Foundations of Sociology : Towards a Better Understanding of the Human World

This book argues that the foundations of sociology - key concepts which are necessary to all sociology, from whatever perspective - have become taken-for-granted and require re-assessment. Focusing on society, culture, the individual, and collectivity, the author builds a powerful case for an overhaul of these basic concepts, offering a unified model of the subject matter of sociology as 'the human world' - understood as individual, interactional and institutional orders - which is part of the 'natural world'. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, this is a powerful restatement of the value of sociological sense as a necessary critique of common sense, and its relevance to an audience far beyond academia. Cover 1 Preface 8 One Foundations of Sociology 12 Defining a Sociological Field of Vision 14 Ontology, Epistemology and Methodology 16 Sociological Objectivity 19 Two What is Sociology? 26 The Roots of Sociology 28 The Uses of Sociology 31 Towards a Generic Sociology 33 Sociological Sense and Common Sense 38 The Necessity of Theory 42 Three Society and Culture 50 Society 51 The Social, the Cultural, the Economic 58 Culture 62 Society and Culture 65 Four The Human World 74 The Human World 75 Individuals, Interaction and Institutions 79 Understanding Change 87 The Ontology of Collectivity 92 Five Exploring the Human World 96 Rationales for Research 96 Observable Realities 100 Systematic Inquiry 108 Choosing Methods 115 Six The Human World and the Natural World 122 Sociology and Biology 123 The Natural World 125 Human Nature, Human Needs 126 Human Bodies 130 Collective Difference and Similarity 136 Human Ecology 140 Lessons for Sociology 145 Seven Why Sociology Matters 150 What Matters . . . 150 Why it Matters . . . 157 Making it Matter . . . 161 Notes 168 Index 187 Jenkins (sociology, U. of Sheffield) identifies and critically examines the fundamental themes and concerns of the discipline of sociology, hoping to prod a shift in the discipline's point of view towards its subject matter, the human world. This new point of view would incorporate into sociology an ecological perspective that sees the human world as being inherently embedded in the natural world and would adopt an analytical framework that would be comprised of three classificatory orders: the individual, the interactional, and the institutional. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Front Matter ....Pages i-x Foundations of Sociology (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 1-14 What is Sociology? (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 15-38 Society and Culture (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 39-62 The Human World (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 63-84 Exploring the Human World (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 85-110 The Human World and the Natural World (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 111-138 Why Sociology Matters (Richard Jenkins)....Pages 139-156 Back Matter ....Pages 157-179