Introduction to Sociology Sociology Defined Charon and Vigilant

Introduction to Sociology

Sociology Defined • Charon and Vigilant (2009, p. 5) define sociology as a perspective and an academic discipline that examines the human being as a social being, who is a product of social interaction, socialization, and social patterns. Sociology tries to concern itself with the nature of the human being, the meaning and basis of social order, and the causes and consequences of social inequality. It focuses on society, social organization, social institutions, social interactions, and social problems. • Sociology asks different questions than psychology would (Social vs. individual explanations for human actions) • Marriage, family, community and Feminism are topics in this Unit

Christian’s as Sociologists? (contradiction? ) • Why? Modern sociology, like psychology, identifies marriage/ch as key causes of social ills. Marxism underpins much of modern sociology, and as we’ve seen Marx was intent on destroying religion. • Christian sociology affirms individual free will and responsibility. • Fundamental difference vs. atheistic sociology. Atheists claim that society determines our consciousness and actions. Christianity, however, holds that we are free to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, and that we shape society in the process (rather than being shaped by it). • God as the First Community: the Trinity ‘Let us make man in OUR image’

Review Question • Note: that the test for sociology (Q 3) will ask you to identify the Fundamental difference between Christian and Aethestic views on Sociology • Using the information from the previous slide, explain what this difference is……….

Bourdieu Society ‘causing’ individual (Sec Humanism) • Pierre Bourdieu: dead, white, French • Highly influential sociologist and philosopher • Argued that society is made up of a number of ‘fields’ (E. g. Media, Family, Government) • These fields will be in tension with one another, but will reproduce similar outcomes (within fields) • The product is the ‘Habitus’: defined as a dynamic interaction between human agency and social restraint. • However, our choices are pre-determined by the social structures in which we are socialized into

Christian Sociology • The Christian worldview sees each person as valuable and able to contribute to society. Rather than seeing the individual as helpless in the face of societal and environmental pressures, Christian sociologists view the person as more important than the social institution • Francis Schaeffer explains that we are “not a cog in a machine. . . not a piece of theater; [we] really can influence history. From the biblical viewpoint, [we are] lost, but great. ” Christians such as William Carey and William Wilberforce, for example, were able to change their society and history by bringing an end to the slave trade.