Social Thought and Social Change - Assignment Example

1. Enlightenment was the pioneer intellectual and cultural movement of the 18th century to understand the world and the human on the basis of reason.It was a dominant ideology and progress in Western European nations which first born in France and England. Enlightenment movement started by the intellectuals of 18th century whose critics towards the European culture including political, social and economical structures, attitudes toward the human kind, the dominant doctrines and institutions of Christianity created a big impact. The movement underlined human reason in order to achieve individual liberty, freedom, and finally progress. Scientific methods became the main key to understand the world opposed to the church and gained a privileged position in the society. Thus, it created a conflict with the current dominant figures of the time such as monarchs, aristocracy and the religious authorities like church. Positivism took the stage. As Nisbet stated, Voltaire (1694-1778) was the first defender of the Enlightenment who combined science and reason as the basic necessary notions to achieve social progress. On the other hand, Adam Ferguson (1783) was another intellectual who saw human progress as rejection of predestination. Enlightenment was a pioneer of the human rationality as the source of knowledge and rejected previous authorities such as the church or custom. Lately, Turgot (1750) stated that progress covers the whole culture including institutions, economy, and society. The key motivation of enlightenment was progress which provided improvement of the world, society and human. The development of the science and technology would lead to economic evolution which would finally improve the quality of life of the human beings. Immanuel Kant (1797) saw progress as a transition from barbarism to civilization. His political and social philosophy emphasized the idea of freedom through the education. He argued the importance of the education of human beings toward the enlightened culture. Kant defended freedom as an innate right of the human kind and he said that moral law cannot be based upon the happiness of the citizens. According to him, freedom is the equality of human kind in every subject like income, power, and mental ability. His arguments support the basic notion of Enlightenment based on the reason opposed to the religion. It was not surprising that Enlightenment led to progress since it opened a new era in human development. It made human kind understand that the basis of solving problems and moving ahead relies on the reason and science which depend on concrete and physical facts. Work Cited Turgot, A., 1750, A Philosophical Review of the Successive Advances of the Human Mind, in Turgot on Progress, Sociology and Economics, R.L. Meek (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973. Nisbet, Robert. (1980) History of the Idea of Progress, New York: Basic Books. Kant, Immanuel (1797). Metaphysics of Morals. Ferguson, Adam. (1783) The History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic. 2. Every change in the history is a result of a cause and effect. Throughout the history, major changes happened in the societies that affected the political, economical and social infrastructures. Those major changes are called as stages of history. We can see that stages of the history were mostly interpreted depending on the economical and materialistic conditions. For example, Karl Marx (1818-1833) defined himself as materialist and interpreted the history as the history of class struggles. According to Marx, material conditions were the determining factor of a society in terms of creating class conflicts and inevitable changes. In addition, changes in economy would lead changes in superstructure such as politics, law, religion, and philosophy. Marx and Engels (1845) identified five stages of history based on the modes of production and development of the working class: Primitive communism, slave society, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, and communism. Each stage developed a new class, thus, a new living standard and class conflicts. On the other hand, Adam Smith (1776) divided the history into four stages: Age of hunters, Age of shepherds, Age of agriculture, Age of commerce. According to Smith, economy was the determining factor of the history by underlining the living standards of the nations. In addition, each stage was more advanced than the previous one. Thus, we can say that Smith sees the history as a progress in terms of living standards. Throughout the history, each change in the economical, social or political conditions created a transformation in the society and culture. Thus, those changes created a revolution. Revolution can be defined as fundamental change in power and structures. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) describes two types of political revolution: Complete change from one constitution to another and modification of an existing constitution. For example, French revolution brought transformation in ideas; agricultural revolution brought a new idea in alimentation. On the other hand, industrial revolution brought a change in the production of goods and productivity of labor by reorganizing work and the workers. As Alexis Tocqueville (1856) stated, a revolution can be differentiated between political revolutions, revolutions that seek to bring a new political system and change the entire society and revolutions that transform the entire society and effect several generations. Meanwhile fundamental changes in the society brings revolution and transformation, it should not be interpreted as a negative issue. Every revolution brings amelioration to the human kind. It forces the citizens to act and think differently and to improve the current structures. Work Cited Marx, K., 1845, The German Ideology: Part I, in The Marx-Engels Reader, R. C. Tucker (ed.), London: W.W. Norton and Company, 1978. Smith, Adam (1776). The Wealth of Nations: A modern-day interpretation of an economic classic, New York: Modern Library, 1994. Tocqueville, Alexis (1856). The Old Regime and The Revolution, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). The Politics. 3. Max Weber (1904) was the developer of the concept of rationalization. Weber analyzed the relationship and the connection of religion with the economy. He noticed that religion was an obstacle to reach wealth to economical growth since it was interpreted as the rejection of worldly affairs. Thus, rationalization is the main motivation of modernity. According to Weber, rationalization stated the growing importance of the science in the society meanwhile the dominance of supernatural and religious and magical beliefs lose the impact. According to him, scientific methods which imply a theory that should be tested and proved by measurable and consistent evidences had to counteract the religion, magic or supernatural beliefs. Max Weber’s theory of rationalization gives reference to human control and talent over the natural and social environment. His rationality had four meanings: Practical rationality, theoretical rationality, substantive rationality, and formal rationality. Among them formal rationality was the one that high lightened universally applied rules and laws particularly applied in economic and social organizations. In this point bureaucratic organizations took the stage. Another theorist Jesus Mosterin (2008) made a similar distinction between practical and theoretical rationality by stating that human is able to think and act rationally. Max Weber saw bureaucracy as the dominant social organization of the modern society. Rationalization became the most important part of the development of social organization in order to achieve precise goals by efficient means. Max Weber (1864 – 1920) saw bureaucracy becoming dominant in modern society due to the commitment to rationalization, thus, to achievement of effectiveness. Bureaucracy is an organization with defined objectives. In bureaucratic organizations, everybody has a specialized role and there is a hierarchy in the systematic process of administration. On the other hand, standard and clearly defined rules create opportunity of promotion based on the merit for the workers. Bureaucracy is necessary and indispensable in complex societies where there is a need for technical qualification and discipline. However, bureaucracy also limits freedom and power. As Boucock (2000) said, it also creates loss of autonomy. There are dictating people who tell the value of an individual’s work. In addition, Baurmann (2002) said that bureaucracy also kills independency since it requires the efficiency rather than specialization. Rationalism led progress of the society and opened a new age emphasized by human liberation. Thus, rationalization also led to the new concepts such as modern business organizations and bureaucracy in order to increase efficiency in work. Work Cited Baurmann, Michael. The Market of Virtue: Morality and Commitment in a Liberal Society. Springer P, 2002. Boucock, Cary (2000). In the Grip of Freedom: Law and Modernity in Max Weber. University of Toronto P. Mosterín, Jesús (2008) Lo mejor posible: Racionalidad y acción humana. Madrid Weber, Max (1904). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, tr. Hans H. Gerth. New York: Free press. 4. Division of labor is based on the specialization of occupations in each task, role, and organization. On the other hand, it puts emphasis on the interdependence of the job functions. In division of labor, each function is divided into sub-functions and each sub-function develops its own specialization. Adam Smith, saw division of labor as the basis of industrialism in order to increase productivity and quality of work in the society. Thus, he interprets division of labor as the basis economical progress. On the other hand, Karl Marx saw division of labor as inefficiency in progress. He believed that specialization may lead the workers lose their enthusiasm towards the work since they will be expected to perform the same job over and over. Emile Durkheim (1893) saw division of labor as a fundamental issue of progress. The ideas that were raised after the French Revolution created a new society where new social norms should take part. According to Durkheim, social order should be achieved through human solidarity. In addition, he stated that division of labor was essential for human solidarity. In division of labor, people would interact between each other because they will have obligations to the others because each person will contribute to the society. On the other hand, division of labor would develop intellectual capacity which will in turn develop material capacity in the society. Durkheim believed that division of labor will reward the talented people and those who are more talented will occupy more important positions in the society. It is where meritocracy takes the stage. Meritocracy rewards the talent and excludes class privilege. It is independent from age, gender, or class. The term meritocracy was first used by Michael Young (1958) by defining it as the combination of intelligence and effort. He imagined a society where the most talented and competed individuals take the managerial positions. According to him, statue is something to be achieved rather than attributed. However, Young’s meritocracy and Durkheim’s division of labor theory do not take into account some issues like inheritance, discrimination, and seniority. Individuals who are on top levels of the institutions and who are in charge of the management of the rest do not always look after the benefits of them and of the system. They do not consider their needs and they do not reward their contributions and success. Thus, division of labor also has the risk to increase inequality. Work Cited Durkheim, Emile (1893). The Division of Labour in Society, New York: Free Press, (1997). Young, Michael (1958) The Rise of the Meritocracy, 1870–2033: An Essay on Education and Equality Smith, Adam (1776). The Wealth of Nations: A modern-day interpretation of an economic classic, New York: Modern Library, 1994. Read More