Lesson 9: Man and Society

• Society refers to a large, independent, and organized group of people living in the same territory and sharing a common culture and heritage
• The interactions are often governed by written and unwritten rules that reflect the shared ideas, views, and values of the members of society.
• Society can take many forms and has evolved to develop various characteristics
• The earliest societies are the hunting-and-gathering societies (primitive societies).
• Other Kinds of Societies: Agricultural Society, Industrial Society, Modern Society, Virtual Society
• Agricultural Society is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland
• Industrial Society is a society in which technologies of mass production are used to make vast amounts of goods in factories, and in which this is the dominant mode of production and organizer of social life.
• Modern Society is defined as people living together in current time. It is based on expansion of education, technology, industry and urban life.
• Virtual Society is a social form where people do not have to live, meet, or work face to face in order to develop or maintain a significant relationship
• Social philosophy focuses on studying society and its influence on the human person. Topics include social ontology, social ethics, democracy, human rights, equality, and justice.
• How is Society formed?

  Enlightenment Philosophers such as Thomas, Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rosseau were among the most prominent social theorists who tackled the origins of human society. They imagined humans as living in a so-called "natural state", removed from modernity and civilization
• Thomas Hobbes, man in his natural state is governed by his desires and these often lead to conflict with his fellowmen. Individuals who establish societies enter into a social contract. Authority’s role is to meet the needs of members of society, ensuring its survival.
• John Locke considered man in his natural state as more cooperative and reasonable, and that society is formed through the consent of the individuals that organized it, a concept known as the consent of the governed.
• Jean Jacques Rousseau’s ideas on the social contract led him to advocate the concept of the “general will” , and that man is cooperative.

  Society is formed through a contract among its members.

  The government is empowered to act on behalf of the people.
• How does society influence the person?

  1 Society has a significant influence in almost all aspects of an individual’s life.

  2 Through socialization, a person adopts a set of ideals and behavior considered appropriate within his society

  3 Social institutions
• Humanistic Psychology focuses on understanding human behavior and experience from an empathetic perspective. Humanistic psychologists view humans as active agents capable of self-determination and growth.
• People who belong to a certain social group tend to behave in a certain way and continuous interactions within their group reinforce such behavior.
• Normative democratic theory is a perspective which considers a democratic society as morally desirable.