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Explain the factors that led to the emergence of sociology

      

Explain the factors that led to the emergence of sociology.

  

Answers

Moraa
a) Social phenomena not adequately explained
There was a general feeling that disciplines such as philosophy, history, politics and others had failed to explain the social phenomena such as events and occurrences satisfactorily. Comte observed that philosophy was too abstract and contained know ledges that the common people did not understand. The same could be said of other disciplines. They left out the social aspect of people and hence the need for sociology as a discipline that could fill the void/vacuum. There was an urgent need for a field of study that addressed emergent challenges that faced the people and one that they could easily identify with. Sociology fitted in this gap.

b) Intellectual shift in writings
Prominent philosophers and historians of the 19th Century such as Karl Marx (1818-1883), Max Weber (1864-1920), Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) changed from writing ambitiously about the political structures of societies to writing about the industrial revolution societies. In their philosophical writings, they found new interest in reflecting upon subjects or issues like the family, society, population, social institutions and development. This reflection on society in general led to the emergence of Sociology as a discipline.

c) Impact of industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution in Europe resulted in a major migration of people from rural areas to urban centers in search of employment and higher wages. These migrations led to family disintegration, poor work and living conditions, poverty, child labour and abuse, crime, exploitation and segregation. It brought out new social problems that required a fresh approach: Comte realized that such problems were not natural but largely social. They were the result of human collectivities and actions. The solution could only be found in the contexts of the collectivities and not in the expository writings of the old disciplines. Sociology was the discipline that could address the issue of collectivities effectively.

d) New forces
After the French and American Revolutions, new forces emerged in society. Such forces promised to spawn new democratic systems to re-place the old feudal and aristocratic practices which had dominated European way of life for a long time. Suddenly, many people found themselves empowered to live more decent lives. Unlike before, they now owned wealth. 'These changes presented new challenges. There was an urgent need to address topical social problems. This was the province of sociology.

Moraa orina answered the question on August 15, 2018 at 08:46

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