature as human persons drives us to do
what is good, and we recognize that other
persons also desire goodness as well
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT
FORMS OF SOCIETIES
1.Hunting and gathering society
2.Pastoral society
3.Horticultural society
4.Agrarian or agricultural society
5.Feudal society
6.Industrial society
7.Post- industrial society
8.Virtual society
 HUNTING AND GATHERING
SOCIETY
• Earliest and simplest form of society
• Small size and is composed mainly of families
• Nomadic because they spend most of their time
searching for food
• No permanent territory
• Members are generally treated equally and decisions
are usually arrived at through a consensus
• Because of this, the roles of its members and the
division of labor is not very clearly defined
 PASTORAL SOCIETY
• Characterized by the domestication of animals for
food for a more stable and predictable food supply
• Pastoral communities have larger populations than
hunting and gathering societies and remain longer in
one place
• Pastoral societies often produce surplus food and
resources, which they trade with other societies
• This relative prosperity enables the people to engage
in other activities apart from those necessary for
survival , such as handicraft.
 HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
• Engages in the small scale cultivation of plants, fruits
and vegetables and the domestication of animals
• Semi nomadic, which means that they travel to
another place when they have already depleted
the resources in one area
• Roles and responsibilities are more clearly defined
with many tasks assigned according to gender
• Similar to the pastoral society , there is also a surplus
of goods, which sometimes leads to inequalities
among its members
 AGRARIAN OR AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
•Evolution of the pastoral and horticultural
societies.
•Involves the large scale and long term
cultivation of crops and domestication of
animals
•Characterized by improved technology
and the use of tools to aid in farming
• Improved technology and farming methods
result in increased production, giving rise to
a growing population in agricultural
societies
• More structure social system that helps
manage resources and its members
• The increasingly complex social organization
and growing importance of territory that
results conflicts over resources and land
 FEUDAL SOCIETY
•Is based on the ownership of land
•Rulers grant their followers the right to
manage parcels of land
•These vassals, in turn, are served by peasant
workers who cultivate the land and tend to
the animals in the farms. In return for their
services, they are provided military
protection.
 FEUDAL SOCIETY CONT.
•Members of society are organized based
on status
•Those who own land are considered the
most powerful and influential members while
the peasant are considered the lowest
group
•Social relations are characterized by
dependence
 INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
• An industrials society is based on the use of
specialized machinery in the production of goods
and services
• These technological advances resulted in
improved trade and commerce and better life
condition for many people
• Work is done in factories and public education is
more prevalent
• The capitalist or business owners are considered
the most influential.
 CONT . INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
• An industrial society is a significant departure from
agrarian society, as many of the relations are not
family or community based
• An important factor in social relations is the
workplace, and people often interact with
individuals who do not come from the same
family, clan or community
• Alienation is common in industrial societies, as
people are often seen as resources to be
exploited
 POST- INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY
• Marked by the establishment of societies based on
knowledge, information, and the sale of services
• Members of this society have higher educational
attainment, better training and specialized roles.
• Led by the human mind and aided by highly
advanced technology, trend has shifted from industry
to the generation, storage., manipulation, and sale of
information
• Information influences the behavior of people and has
thus become a very important commodity in the post
industrial society
 VIRTUAL SOCIETY
• People organize themselves through
communication technology and the internet, is a
product of a post industrial society
• They often have fluid identities and do not
necessarily subscribe to certain norms or
established standards of behavior
• The freedom allowed in virtual worlds means that a
person is able to engage in various activities, as
well as access various kinds of information
 NOTE
• These developments have led to innovations in
human interactions such as language and
establishment of governments
• Developed countries have evolved into post-
industrial and virtual societies
• Despite these advancements and changes. The
human person still remains the heart and center of
society
• The person is the primary agent of change, as he or
she drives social changes based on responses to
events and developments affecting society
 HOW DOES SOCIETY INFLUENCE OUR
DEVELOPMENT AS PERSONS
• The person and the society have a very dynamic
relationship in which one cannot exist without other
it is important to consider society's role in the growth
and development of a person, and the persons role
in transforming society.
• Society influence our development as persons in
various ways. Is the backdrop by which we adopt
the prevailing culture, identity, values, ideas and
knowledge of the persons, groups and communities
that surround us.
 NORMS
• Society influences the interactions of its members through
the establishment of norms
• Which are set of traits and behavior that society considers
acceptable, and are thus encouraged and passed on to
other members
• Example :
Greetings
Handshake
Mano or pagmamano
Laws- more formal and stringent norms that
establish and define acceptable behavior of the
citizens
•FOLKWAYS - Less formal norms that arise
from tradition and do not result in
punishment when violated
• Norms, laws and other rules that regulate
human interactions give rise to a SOCIAL
SYSTEM- which is organized or patterned set
of relationships among individuals and
groups that compose a society
• each member of social system is assigned a
SOCIAL ROLE which are actions and
behaviors expected of a certain individual.
•Individuals who share similar
backgrounds or perform similar roles are
grouped together into SOCIAL GROUPS
OR SOCIAL CLASSES
•Certain groups that perform vital
functions in society are recognized as
SOCIAL INSTITUTION
•Society also transforms human relations,
which leads to the transformation of its
members
•Example: as we grow up and our social circle
expands, our interactions now include our friends
, schoolmate, workmates and other
acquaintances