SOCA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Montesquieu, Age Of Enlightenment, Persian Letters
Chapter 2: Classical Social Theories
"Seeing" the World Theoretically
• Theory - a statement that tries to explain how certain facts or variables are related in order to predict future
events
• Every sociological theory has strengthen and weaknesses and each theorists offers unique insight into social world
2.1 Philosophical Roots of Classical Sociological Theory
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
• Suggested that people are responsible for creating the social world around them and society can be stressed
through conscious reflection
o Challenged previous belief of the virtue of God's will
• Hobbes was one of the first theorists to view people as responsible and accountable for the society they created
• Well known for his analysis of natural state - Hobbes' conception of the human condition before the emergence of
formal social structures (i.e. government)
• Believed that people are motivated by self-interest and the pursuit of power
• In his famous work Leviathan he argued that in order to gain peace and protection people would be willing to
enter into a collective agreement that would see them give up some of their individual freedom and autonomy to
an absolute authority (i.e. monarchy)
o Represented transition to independence and autonomy from collective benefit
• Belief that the collective has the responsibility and power to overthrow a corrupt government (i.e. French and
American Revolutions)
• His sociological theory shows assertion that individuals are the basic building blocks of society
o Appropriate role for government is to preserve the individual's ability to achieve self interest while
protecting everyone from others' natural, self serving inclinations
John Locke (1632-1704)
• Argued that God was responsible for the emergence of society and government
• Key to his philosophy is his belief set out in an essay that people are born tabula rasa - "blank slate" suggests that
there can be no knowledge independent of experience
• Suggested that God granted certain rights to people (i.e. right to self-preservation and to private property)
o Secured his belief in sanctity of individual autonomy, a point of agreement with Hobbes
• Disagreed with Hobbes' assertion that people in their natural state were so fearful of each other that they needed
a government to protect them
• Instead viewed the emergence of the state as being more about preserving an individual's right to maintain
property than about protecting individual's from warring against each other
o POINT: government itself has no rights but only obligations to the members of society
o If the state falters in its ability to provide what the collective needs, it should be overthrown
• Committed to ideals of democratic leadership and rights of the masses to assert their power over corruption when
it was necessary and warranted
• Contribution to social theory: advocacy of individual freedom and autonomy --> built foundation of democracy
and constitution
Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
• Early theorists answered where society originated in generally 2 parts:
1. Original state that was either warlike (Hobbes) or peaceful (Locke)
2. People created society by agreeing to a social contract that subjugated them to government
• Montesquieu challenged these views by suggesting that people had never existed outside, or without, society
o Huas did’t defie or reate soiet BUT huas ere defied ad reated BY soiet
• His work Persian Letters was first clear example of sociological perspective
o Wrote letters of two men back and forth despite, Montesquieu himself being of different culture than the
fictional characters
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• Montesquieu practised the sociological imagination by forcing himself/readers to look at themselves and see the
strange in the familiar
• His work The Spirit of the Laws was the result of 20+ years of work and showed belief that analyzing the laws of
society enables one to see what that society deems important
o Laws define the spirit of the people
• Employed ideal types - classic or pure forms of a given social phenomenon (i.e. Unites states can be considered
ideal from of democracy to some)
o Used to categorize three types of government from the infinite variations that existed along with their
underlying social principles:
Republic - two forms: democracy and aristocracy, had spirit of honour
Monarchy - had spirit of honour
Despotism - had spirit of fear
• Contribution to sociological theory was appreciation for cultural diversity and comparative methodology
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
• Agreed with Montesquieu that humans did exist within a state of nature - a state in which people were presocial
• Most famous work was The Social Contract - built on belief that natural state was a primitive condition before laws
or morality
• Believed natural state was where people existed in a symbiotic and idyllic relationship based on equality
o Montesquieu and Hobbes --> believed that natural state was awful existence in which people were against
each other
• Believed we need to understand the basic nature of human condition to build a society that mirrored our natural
tendencies and desires
o Perfect society = mirroring natural state
o Flaw occurred when social arrangement were inconsistent with natural rules resulting in social problems
• Suggested human beings are the only animal that is perfectible and people could achieve their potential ONLY
through society
o People prospered by being more gifted than others, creating social and economic inequality in society
• Believed people entered into social contract as free and equal individuals
• In his view of state, people can aspire to their individual pursuits and be protected from others on the basis of
socially defined rules
• Contribution to sociological theory was his analysis of the social contract and his belief in the autonomy of the
individual
The Enlightenment
• Enlightenment period represent an intellectual movement beginning around 1650 and ended with the French
Revolution
• Philosophes - French philosophers during the Enlightenment period who advocated critical thinking and practical
knowledge
o Built on natural science and fought any attempt to limit free thinking and expression
o Believed that human condition can be improved by all over time
• Enlightenment thinking promoted human agency and created turmoil for the church and society
• Enlightenment philosophers challenged many beliefs grounded in tradition (i.e. inherited titles and wealth that
were not based on demonstrated ability or skill
• Idea to take control of their lives and challenge their oppressors led to the American and French Revolutions which
also had lasting influences:
o For the first time, societies were completely reorganized according to secular ideals of social equality and
liberty
• Sociology was born from conservative reaction against revolutionary ideas of Enlightenment thinks
• Individual was building block for entire society
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Conservative Reaction to Enlightenment Thinking: The Birth of Sociology
• Conservatives promoted a return to earlier times when society was more stable by challenging enlightenment
thinking
• Conservatives believes that society is not the product of individuals but an entity in itself, independent and
separate from the individuals who make it up
• 10 propositions of conservative reaction think - counter every principle of Enlightenment:
1. Society exists on its own with its own laws and is independent of individuals
2. Society, not the individual, is the most important unit of social analysis, and it produces the individual, not
the other way around
3. Individuals are not the basic unit of social interest; society consists of components such as roles,
relationships, structures, and institutions, and individuals are simply those who fill these positions
4. The smallest unit of social analysis is the family
5. The parts of society are interrelated and interdependent
6. Change is a threat both to individuals and to society as a whole
7. Social institutions (i.e. education system, legal system0 are beneficial both to individuals and to society as a
whole
8. Modern social changes (i.e. industrialization, urbanization) are disorganizing elements that create fear and
anxiety and need to be diminished whenever possible
9. Traditional elements of social life, such as ritual, ceremony, and worship, (considered irrational factors by
Enlightenment thinkers) are important to society and tend to offer a stabilizing influence
10. A return to social hierarchies would be good both for individuals and for the collective because they
promote a system of differential status and reward. This reinforces the principle that healthy competition
between individuals is a good thing
• Conservative reaction thinking suggested that society was independent of human experience, that changed
threatened everyone, and that hierarchical arrangements were natural and necessary for a stable society
Legacy of the Conservative Reaction for Sociological Theory
• Macrosociology investigates society-wide structures and phenomena and is more association with conservative
reaction theory
o Tends to be deductive, sees behaviour as predictable, and is associated with European classical social theory
• Microsociology being more associated with enlightenment theory
o Tends to be inductive, sees behaviour as creative, and is associated with North American and contemporary
social theory
2.2 Functionalism
• Functionalists view the social world as a dynamic system of interrelated and interdependent parts
• Structural-functionalism - two-part system of structures and their associated functions
o i.e. postsecondary education system is structural from their buildings, employees, procedure, etc. and is
functional in the sense that it makes it easier to get a well-paying jobs
• Just called functionalism for two reasons:
o Term recognizes the clear link to the classical sociological theorists (i.e. Comte. Durkheim)
o Two most famous and influential American functionalists (Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons) preferred
more narrow/precise terminology
• Functionalists view human society similar to an organism, referred to as organic analogy - describes later societies
organized around interdependence and the increasing division of labour
• Functionalists also suggest that the system's natural state of affairs in one of equilibrium - stable and homeostatic
• Healthy social system:
o All individuals must feel valued and content
o Society must meet needs of majority
• Functionalism can be linked to the work of Ibn Khaldun, Auguste Comte, the conservative reaction movement, and
Vilfredo Pareto
o Pareto argued that individuals are like "molecules" that interact due to common interests, and was first to
describe how social systems were achieved from interrelations
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Document Summary
Republic - two forms: democracy and aristocracy, had spirit of honour. Despotism - had spirit of fear: contribution to sociological theory was appreciation for cultural diversity and comparative methodology. The enlightenment: enlightenment period represent an intellectual movement beginning around 1650 and ended with the french. Sociology was born from conservative reaction against revolutionary ideas of enlightenment thinks. Enlightenment thinkers) are important to society and tend to offer a stabilizing influence: a return to social hierarchies would be good both for individuals and for the collective because they promote a system of differential status and reward. Functionalists view the social world as a dynamic system of interrelated and interdependent parts. Structural-functionalism - two-part system of structures and their associated functions i. e. postsecondary education system is structural from their buildings, employees, procedure, etc. and is functional in the sense that it makes it easier to get a well-paying jobs.
