Sociology

The Study of Human Society

Posted by Unknown , Wednesday, April 14, 2010 11:31 PM

Human beings is the social animals and human beings stand out as distinct species. Human beings claim man alone has a soul, has higher level of intelligence, has a speaking ability, has sociability and hence civilized from the sociological point of view this uniqueness can be attributed to the sole factors of culture. Culture includes all modes of thought and behaviour and all kinds of material or non-material achievement of man that are handed down from one generation to another through language. Study of culture involves on the study of human society. The difference between marriage and mating : legitimacy and illegitimacy; authority and dominance can be understood only with cultural interpretations. Most of the sciences of man ( the so called humanistic science ) are actually the science of culture. Man's political, economic, educational, occupational and such other activities are all influenced by culture. The social sciences are devoted to the study of mental and not physical phenomena. " From the sociological point of view the physical objects are products made possible only by transmission of principles and ideas from person to person ".
The Basic Feature of Society : Man is a social animal and he always lives in society. Human society, in comparison with societies, is unique in several respects. Some characteristics of human or animal is societies are as follows :-

1. As Kingsley Davis has pointed out any society involves a certain level of association. But this association is more intricate than a more aggregation and less complex than an organism.
2. Further, the units that the societies bring together at the level of association are not cells or organs, but individuals. The terms 'aggregation' and 'organism' are to be understood to know the real nature of societies.

The emergence of society can be considered to be a great step in organic evolution. But it is a step taken by only some species and not yet all. Thus the analogy must be understand only as an analogy and not as an identity.

• Societal Needs : The societies have certain common needs which must be fulfilled. These needs which may be regarded as " Primary Needs " define the necessary conditions for the existence of any society. According to Kingsley Davis, these societal needs may be classified into four major categories. The needs for population, specialisation, solidarity and continuity.

1. The Need for Population : Society is composed of separate organisms without whom no society could exist. The three basic needs of the organisms are as follows :-

• The need for nutrition or nourishment.
• The need for protection, and
• The need of reproduction

2. The need for Specialisation : Group co-operation among members pre supposes the idea of division of labour and specialisation. The degree of specialisation may differ from society to society.

3. The Need of Solidarity : Societies must guarantee some mode of contact between the members and provide for some motivation for such content. Social solidarity or cohesiveness in the group would be found.

4. The Need for Reproduction : The society or the group must be able to perpetuate its structure, and character. There must be provision for the continuity of the social system even beyond the life-span of any one individual or generation. This is possible only when there is provision for the members to reproduce their kind.

From above it is clear that any kind of society requires certain conditions for its existence. The members of a group or society may not realise them always and strive for their requirements.

• Bio-Social Systems : According to Kingsley Davis societies may be classified into two broad types depending upon the nature of social patterns. Social patterns are determined by heredity or culture. Societies that have patterns fixed by 'heredity' may be called 'bio-social', and and those fixed by 'culture' may be called 'socio-cultural'. Thus , the term 'bio-social system' stands for animal society whereas the expression 'socio-cultural system' represents human society.

# Heredity, the main trait of Bio- Social System

The non- human social system meets its basic needs mainly through the mechanisms that are determined by heredity. Here a change in the social order is possible only from the change in the germ plasma. The society is in the grip of organic evolution. It is biological in character and hence the name 'bio- social system'. Kingsley Davis has carried on his discussion of bio- social system and socio- cultural system at three levels :-

1. In the first level he makes a comparison between the mammalian and other non- mammalian societies.
2. At the second level, he compares the primates, the highest kind of mammals, with the lower mammals on the one hand, and with the human beings on the other ; and
3. At the third level ; he concentrates on the human society which represents the socio- cultural system.

# Culture the Greator of Gaulf Between Human Beings and Primates.

The Homo Sapines, the high minded type of primate has a clear edge over other primates for it has facility of cultural. Society is bio- socio- cultural. It can be referred to as ' socio- cultural ' or in simply as ' human society '. According to Kingsley Davie's, culture provided the sole explanation for the marked differences that we find between human society on the one hand and non- human society, on the other. Hence he calls the human social system " Socio- Culture System ". The dominant role of culture in the socio- cultural system are as follows :-

• Division of labour based on culture.
• Continuous sexuality conditioned by culture.
• Symbolic Communication
• The speed of learning.
• The volume of learning.
• Division of labour in learning.
• Social survival depends on culture.
• The cultural invention of writing.
• Normative control of behaviour.
• The moral order of the human society.
• The normative factor modifies bio- social traits.