From its inception sociology has had to fight for the right

From its inception sociology has had to fight for the right to be recognized as a unique academic discipline. We already had psychologists, economists, historians, etc. So what did sociologists pursue that wasn\'t already being pursued by other social sciences? Compare and contrast how you think Comte, Marx, Durkheim, and Mead would answer that question. Which of their answers do you find most compelling?

Solution

It’s true that we have many academic disciplines such as psychology, history, philosophy etc. but they don’t address the human interaction and the results much. For example, during the initial periods, psychology focused on mental ailments and individual experiences thus failing to capture the society as a whole. History just records events that are past while philosophy is very abstract.

When we look at well-known sociologists such as Comte, Karl Marx, Mead and Durkheim, they have all talked about the social interaction in shaping one’s attitudes and behaviours, social inequality, self-image, social structures etc. Comte proposed that one should study the social behaviours of human beings and how the society is organised in different structures through empirical observation, Mead explained the development of individual\'s self-image through interaction with others in the society. So much of one\'s personality is determined by others in the environment. Marx\'s view suggested that the world is at war between two classes, people who control the production and people who produce goods. The latter is dominated by the former and this struggle is what causes other problems in the society. Finally Durkheim proposed norms, values and structures of the society that causes inequality and separates people.

So, it’s really important to treat sociology as a unique discipline that shapes ourunderstanding of the society, individual’s behaviours in the society, structure of the society etc.