The subject-matter of sociology

Spencer did not provide a developed, formal definition of sociology or of its relation to other social sciences. But in The Study of Sociology he paid much attention to demonstrating the possibility of its existence as a science. This possibility depended on the existence of a universal law of “natural causality” which operated in society to the same extent as in nature, and of a regular connection of the elements and structure of any phenomenon. By examining in detail the objective and subjective difficulties of shaping sociology as a science, Spencer anticipated a number of the theses of the future sociology of knowledge.

The most complicated methodological task for him was to demarcate sociology from history. When studying the laws of the development of society, sociology is, in spirit, a historical science. But in Spencer’s opinion, it was related to traditional, narrative, descriptive history in the same way as anthropology to biography. In the same way sociology, even though it rested on historical facts, was closer methodologically to biology.

In contrast to Comte, Spencer not only set out his understanding of the subject-matter and tasks of sociology but also, in fact, realized the principles he proclaimed. His Principles of Sociology was essentially the first attempt to construct an integral sociological system on ethnographic material. Under the heading “The Data of Sociology” he tried to reconstruct theoretically the physical, emotional, intellectual, and especially the religious life of primitive man, and to bring out the origin of his main ideas and notions. Later, in “the inductions of sociology”, which consisted in a kind of general theory of society, he analyzed the concepts of society, social growth, social structure, social functions, various systems and organs of social life. In the second volume of Principles of Sociology he examined the evolution of domestic relations (primitive sexual relations, forms of the family, the position of women and children), ritual institutions (including customs), political institutions. His sociology was thus an all-embracing science that included anthropology, ethnography, and a general theory of historical development.

Exercise 7. Choose the right answer.

1. Spencer paid much attention to demonstrating existence of sociology as:

a) evolution;

b) concept;

c) science;

d) history.

2. What did Spencer want to demarcate sociology from?

a) biography;

b) history;

c) society;

d) biology.

3. What was the first attempt to construct an integral sociological system?

a) The Data of Sociology;

b) The Study of Sociology;

c) Principles of Biology;

d) Principles of Sociology.

4. How did Spencer try to reconstruct the life of primitive man in “The Data of Sociology”?

a) theoretically;

b) practically;

c) emotionally;

d) intellectually.

5. What did Spencer’s sociology include as an all-embracing science?

a) anthropology;

b) general theory of historical development;

c) ethnography;

d) all above mentioned.

Exercise 8. Fill in the gaps using the words given below, and translate the sentences into Russian.

empirical society method attempt modify

principles positivism contributed natural all-embracing

1. Spencer’s method is, broadly speaking, scientific and empirical, and it was influenced significantly by the … of Auguste Comte.

2. In science the important thing is to … and change one’s ideas as science advances.

3. Scientific knowledge was primarily ….

4. Spencer’s … was also synthetic.

5. The purpose of each science or field of investigation was to accumulate data and to derive from these phenomena the basic … or laws.

6. Spencer developed an … conception of evolution as the progressive development of the physical world, biological organisms, the human mind, and human culture and societies.

7. As a polymath, he … to a wide range of subjects, including ethics, religion, anthropology, economics, political theory, philosophy, biology, sociology, and psychology.

8. Spencer’s interest in psychology derived from a more fundamental concern which was to establish the universality of … law.

9. He developed a theory of two types of …, the militant and the industrial, which corresponded to this evolutionary progression.

10. His … to introduce Lamarckian or Darwinian ideas into the realm of sociology was unsuccessful.