ISS 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Social Contract, Edward Burnett Tylor, Ethnocentrism

• School: MSU
• Department: Integrative Studies Social Sci
• Course: ISS 210
• Professor: Monir Moniruzzaman

Document Summary

The social contract theory: all men are born free and equal. Society came into existence because of the agreement by the individuals: thomas hobbes (1588-1679): the life of a man was solitary poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Every man was an enemy to every other man. Therefore, man organized himself in society in order to protect himself against the evil consequences. Emile durkheim: he distinguished sociology from psychology as psychologist"s study individuals and their mental processes, whereas sociologists are concerned with the social structures that influence individual actions. Eth(cid:374)o(cid:272)e(cid:374)tris(cid:373): the pra(cid:272)ti(cid:272)e of (cid:448)ie(cid:449)i(cid:374)g the (cid:272)usto(cid:373) of other so(cid:272)ieties i(cid:374) ter(cid:373)s of o(cid:374)e"s o(cid:449)(cid:374). It is the (cid:271)elief that o(cid:374)e"s o(cid:449)(cid:374) (cid:272)ulture is superior to a(cid:374)y other. East vs. west: america is an individualistic society, individuals come first, and members of groups come second. We are individuals, but we belong to social or cultural groups.