Hello there,

In the last blog, we covered the final topic from the first chapter. Common sense became the foundational aspect of sociology. The question that can arise is why common sense was opted for instead of anything more concrete. We also saw how sociology was emerging and made its way into social science.

There is one point that I have to tell you as well - it is about why sociology is tagged as a social science. We will also take up a question that I received in the last blog as well.

Source - Giphy

Sociology as social science

When the war was going on between sociologists and scientists on sociology, not many of them were able to give a clear solution. the problem was the narrow mindset, sociologists were not thinking broader and so with the scientists who were denying the entry of sociology under the great umbrella of science.

Sociologists wanted to make sociology - a science but couldn't as they did not have objectivity. The lack of objectivity is the point that obstructs the sociology of the entry. Scientists or science people were looking for objectivity, according the them without objectivity everything in science can go wild enough!

Then came Karl Popper. Karl Popper was a fierce sociologist and pointed out that even science is not rational at all. Science changes as well and a lot of theorems that live under science can change any time with new research. Hence, in a way what seems objective at present can become subjective in the future.

Karl Popper's approach was post-modernist. He believed that everything is subjective. Nothing is permanent and everything has equal scope of being changed! This is how the debate came to an end and sociology now counted as another social science subject.

Source - Giphy

Common Sense + QnA

Thanks @nickydee for the questions

So who says what is socially the norm / common sense to begin with?

Common sense is formed on social acceptance. It is not an individual creation. It requires the acceptance of the majority at least. For example, students are expected to sit in discipline during a class. And such a class runs when most of them follow the discipline.

Ever had a situation where someone said you - don't you have common sense? It is because they were expecting standard behavior and we did differently.

Group of common senses later evolve into standard norms or common practices. And today common sense has evolved into laws, that guide every individual.

And I'm curious for you to clarify why common sense isn't a principle but a feature / characteristic :) I mean... I think I know why and have this conversation pending actually... But I'm pretty new to sociology and philosophy and there's a lot to learn

Common sense is not a principle since it changes from society to society. If you compare Western society and Chinese society, one can fairly find the difference in doing various things. Consider tribal society and modern society. They both have set patterns - for behavior, and actions but they are also very distinct from each other.

In a nutshell, we can say common sense is a set of common behaviors we find in a society. But as society changes, elements of common sense change as well. Hence, common sense is a feature of society and there are many societies in this world. To become a principle it(common sense and its every element) has to be uniform in every society of the world, which is not seen.

Source - Github