"Sociology as a Form
of Consciousness"
From: Peter Berger's Invitation to Sociology, 1963.
Society:
- System of interaction: individuals,
groups, institutions.
- Human Beings "oriented" towards
one another: Shared understandings, Meaningful interaction
- The Social as
an "emergent reality"
Sociologists
- Not interested in same concerns
as economist, political scientists, etc.; But in the human activity/interaction
that surrounds and defines these spheres of social life.
- Look behind the scenes
- Explore "taken-for-granted" reality
- Uncover patterns that define the
particular groups, or entire societies.
- Formal and official versus informal
and tacit.
- Example: Marriage and Mate selection
- Love- yes, but:
- Who falls in love with whom? Propinquity
and Homogamy.
- Factors of social class, income,
education, race, ethnicity,
religion
- Social: What people are concerned
about. What they define as a problem.
- Sociological- Not why a "thing"
goes wrong, BUT:
- Why and how, and who defines the
"thing" as wrong.
Sociology, due to the logic of
the discipline and its method contains an inherent "Debunking Motif." Sociology
seeks to expose myths, and "taken-for-granted" assumptions in order to reveal
the level of reality that lies behind our behavior.
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Thursday, October 31, 2013 3:19 PM