Disciplines of

Social Sciences
Chapter 2
 SELFIES
Today, selfies are a common phenomenon among us,
especially the youth. Selfies are generally portraits of
and about oneself, aided by information and
communication technology which enables the
photographer to easily take, record, and document
aspects of his or her social life and instantly show it to
the ‘’world’’ via the internet and social media.
 How do we see social reality? How
should we see it? How do we intend
to change or reform it?
Theories are our explanatory models where we
could analyze, examine and interpret what we
see and experience about life society, and
humanity. Theories must not be taken as pills to
be swallowed entirely without question, without
examination.
Classical Frameworks:
Evolution and Function
Human Body

Understanding Society Based on Nature

Evolution

The Notion of Function

Classical Frameworks:
Historical Materialism
and Human Personality
Historical Materialism and Karl Marx

Classical Psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud

 The Human
Body
This is is how basic and fundamental
classical social theories begin. We set
off with an image of a human body,
using it as both a metaphor and
heuristic device (learning tool) through
which we study early Western theories
(from 19th to early 20th century) about
society.
 Understanding Society Based
on Nature
Classical social theories do provide the foundation, albeit in
controversial fashion of Social Science and the ‘’society’’
that it wishes to elucidate. European classial social theories
did tackle what society means and what constitutes it.
Evolution
Classical evolution states that living organisms,
over time, develop from simply forms of existence
to complex states of life. The general trend of
evolution, thus, is from simplicity to complexity.
The difference between simple and complex
organisms is that the former perform multiple
function, while the latter carry out tasks through its
differentiated parts, which take care of their
respective duties for the whole body.
Evolution
Eventually, this evolutionist and developmental
thinking permeated theories of society, which
largely saw Western society reaching the pinnacle
of progress while the other societies were still lost
in the ‘’dark’’, in lower stages of unilineal
evolution.

Later on, evolutionism became ‘’Darwinism’’, the

name taken from the British thinker, Charles
Darwin. Eventually, Darwinism became ‘’Social
Darwinism,’’ which says that stronger and fitter
societies will naturally take over the weaker
societies. This is evolution applied to societies,
which sees them as evolving from simple structures
to complex ones.
Evolution
Evolution, mainly applied in, it states that laws of
nature have established anbiology enduring and
continuing, albeit very slow change on Earth and
that includes living organisms as well as human
beings.

Change is a slow process of transformation from

simple to complex, suggesting that the structure,
organization, function and characteristics of
organisms adapt to changing times and situations
and develop internal mechanisms to ensure
reproductive success.
Function The theory of ‘’function’’ was
developed by Herbert Spencer and
Emile Durkheim. The whole point of
this theory is to liken society to a living
organism- complex body parts and all-
whose objectives are self-preservation
and self-perpetuation.

Applied to society, the organic analogy

of society follows the same logic of a
complex organism whose parts are
highly differentiated yet work
independently.

‘’Social cohesion’’ and ‘’integration’’

are a matter of high importance in order
to keep the parts functioning together as
a single unit towards a common goal or
purpose.
 Fun fact!

Charles Darwin Russel Wallace

He proposed the theory of ‘’natural
selection’’, a pattern of evolution. This is
the very foundation which evolution is
built from.
While Charles Darwin has become the
face of evolutionist, he thought of the
same ideas about revolution the way
Darwin did! He deserves as much credit
as him.
According to Durkheim, everything that social structures do, everything
that they are, and everything that they are for contribute to social
integration and social unity. The common culture—a structure in itself
which all of the members of the people share—contributes to the smooth
functioning society.

Durkheim’s famous sociological analysis of a problem in Europe, suicide,

elucidates certain variables, that is categories of people from their status such as
sex (male or female), socioeconomic condition (married or unmarried, rich or
poor), religion (Catholic or Protestant), etc., increase or decrease the vulnerability
of an individual to commit suicide.
Modern anthropology, too, developed with the hell of this idea of
function. The function of what constitutes society and the hidden
force that keeps it together was being asked of non-Western
societies. In fact, Durkheim along with earlier ethnologists, such
as James Frazer, Edward Taylor, and Robert Marett, examine
society according to his belief that these non-Western societies
represent the most elementary form of social reality, of how
human society evolved and developed—the very essence of
human organization.

Religion is a social artifact, a social structure manufactured by

society to maintain and perpetuate itself.
The emerging social science of the late 19th to early 20th
century endeavored to characterize in tangible terms and
through comparative analysis the role that functions play in
the existence of humans and human institutions and society.
Anthropology and sociology were the forefront of this
Functionalism states that what keeps society
thinking; they sought to characterize social phenomena
together is the function or role that all parts
according to how society operates.
of a system perform, assert, and play in
order to preserve, maintain and sustain
society for posterity. No society would want
to destroy themselves so that each and
every part, institution and sector, must
perform expected roles and functions.
Structural functionalism of Radcliffe-Brown follows
the Durkheimian paradigm of focusing on
underlying structures that support the whole fabric
of society. As we say in Filipino, sakit ng
kalingkingan, sakit ng buong katawan. Even the
pain caused by the pinky finger can affect the
whole body. When one part of the body has some
sort of sickness, the whole body is affected and in
pain because of this. Truly, in an organic analogy of
society as a human body, the whole unit will only
function well if all of their parts perform their
expected tasks. If there are maladaptive parts
(meaning, not good for the heath), eventually they
will contribute to the collapse of society unless
checked by other units or sectors in charge of
correcting and penalizing the erring units.
 The 19th century German social thinker, Karl Marx,
Historical Materialism approached the nature of Western society from a different
perspective, that is from the perspective of the ‘’economy’’.

and Karl Marx He got great inspiration from Wilhelm Hegel the concept of
‘’dialectics’’, which refers to the process of movement and
change in human society
How Marx viewed ‘’modern’’ society from the perspective
of economy—the material conditions of the people—lies in
the core of his social theory. Work or task is highly
differentiated and segmented as well as the statuses of
people within the factory. Thus, the ensuing social relations
are largely shaped by economic situation characterized by
capitalism.
The Communist
Manifesto
Karl Marx
Classes or categories of people are markedly defined
according to where they stand in the productive process.
Marx called the owner as the capitalists; and the workers,
the proletariat. Anyone who controls the capital (raw
materials and the means of production) becomes the
ruling class.
To elucidate, society consists of two parts: first, the
‘’base’’, which is the economy, second the
‘’superstructure’’ which consists of social structures such
as religion, family, government, culture, values and etc.
that rest on top of the economic base. Marx surmised
that humans underwent a unilineal historical process
based on economic or materialistic framework. This is
known as social theory as ‘’historical materialism’’.
According to Marx, there has always been a conflict
between classes.
 The problem with these systems, with these structures,
according to Marx, is that they are human beings’ own
creation. All these are products of their thoughts and
actions. Unfortunately, what people have created seemed to
develop an ‘’objective’’ existence, meaning they appear to
be natural and real, having a life of its own. If this is all about
economics, then, workers could seize control of their forces
of production and reverse the system.
 Classical Psychoanalysis and
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud, the influential German
psychologist, provided a revolutionary way of
understanding human personality , but also
how society and our psychology. Freud’s theory
of human personality revealed aanother facet
of which des not only remain up there above
our heads but resides even in the necessitated
minds, of our consciousness.
 According to Sigmund Freud, the self consists of three parts;
‘’id’’
The first aspect is called ‘’id’’. In its
natural state, the human being has
uncontrollable instinctual desires, say,
things that pertain to violence, which
need to be gratified. It is the
unconscious aspect of the human mind.
‘’ego’’
The second one is called
‘’ego’’, the conscious and
rational part of the self. It is
torn between gratifying the
tendences of id and censoring
them. It mediates between
the biological and social
needs of a person.
‘’superego’’
The third one is called ‘’superego’’. It
is the internalization of societal
values and beliefs. It plays a
moralizing role for the individual
because it serves as the person’s
conscience. It is the last to be
formed in the development of a
person and inculcated in his or her
personhood.
Thanks for
listening!