There are many debates within sociology; such as wether to place emphasis on structure or individuals, on theory or empirics, on conflict or harmony - but sociologists generally agree that there are elements of all positions within a society. Because of the plasticity of the sociological perspective, one is to a certain degree free to position oneself within these axis.
Finding your angle to any field of science, is not easy, it takes years of thinking and internal rumination. However, for my own part, I see my sociological views as springing from two sources: My inclination to look for causation, and my nack for abstraction. Below is a small selection of some of my basic assumptions about society. These views affect how I judge other theoretical work.
1: Society is continually created by individuals.
I reasoned like this: If every human was wiped from this earth, and exchanged with different humans, society would go on in a different way than before. Therefore society is not only comprised of individuals, but also made by them.
Implication: History is non- existent, other than as an expression of the history adopted by the individuals of that society. Historians know we reflect only a tiny strand of the wooly carpet of the past, in spite of the fact that we are a product of our history. Still, if every history book was changed in school, pupils would adopt that version of history as the right one.
2: Social action is based on the expectation of future conduct of our peers.
Even though the future is intrinsically open to many kinds of conduct, we tend to do approximately today, what we did yesterday. This predictability is both the foundation of stability in our society, and also the reason we are able to plan say; to keep out of the rush our.
Implication: We also count on others to predict our behavior. Repetition of behavior is what comprise what we call identity. Thus we establish trust through repetition of good behavior. Singular breaches of this expectation are forgiven, but repeated offenses result in a change in expectations. And furthermore; bad conduct is sanctioned. This fundamental rule is the backbone of the financial and legal institutions of our society. The difference between breaching the trust of your friend, and that of your bank, is that of formal and informal rules.
3: We are limited in our actions by ourselves, the power of our peers and social structure.
This one is a bit more complex than the others. But, a little more in depth:
We are limited in our ability and will to make choices.
When we make choices, they are sometimes changed by someone else who has power over our decision. Parents tell us to go to bed. Bosses tell us to to some work, and our loved ones ask us of we would pleace be so kind as to fetch a glass of water.
Much of what we want to do, we must do within an institution or a social system. Often we are limited by several things at the same time, and our choices are narrow. Example: You want to be environmentally friendly, but time constrictions layed down by societies normal working hours dicate that your only choice is to take the car.
Final notes:
These examples are often interdependent: Sometimes we are unwilling to choose to confront those in power, because the law has dicated that they controll the army. But there are differences that make me believe that thinking of these three factors as independent concepts is useful.
There are many other views I have aquired trough the years, often more abstract (such as in how the human minds need to simplify results in a structure of abstractions that often serve to hide truths from us), or in the more concrete (tool use is fundamental to human thinking, and consistent over nearly all tools.) But these are a good cross section of my fundamental sociological views.
For those who's interest is peaked by sociology's ability to describe society, don't hesitate to write to me for tips on good books to read, or leads to follow. Keep in mind that what I've written is simplified from more complex theories, and that only using the words I have provided, this will be a bit hard to retell.
