Equality and difference: Disenchantment and social theory Flashcards
How did the self-image of man evolve from the enlightenment and French revolution to the 19th century?
Enlightenment: looking for shared equalities vs. 19th century: focused on the differences between men and how to structure society around that.
- New focus on the differences and inequalities in men.
- All agree humans were equal in nature, social theory caused issues in 18 century.
- 19 century was based on a physiological point of view, which focused more on subjective experience and the individual compared to the “all men are equal” thoughts of the Enlightenment.
- Before the Enlightenment religion classified society, after the French Revolution they had to figure out how to structure society. (structured by nature and rationality)
- The 19th century used structures that were thrown back by more recent sciences such as biology.
What is biologism?
- Use biology to look at social situations.
- The nature aspect in the ‘nature vs. nurture’ debate.
- Using classification to classify people.
What is organism?
- There are natural inequalities and humans are connected through them in society.
- Harmonious association of different people.
- Society itself is an organism.
- Differences allow for specialization in society.
Aristotelian principle: to be a good member of society you have to maximize your potential and realize it in a specialization. (more individualistic)
Platonic principle: does not have mobility, you do what you do for the collective good of society.
political and social implications of the redefinition of men?
- Created classes for industrialization
- More focus on how differences can contribute to society.
- Good justification for the free market, let the market work organically.
- Influenced public opinion on slavery and colonization by categorization.
- Good justification for the strict classification of gender roles.
What are the ideas of Saint-Simon?
- Three types of men based on Bichat:
Brain man → Scientists needed to discover positive law as a guide of social action.
Motor man → Industrial class, anyone who is engaged in the production.
Sensory men → Artists, and religious leaders, give the industrial society a cohesive humanitarian spirit and platonic capacity. - Inequalities balance each other in order to create a harmonious society.
What are the ideas of Bichat?
- You should specialise in your one quality and capacity.
- The responsibility of society and the state is to specialize in the individual who will in turn benefit society.
- The state has to create the best environment for people to flourish.
What are the ideas of Comte?
- Want to provide an explanation for the modern crisis and founded sociology as the scientific base for philosophical and political reflections.
- Three stages:
Stage one: theological. How do people explain the world and their existence.
Stage two: metaphysical. Concentration on metaphysical and philosophical explanations of the world. Try to explain the world through concepts.
Stage three: Positivism (scientific, final) Refuse metaphysical thinking and now look at the world through science. Replace by scientific theory.
What is positivism? (Comte)
- To create common knowledge and factual knowledge based on observation.
- The aim was to create a scientific society and it is caused by the decline of religion. They do not deny the existence the God as it just could not be proven through science.
- Everything should be based on objective truth and calculated.
- Women are fundamental to society but remain private sphere because of their superior emotional capacity.
How did the role of God change?
- The pursuit of power is no longer in the afterlife but in the present in the physical world. Inequality is a state of harmony, that’s the role of the universe.
- Morality now comes from positivism.
- God as an abstract concept does not change.
