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Social Perspectives of the following Sociologists and Information about them:

1. C. Wright Mills (Social Imagination)

This social perspective revolves around the idea that social outcomes are based on what people do and vice versa some things in society may lead to certain outcomes. Examples of things that shape these said outcomes are a society’s geographical location, culture, beliefs, food, individual perceptions, and even social norms. All these aspects and more lead to a certain outcome and result according to Social Imagination like unique biological, physical, and even emotional characteristics depending on the people that inhabit said different societies.

To have Social Imagination, people must learn to be able to pull away from their current situation and think from an exterior/alternative point of view. Social Imagination requires people to “think away from your daily routines and look at them anew”. To acquire knowledge, it is important to break free from the immediacy of personal circumstances and put things into a wider context, rather than following a routine. Wright Mills believes that Social Imagination is a necessary and important tool in connecting personal troubles with public/societal issues.

2.  Peter Berger (Social Construction Reality)

This social perspective revolves around the ideology that our perception of reality is the result of social construction over time. Social construction refers to the idea that societies and all that inhabit said society create specific concepts or mental perceptions/representations of each other’s actions over time, and it is believed that these concepts make roles that when made available to people they are institutionalized which embeds and makes it beneficial for the society. According to Social Construction Reality, people’s knowledge, perceptions, conceptions, beliefs, and even values are all the result of different fabrics of society in where said characteristics are created and embedded over time.

3. W.I. Thomas Theorem

This social perspective revolves around the idea that “if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” which means that humans perceive/define something as real and tangible they thereby create the consequences they themselves which to avoid. A very good example that encapsulates the ideology behind this study is when people believe in religion and all things that said religion revolves around. People will be more likely to expect and experience things that they will perceive as the result of their belief like “miracles” that they might believe to be a result of their prayers even though it might just be a coincidence in reality. A very popular saying that goes hand and hand with this theory is the saying “you reap what you sow” which perfectly reflects on the definition of this social perspective.

4. Auguste Comte (Positivism)

This social perspective revolves around the idea and concept that things should strictly adhere to the results/testimonies of observations and experiences. All knowledge according to Positivism should be based on observations and experiences while things beyond the world of facts can/should be accounted for by pure logic and even mathematics. Although some people believe that this social perspective is only a product of the time it was created upon like the Enlightenment Period which more often than not demanded proof by experiencing and witnessing things, people do still Positivism as a valid way of describing and explaining ways for it is very simple yet very effective and truthful.

5. Karl Marx (Conflict Theory)

This social perspective revolves around the idea that social order is maintained by the domination and power rather than by the conformity and consensus of society. This theory states that societies are and will always be in a state of conflict with one another because resources are limited and everyone will compete with one another to acquire as much as they can mostly for their own self-benefit. Certain social and economic institutions will do whatever they can to dominate and rule over other “inferior” social classes while at the same time maintain an illusion of an equal and fair society in where everyone can thrive.  Conflict theory can also be used to explain and even validate some events in history like wars and discrimination all over the world. 

6. Herbert Spencer (Social Darwinism)

This social perspective involves the idea that the lives of humans in society was a constant struggle for existence commonly associated with the saying “survival of the fittest”. According to this theory, the constant battle for survival led to the “weak” being diminished, held back, and limited while the “strong” continually grew in power and cultural influence over the “weak”. Natural selection is a common term associated with this study because of how people think that natural selection in the human population would indeed result in a survival of the fittest competition which more often than not leads to the overall improvement of a society at the behest of the people that are considered “weak”

7. Emile Durkheim (Structural Functionalism)

This social perspective revolves around the idea that society is the construct of a very complex system consisting of many interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain a stable society. This theory states that society is held by complex parts like a society’s fashion, values, beliefs, rituals, and laws which all serve the purpose of creating and maintaining a self-sustainable orderly society.  Emily Durkheim that individuals may inhabit society but in order for people to actually study and understand society properly sociologists have to look past individual characteristics of people and instead look into social facts of a society because each of these social facts like religious beliefs serves one or more functions in society.

8. Max Weber (Sympathetic Sociology)

This social perspective involves an objective approach mostly involving the use of historical and contemporary data to study the social world. Another important aspect of this social perspective is that this uses the method of “emphatic understanding” which makes it possible for the sociologists to understand and explain certain social relationships, actions, cultural significances, historical causes of events, and the relationship/connection between certain events. According to Max Weber, by using Sympathetic Sociology as a social perspective Sociologists will have the ability to understand the meaning behind the actions people do/commit. Sociologists will be able to put themselves in people’s shoes for them to comprehend or attempt to portray what they think how people perceive things depending on their situation. Since this approach is sympathetic it doesn’t really mean that the Sociologists have to agree with how and why people perceive things the way they do because the main purpose of using social perspectives like this is to understand/analyze social interactions and developing explanations for social events.

9. Fr. Valentin Marin

This sociologist introduced the study of Sociology in a Philippine school called the “University of Santo Thomas”. He introduced and discussed the three important stages of Sociology which are Social Philosophy, Problem-Oriented Discipline, and Scientific Approach. The introduction of sociology especially these three stages of sociology helped the Filipino people better grasp and understand the complexity behind sociology because these three stages tackle topics like the importance of social facts in the decision-making process and the little emphasis on the scientific nature of Sociology.

10. Serafin Macaraeg

This sociologist is the first Filipino to ever acquire a doctorate degree in Sociology and He is the first Filipino anthropologist to write a textbook on Sociology in the University of the Philippines college called “An Introduction to sociology”.  His textbook about Sociology helped catapult the number of people who were interested in the study of Sociology especially in college universities and in private schools overall developing/evolving the understanding of Filipinos about the study of Sociology.

11. Benicio T. Catapusan

This sociologist helped collect data about the Rural sector of the Philippines for the Philippine Government which helped pave the way to the distribution of economic aid to different regions by using the sociological data vital to finding out the specific and dire need of people. 

12. Randy David

This sociologist is considered as a UP Centennial Fellows for his valuable contributions to Philippine Sociology and Social Awareness. He authored several books such as “Reflection on Sociology and Philippine Society” and “Nation, Self, and Citizenship: An Invitation to Philippine Sociology” which won several awards. His writings heavily featured relevant sociological topics especially regarding the Philippines like the social roots of Philippine poverty, language and consciousness, culture and development, and even political parties and the financial aspects of their electoral campaigns. Randy David is currently a member of the board of advisors in the ABS-CBN Corporation.