THE RISE OF THEORETICAL SOCIOLOGY

A new science: Science of Society (Sociology)   Natural world vs Social world   A natural science of society? Sociology as a science like any other natural science. Is sociology a science? This is open to debate. Some believe sociology is a science but not every sociologist believe it is or even it can be. Sociology: a modern science that studies “modern society”   Four Major Transformations that produced the modern society and made possible the rise of sociology:   The Enlightenment (an intellectual revolution) The French Revolution (a political revolution) The Industrial Revolution (a socio-economic revolution) The Reformation (a religious revolution)   The Enlightenment [key ideas] Reason (gives rise to individual, encourages each person to use their own mind) Science Progress (change is possible and is for the better) The philosophes Critique of the church and the monarchy Thinking about the social outside the domain of morals, religion, metaphysics (rather looking at facts and using reason) Emancipation of social thought from religious speculation (Montesquieu, Turgot, Condorcet)     The French Revolution [key ideas] Nation and nationalism Equality Citizenship Nation-state   The Industrial Revolution [key ideas] Division of labor