Topic 1. Sociology as a science

Question 1. The notion of Sociology

The term “sociology” is derived from two words: Latin “societas” – “сommunity” and Greek “logos” – “teaching, science”. Thus, sociology means «the science of society» by its name(the literal meaning of the term “sociology” is “the science of society”). This science appeared relatively late: only in the 30s -40s of the 19^th century it is issued (it was formed) as a separate branch of scientific knowledge. It cannot be said that in the history of human thinking researchers have not applied to (did not look into) the problems of society, its social groups, problems of a human, but these appeals (approaches) were characterized as not systematic, fragmentary and were constructive, not confirmed by specific empirical researches.

Formation and accumulation of knowledge about society, its components and a human place in his life began with the ancient times, based on the ideas of primitive people reflected in myths, legends and heroic epics (epos). Over time (Later on), about two and a half millenary ago, based on the original mythology, Philosophy emerged. In the early stages of its existence it was cumulative knowledge about the world and contained the elements of mathematical, astronomical and other knowledge, and afterwards was called "mother of all sciences."

Gradually Social Philosophy became a separate branch of Philosophy, absorbing numerous attempts to explain social phenomena, the basic nature and purpose (the role) of a human. Except (Besides) Philosophy, social processes and phenomena were also studied by History. In the ancient world the development of Philosophy and History was carried out in parallel, their research fields did not overlap. Philosophy with its abstract and speculative understanding of social reality was far from the real social life in its unique, individual forms. History avoided philosophically-theoretical generalizations, being directed just for (towards) investigation and description of the unique and unforgettable phenomena and life of the historical figures. Moreover, History was always considered as “the science of the past”, while Social Philosophy tended to attempts of the current society understanding. Nevertheless, Social Philosophy can be considered as a precursor of Sociology, as its representatives made ​​the subject of their analysis certain aspects of social life and a human place in it.

However, philosophers of antiquity did not regard society as a separate and independent formation that had specificity of its own development with characteristic mechanisms and driving forces. For them society and social life were an integral part of the total space being, independent from a human and his will. Thus, philosophers of the ancient world regarded society not as an autonomous coherent (holistic) social system with capabilities of self-development and self-improvement, but as a simple or complicated subject of study by analogy with other natural objects. Besides, the ancient philosophical notions of society and a human had an abstract, out of experimental character.

In the age of antiquity had been already formed two trends in the understanding of the society origin and human nature. The first consisted in spreading ideas that society is a natural formation, so a human naturally belongs to the natural world and is essentially a social being. From his birth a man enters society and cannot exist without it. The coexistence of people in society is also natural, voluntary and interconnected with other people. In this case a state serves as a wise master that helps to ensure just distribution of benefits and organize defense against external enemies.

Other thinkers of antiquity, on the contrary, considered society as an artificial formation that was to make an individual member of society from a person-half-animal and curb his instinctive traits such as aggressiveness, selfishness, hostility to each other. A human was understood as a part of nature, dependent on natural laws, such as struggle for survival and natural selection. Here a state already has to rely on power and coercion to prevent hostility and loosening of social order, to stop the "war of all against all”.

Thus, both these trends reflected the general belief that a human is the highest product of nature development (according to the first trend, with all its innate social characteristics and aspirations for the coexistence with their own kind; according to the second - with a predominance of animal instincts, from which he should be deprived of). Differences concerned the interpretation of society: in the first case it was also higher organic stage of natural development and it based on the agreed will of people towards joint (collective) life, in the second - artificially created mechanism or a means of socialization with a help of violence and coercion.

There were many intermediate points of view between these two trends. Also not to mention (It is worth to mention) the Middle Ages, when the basic belief was that both a man and the environment of his existence were created by God. But then the idea of ​​sociality and the problem of a human and society origin were losing sense because everything on earth was the will of God and therefore had only one universal explanation. Such an understanding of the origin of a man and society contains in Religious Sociology, which is one of the components of Theology.

Secular Sociology is interested in the main question: how possible is society? After all, if it is not created by God, it is created by people. But how and in what way? And why society is in constant conflicts and wars? What should we do to exercise social progress peacefully, to provide a decent life of a man? This required a scientific explanation, and so far as (since in the beginning of the 19^th) century Natural Sciences achieved the greatest success, social reality was sought to explore by analogy with Natural Sciences, using appropriate scientific methods. Therefore, the first name that was used for the definition of “the science of society” was "social physics"; conditions that it investigated, were called "social statics" and "social dynamics"; the structure of society was borrowed either from machinery and its parts or from the organism with its complex structure. The term "sociology" itself was introduced to the scientific circulation only in 1839 for the definition of “the science of society”, the main theoretical positions of which had to be based on experimental data. It was the first among Socio-Humanities Sciences, theoretical principles and constructions of which were deprived of abstract and speculative nature (character).

Thus, Sociology, in the most general form (in general terms), can be defined as the science of society created by people for common life.

Question 2. The main levels of sociological analysis

If sociology is “the science about society”, established by people in the process of common vital activity, according to this appears two main opportunities (possibilities) of sociological analysis and two different investigated (researched) units that are in the process of investigation between (investigated by)the sociologists.

The first one – conviction, appeared in the 30s-40s of the 19^th century, that society comes forward as the main unit of analysis. But which society? As there exist many countries and nations, societies of which have convergent and divergent features. That’s why, from(apart from) the influence on the formation of sociology revolution in the natural science at the end of the 18^th century beginning of the 19^th, the process of formation of national states also played a vital role, which began in the West Europe from the times of French Revolution in 1789. The appearance(occurence) of these states and the establishment of their territorial boundaries caused that the notion “society” became identical to the nation-state that existed on the certain territory. Afterwards during the second part of the 19^th century appears so called “container sociology”, that is a science about the development of a certain society in its national-state and territorial boundaries. The expression “container sociology” was introduced by a famous German sociologist U. Bekom and created by analogy with a big box or basket for transportation of goods, in which where(there are) imaginations of sociologists about social phenomena of different levels of complexity, typical to the society to which they belong.

So, in the early stages of the existence of sociology as “the science about society” in the circle of (among) sociologists, the positivistic vision of society as a macro system with coherent structure and functions dominates. In the center of the research attention of sociologists there are large social constitutions as state, economical and cultural life, such generally-social processes as distribution of work and appearance (occurence) of collective responsibility, integration, transformation and social changes, revolutions and wars, and also social structure and classes as well as the layers. Such macro sociological analysis (derives from Greek word “macros” – great) practically releases person from her view (produces person/ human out of it), her role in social development and functioning of society.

That’s why, the other sociologist, inversely, looks at person as the main object of research, trying to clarify why, what for and how this person creates society and lives inside it. With the use of micro level of sociological analyses (derives from Greek word “micros” – small, little) on the foreground appears will and aspiration for living together and creation of “soziums”, groups of people; consciousness and motives of actions of personality, realias (realities)of everyday vital activity, other phenomena of spiritual inner world, interaction of people and cooperation within them. Such approach contrary to the positivists sociology appears at the beginning of the 20^th century and is best manifested in “understanding sociology” of the great and well-known German scientist M. Veber, in the center of which is personality.

In such a way, from the very beginnings of the existence of sociology two polar paradigms dominated in the theoretical imaginations, which were based on different levels of sociological analyses, namely structure and interpretative paradigm or macro and micro sociology. The representatives of the first one were mostly interested in the problems of functioning and its macrostructural components, and the representatives of the other – person-subject as a creator of social connection and institutions and active participant of social relations, as a builder of this society.

The (These) two different methods of sociological thinking are put into practice in these two approaches: thought about social changes as a result of independent from people objective regularities and idea in reference to produce (concerning the production of) these changes by social subject-personalities. That’s why such gap is called macro-micro dilemma, and polarization of macro-micro orientations was a tendency characteristic (typical) for majority of sociological theories in the 20^th century.

In this sense (In view of this) Ukrainian sociology takes specific position. While there were debates around the polarity of macro-and micro levels in the west sociological opinion, the representatives of domestic sociology, that was developing in immigration between the First and Second World Wars, were actively developing mesolevel (from Greek “mesos” – middle) of sociological analyses. This peculiarity was specified by the defeat of national liberation movement 1917-1920 and next in turn loss of its independence by Ukraine. Therefore (Consequently), the most patriotic representatives of Ukrainian science in the period of emigration asked a question that any history or political or economic science could not give an answer on: What is the Ukrainian nation-a nation-state or nation-culture? Why did the independence end in failure every time, loss of statehood power setting of other countries? Is the continued existence of the Ukrainian nation possible and what are the prospects of derivation (formation) and maintaining their own state? To answer this question,they turned to sociology, which was called knowledge of community (No wonder, one of the first purely (merely) social institutions Ukrainian abroad was called ‘’Ukrainian Institute knowledge of community’’).This fact reflected the attention of the Ukrainian sociologists primarily to those social groups, communities (such as a nation, family, religious community) by which the Ukrainian nation could survive even under the outlandish (foreign) domination and keep the energy of national revival.

Mesolevel of sociological analysis successfully combines individual personality and society, micro and macro level ,the existence levels of existence of social reality, as it is through community man is a social life a man becomes a part of social life owing to communities and makes connections with broader social institutions and structures. Since the birth of their child A child just after its birth begins developing first in the small, then in an increasingly complex group formations and communities, ranging from family; while simultaneously a man has ability to form new social groups and through them to their interaction with the macro-level entities hrough them interact with the macro-level formations. In modern society, regardless of his its social and political structure, increasing human desire to be in an environment of ‘’their’’ loved her spirit, history, language, specialty and other chararacteristics of associations of people in social groups like-minded fellow belivers and representatives of some styles life we may observe an increasing desire of human beings to be in the midst of “their people”, who have common spirit, history, language, profession, etc. , in other words, among social groups of adherents , of people with the same religion and lifestyle; in modern sociology such groups is are often called reference. These groups serve for the individual model as models for an individual, the system timer frame of reference/reference system to measure himself and ‘’others’’, and one of the basis of formation foundations of certain social attitudes ,behaviors and values behavior standards and value orientations. Using a computer language, mesolevel of sociological analysis appears in the role of interface or dual interface supports integer integrals in which upper and lower levels are united. Ukrainian sociologists have shown dominating interest in for the dominant social groups and communities a level of mesolevel of social reality, even in as long ago as 20-ies of XX century., however in modern sociological thought sociology of the West similar interest emerged much later. The famous American scholar N.Smelzer says (claims) that only in the beginning 90-ies of XX century in the United States association of sociologists called MESO was formed; it grew from dissatisfaction of the researches of the country USA researchers were displeased with the macro- and micro approaches and the loss of so-called ‘’middle’’, which they believed was a critical crucial (essential) link between individual and social. The focus of this research team group is now focused on the phenomena of level-groups , organizations, social movements and so on , etc. and on priority needs the urgent need of their study However, the situation in the world sociological thought sociology in the last quarter of the twenties century has significantly changed due to the influence of globalization. Globalization of with its destruction of borders between states caused a fundamental review/ reinterpretation of the subject field of sociology, moreover, it led to the need for revision of current theoretical ideas about the main unit of analysis, besides globalization stipulated determined the search of new research technology. The most important may be consider a the general belief of sociologists, that huge social changes ,for example. XX-the beginning. XXl century at the turn of XX - XXl centuries lead to the gradual formation of a higher level of social reality- humanity as one global meha mega-system, may be considered the most essential. American sociologist N.Smelzer in 1995 put forward suggested/ made and substantiated/ proved statement about position on the creation of the world community within the globe and about new global realities that should be explored by the global sociology, first and foremost destroying wrack and ruin of the unity of the nation state and national society, as well as increasing the number of transnational actors and interconnection complexity connections and relationshaips strained relations between them. The formation of a global sociology requires a shift of sociological analysis to of sociological analysis requires transfer to a new and higher meha mega-level ,calling in as well as definition of its subject field in terms of infinite , taking into account variety of the social world - a world without borders but with its new transnational spaces ,new dimensions of time that has the ability to shrink and expand equally, with new risks and increasing density of regional - and global communication networks of communication are the subject of of subjects of global transformations as first first and foremost ‘’World Wide Web’’, the Internet.

Thus, starting from the 30s-40s of the 19^th and till the 80s of the 20^th century sociology developed as “the science of society” in its national-state and regional borders and used the micro-, meso- and macro levels of analysis of social reality. In the first case the main unit of analysis and the dominant subject of scientific interest sociologists person was in the second-social group/community, in the third –a particular society in its geographical constraints interest of sociologists was a personality, while in the second one - a social group/community, in the third – a particular society in its geographical constraints, economic independence and political integrity, social solidarity and cultural identity. The rapid proliferation of globalization has caused the need to switch to meha level sociological analysis of humanity mega level of the sociological analysis of humanity) with its basic unit of analysis and the subject of research as a global mega system which is now in the making, that is now in its development.