Others

Others

This excerpt explains the complex relationship that exists between man and the society. It critically analyzes the various factors that define the social structures that man has created throughout history. Generally, the society and all activities that happen in it determine the type of life a person will lead. In an industrialized society, the social classification of people will be totally different from that of people in another social structure. The roles played by different classes people are dictated by the nature of the social structure. Catastrophes also hold the potential of disorienting established social structures and leading to the complete transformation of a society (Newman, 2013). Through social imagination, people are able comprehend their societies and the roles they play in making it a success. They are able to create their own fates and shape up experiences that act as viable lessons for future generations. Social imagination also helps people to understand their history. They gain a deeper appreciation of what other people did or sacrificed in the past to forge societies out of desperate and turbulent situations. The only thing that was easy about this excerpt was that it touched on aspects that relate to the development of social structures. This helps the reader visualize the various factors that affect his or her society. As a result, it is easier to grasp the main points put across by the author in this excerpt (Newman, 2013). The most difficult thing to understand about this excerpt was the constant reference to social and political structures and frameworks. A person with limited knowledge on these factors would find it difficult to comprehend the main message. Nevertheless, it was a resourceful excerpt. 10/07 reflection: Man is often referred as a social being. He simply cannot exist on his own. This is the main reason why relationships are an integral part of our daily life. However, these societal relationships present both opportunities for man to progress as well as challenges that make him question his existence. Man is the main product of the society. He has a relative control over other aspects of life. Moreover, he is also the product of the society. The society exists solely to support man and his endeavors (Urry, 2012). Experience plays a pivotal role in our lives. It defines our perception of the things that surround us. In fact, it makes life a unique experience for people as they get to learn new things along the way. Through experience, problems are solved, opportunities are created and the society is able to progressively grow. They fuel societal development. Experiences are brought about by the troubles and hurdles a man encounters on a daily basis. There are very many pressures that push people towards new experiences. Everyone is usually under pressure to perform specific functions that will enable the entire society to function flawlessly. These troubles, trials, hurdles and tribulations encourage collaboration and cooperation between people, to guarantee success (Urry, 2012). There are various distinctions that differentiate personal troubles faced by individuals and general societal issues. Personal troubles, refer to issues that people are often faced with on a personal basis. They do not necessarily represent the entire society or population. A sickness is an example of a personal trouble. Social issues on the other hand, extend to a bigger portion of the population. They include issues such as poverty, unemployment, insecurity and many more. In-class assignment : Karl Marx is undoubtedly one of the greatest philosopher to ever live on the planet. He pioneered some of the most important philosophies that attempted to explain how a society is structured. He was definitely a relational thinker who sought to identify the nature of the society when it comes to issues such as power and the division of resources. His work has facilitated greatly in the comprehension of the social structures within the society and how they relate to each other (Marx & McLellan, 2000). Karl Marx introduced the boss – worker relationship concept that is dominant in the modern day work and business environment. He stipulated that the society is divided into two major divisions, i.e. the capitalists and the proletariat. The capitalists owned and controlled all factors of production and are what we today call, bosses. The proletariats on the other hand were the workers who worked for the capitalists for wages. According to him, the society was structured in a unique way that ensured that the capitalists would continue gaining more wealth by manipulating and using the workers. This meant that the proletariat would continue to get poorer as they toiled day after day to make the capitalists even richer. This is how Karl Marx viewed and defined social structures (Marx & McLellan, 2000). The final intriguing fact about Karl Marx was the fact that he laid the foundation for four very important theories that focus on the society. These are communism, socialism, capitalism and finally feudalism. Almost all modern societies are based one of these theories. This clearly depicts him to be a very important and influential figure in sociology.

 

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Chen Qian , Oct 11 at 11:49pm

dear Chen — it’s ok! It is due on Saturday at 11:59pm, so you had time. I’ll show your class once again how to re-submit your posts, as I think this is what you had done here… A couple notes: remember it is the “sociological imagination,” not the social imagination…In your reflection, you refer to it as the latter, rather than the former. Secondly — It’s great that you are looking at other texts to try to help explain even more so what we are reading and discussing together in class! The one caution I have with it (at least for this exercise) is that those authors themselves have theses that they need to prove — and often that means they are reading the text differently. Rather than holistically understanding the texts (which is what we have to do in a 100-level course, especially), some refer to texts to help them make their argument. Urry (2012), for example, appears to be writing about collaboration. While that is important to Mills, what Mills was concerned with is that individuals have develop the reasoning capabilities to understand how it is that the world is impacting them and how they impact the world; this is the development of a sociological perspective (i.e, the sociological imagination). RE: Marx — he’s great yes, but unsure if philosophers can be ranked as such! lol He did, however, make very important contributions. Marx didn’t actually introduce the proletariat/bourgoisie relationship nor the various economic systems that had been or were in place; he was just describing what many others (particularly political economists) had already written about. What sets him apart from others, though, is his insistence on describing what that actually looks like in real life (not just theoretically or in terms of numbers (i.e., this business has 5000 employees). Your description of the role of the worker and the capitalists is correct.

Emily Noelle Sanchez Ignacio , Oct 18 at 1:27pm

10/12/15

in-class assignment:

Sociological imagination

The three moments of fundamental dialectical process of society

Man is a product. Society is a product of man. These are two statements which seem contradictory to laymen. However, the statements are more of complementary than contradictory, at least from a sociological perspective. Explaining these processes from the sociological point of view, it would be deduced that indeed man is a product of society and it’s still true that society is a product of man. The three dialectical processes include; externalization, objectivation and internalization. Externalization is the process of pouring men into the physical and mental world. The product of society in this case is man. Objectivation is the realization by the products of society of the physical and mental factors pertinent to it. Internalization is the repatriations of external objectivities into abstract concepts.

Externalization denotes the time human beings are born into society. Through Nozick’s theory of communitarianism, we are able to understand that all humans are born into a community and therefore, man is born into a society. Therefore, he can best be described as an effort of society. Society that existed before him appended energy in order to beget man. Therefore, through externalization, society is a product of man since it is man within this society who dispensed efforts to beget man.

Objectivation entails man beginning to realize the external perspectives that relate to him. It is through these objectivities that man learns to live and coexist with one another. As man designs ways of living with one another, he finds himself making laws to govern inter-personal behaviors and creation of governments and the bill of rights. Man therefore creates society by designing the manner in which society shall function. Therefore, society is a product of man.

Internalization entail re-appropriation of man of objective concepts into abstract concepts endears man into being a subject of society. Man is made a product of society in order for man to be able to understand man better through abstract concepts. Externalization therefore portrays society as a human product while objectivation makes society a reality. It is through internalization therefore than man becomes a product of society.

The process of externalization entails man being being factually different from all the other animals. At birth, man is said to unfinished program which must be completed in his growth into adulthood. He is born into a society and culture which shapes the way he thinks and the way he carries out his works. Man grows into age realizing himself and it is through this process of realization that he decides to chat his own life path. By choosing his own life path, man endeavors to shape society and therefore ends up producing society. In the same vein, animals are usually born completely programmed to rely on animal instincts for their survival.

10/14/2015

According to Mills, animals need no such complex processes in order for them to understand life. In fact, to them, their lives only involve instincts and no reason. To dogs, only dog-life exists, and to sheep, only sheep-life exists. This is a complete contrast to men where we ought to understand that society entails more than the relationship between man and man. Man through the process of realization understands that even animals are essential for the survival of both man and the animals themselves. Although society entirely entails the coexistence of men with men, it largely depends on the existence of other players in order for it to be complete.

An example of a typical society can be discerned from the Marxist society in the industrial revolution era. That man in one society is born into different classes of society with different needs and wants. There are the rich land owners who exist completely a different lifestyle from the proletariat. Since the rich land owners own the factors of production, they have wealth and therefore their needs are all catered for. All they need is satisfaction of secondary wants which are a luxury to the proletariat. When one is born into such a society, he is forced to adopt the way of life of the society he is born in. However, such a society is created by the men who decide among themselves to partition society into classes so that some men may gain from the efforts of other men. The society is structured in a manner that only the rich are able to make decisions which affect society. They end up making decisions which favor only them because the poor low class people would be looking at ways to meet their basic needs while the bourgeoisies are free to make these decisions.

However, through objectivation man realizes the nature of society he is born into. His rational thinking defies the classification. Through extensive internalization, man realizes the economic, social and political inequalities. He opts to change society perspective on the dynamics of life.  Therefore, externalization pushes man to try and change the world. Such texts of Karl Marx are an effort by man in his bid to understand the world, he tries to shape society.

 

 

 

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hi Chen! ok…will talk about the posts first – 10/12 – Most excellent reflection, Chen! you’re well on your way to writing a strong reflection/application paper with this — and the daily post from 10/14. 10/14 – just to be precise, what you described (re: the difference between men and animals) in the first paragraph is written in both Berger and Marx. But what do you mean by “lthough society entirely entails the coexistence of men with men, it largely depends on the existence of other players in order for it to be complete.”? I think I understand where you are going here, but you need to be more precise. Why is it important that we understand that man “depends on the existence of other players in order for it to be complete”? the 2nd paragraph is great because you write about how this arrangement had impacted different people based on classes! This is a great part of your paragraph: “When one is born into such a society, he is forced to adopt the way of life of the society he is born in. However, such a society is created by the men who decide among themselves to partition society into classes so that some men may gain from the efforts of other men. The society is structured in a manner that only the rich are able to make decisions which affect society. They end up making decisions which favor only them because the poor low class people would be looking at ways to meet their basic needs while the bourgeoisies are free to make these decisions.” And then the last paragraph – excellent application of the processes to industrialization: “hrough extensive internalization, man realizes the economic, social and political inequalities. He opts to change society perspective on the dynamics of life. Therefore, externalization pushes man to try and change the world. Such texts of Karl Marx are an effort by man in his bid to understand the world, he tries to shape society.”

Emily Noelle Sanchez Ignacio , Oct 21 at 11:20am

(10/19) In Class Response

In the 8 steps of research, the Tuskegee research did not fail. This is based on the fact that it outlined all the 8 steps such as defining the problem, renewing literature, forming a hypothesis, choosing method, collecting data, analyzing data and sharing results.  Henslin outlines how sociologists do research, gather the data and get reliable information.

The most challenging part of the book was the story of the miner named Nacirema. The information given about the whole situation surprise me as a sociologist since they are different from my own body rituals. What were the essence of face altaratm needles to alter body parts? What was the relevance of washing a rape victim in Holy water to purify?

(10/19) Daily Reflection

According to points taken from our group discussions, sociology and commonsense are aspects that guide a researcher in per taking Tuskegee research. In this case, commonsense assists the researcher in gathering information from groups and personal experiences as evident in gathering reliable information in rape case. Even though there are many reasons given by rape victims, it is essential to per take empirical findings in order to refrain from making assumptions about the rape case.

I support the fact that Henslin states that one will per take the analysis through research models and methods like the ones used by sociologists to make conclusions. This will involve per taking Tuskegee research to identify actual findings.

 

Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 by Karl Max Review

(10/24) In Class Response:

I think the major point of discussion in the exceprt by Karl Max reviews the economic and philosophical perceptions related to wages of labor, profit of capital, rent of land, estranged labor, antithesis of labor, property and capital among many other aspects. The work is separated in two manuscripts where we have the first manuscripts and the second manuscripts. Marx reviews concepts that are dependent upon one another, aspects of existence, representation & material relations and power. The main point of the article was easy to grasp since Marx states that the wages are formulated through active opposition and struggle between employees and capitalist. However, there is a point I faced difficulties in understanding the article where Marx argues that the existence of the capitalist can only be satisfied by the sacrifice they input in their body and mind. I believe that the philosophical argument is based on the fact that the process of determining wages requires thinking about setting wages of labor and accumulating capital that is done by the body and mind respectively. As a theorists, would the thoughts of a capitalist only determine the success of a firm?  (why or why not?)

(10/24) Daily Reflection

The factors of determination used by capitalist in designing wages are based on competition among workers using the existing capital, landed property and provision of labor. In summary, the ability to produce profits or losses determine the wages given. The worker becomes a working animal that is a slave of satisfying his own body. As a theorists, I think that the profit of capital is based on making inputting assets such as land and labor with a sole vision of making profits. The value of profits garnered from the capital is achieved by labor inspection. As a result the labor produced by the worker is controlled by a financial clerk that regulates the amount of wages that is given to the worker. This shows that the worker depends solely on the capitalist to make rules and regulations about his wages since the capitalist have the power and industrial advantages to determine their revenues.

 

The Sacred Canopy by Peter L. Berger Review

(10/21) In Class Response:

The outlines the elements of sociological theory of religion that are used in the society as enterprise of world building. The author wants the reader to understand what are the arguments of sociological theory on externalization, what are the objectivities that a man produces in the society, the social construction of reality and how the internalization of social aspects produces man? I understand that the general objective of the article is to outline the social assumptions about the relationship between religion and world building.

The human being has total control of the society but in some situations the society opposes the activities of mankind. This shows that the man is bestowed on earth through human activity and consciousness in order to take full control of the society.  On Earth, there is no social reality unless man is involved in various activities. However, there is some reality that the society was in existence before man was born. Therefore, man also depends on the society for existence. In general, the two arguments outline the conflict of the societal phenomenon that can only be argued through externalization, objectivation and internalization.

(10/21) Daily Reflection

The deliberations done in our groups of discussion show that externalization reviews the activities that man contributes to the earth. Man can only come into existence through anthropological root based on biological formation of man. Such aspects are manifested through the link between the body and the world. I believe that Berger addresses well the point on how man undergoes steps of growth since he is born as an unfinished product. The process is evident when an infant interacts with the physical and human environment to become a sensible person in the society. This shows that the unfinished product of human beings at birth relates to the instinctual structure that is adopted as he grows to be a finished product to control the society. In general, human existence shows the balance between man and his body in the process of building a society.

The point that got my attention was based on how human exists in the society with an objective. I believe that once a human creates a society, it is driven by objects that are in material and non-material form. In this case, the objects constituted by the society has the ability of producing their producer in the name of man. This is evident in the culture that is created by man but dominates in the world as a society in order to stand alone as a character of objective reality. The acquired cultural products that are adopted by man consists of material and non-material things that end up controlling his activities in the world. At this stage, the society starts controlling man due to the objectives that should be achieved in the world.

In general, I learnt that the internalization shows how man controls the society and how the society controls man. Each society has a problem of passing its objectivity meanings from one generation to the other.  At this stage, the main problem is the process of socialization where a society is taught to abide by the institutional programs in a given society. The man is forced by the society to internalize the meanings of culture, participate in already established tasks and participate in different roles in a given social structure. In this case, man is controlled between the objective world of the society and the subjective world of the individual through socialization. This shows that world building activity is a collective enterprise that involves interdependence between the man and the society.

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