SOCIAL THINKING: ORIGIN, WHAT IT CONSISTS OF, EXAMPLES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The social thought is a kind of reflection that analyzes different elements of society in which a person lives. Through it, people ask ourselves questions about why things are the way they are, and look for ways to improve them.

On the other hand, it also implies all those thoughts that a person has due to belonging to a specific society. Thus, social thought is studied by several different disciplines; among them are social psychology, sociology, history and philosophy.

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According to some sociologists, social thought arises due to the need of the upper classes to justify their dominance over the lower classes. It occurred for the first time in a recorded way in Ancient Greece, in works such as those of Plato or Aristotle; in them, these philosophers sought to design an ideal society or examine the one of the moment.

In this article we will examine some of the most prevalent ideas of social thought, as well as their evolution throughout history.

Origin

Early thinkers

Social thought as such had its origin in the works of some of the first great Western philosophers. One of those who devoted the most effort to studying how society worked and how to improve it was Plato, with writings such as The Republic.

In this work, the philosopher analyzed the different sectors that made up the society of the time. Later, he tried to design a system in which they were all seamlessly integrated; thus, he wanted to achieve maximum efficiency for his country, through rational analysis.

Later, Plato's most important disciple, Aristotle, decided to take up his teacher's work on the structure of society. However, instead of trying to design a perfect system, he was only concerned with investigating more about the one that existed at the time.

Thus, Aristotle's Politics was born. In this work, he analyzed Greek society taking as a point of analysis the different existing classes and the interaction between them. In this way, he tried to understand why things were a certain way, in addition to justifying the established order to some extent.

Middle Ages and Modern Age

In the centuries following the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of scholars of social thought passed through a series of distinct stages. The first had to do with the attempt to justify the estates and feudal societies from a religious perspective.

Thus, thinkers like Santo Tomás de Aquino or Agustín de Hipona tried to study what type of society God wanted that it exist; and in their theoretical work, they tried to develop a system by which this ideal could be achieved.

Centuries later, already in the Enlightenment, philosophers and thinkers began to worry about other issues. One of the most central to the ideas of this era was that of the social contract: the reason why the first societies arose, and the way in which they did.

At this time authors such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean - Jacques Rousseau or John Locke stand out. These three philosophers completely differed in their ideas about the original nature of the human being, about the raison d'être of modern societies, and whether it is necessary to maintain them or not.

Finally, at the end of the Modern Age, several currents arose that studied all the failures of societies and tried to justify that it was necessary to destroy them or leave them behind. Among them, the most famous were undoubtedly Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche.

The ideas of both greatly influenced several of the great tragedies of the twentieth century, such as the Russian Revolution or World War II. However, they laid the foundations for critical thinking about society and subsequent attempts to improve or transcend it.

What is social thought?

Social thought has dealt with several central themes throughout history. Even today, they remain practically the same. Next we will see which are the most important.

Ideal society

One of the main concerns of the scholars of this discipline is what would be the ideal model of a society, and how we can achieve it. Depending on the beliefs, points of view and political ideas of each, there are many opinions in this regard.

Thus, some thinkers believe that it would be best to live in a society in which all humans were totally free. Others, on the contrary, believe that tight control by some kind of authority is necessary to guarantee the well-being of the population.

Emergence of societies

Another issue that worries social thinkers is why the first organized societies arose. Again, there are many opposing views on this point.

On the one hand, philosophers like Agustín de Guadalix saw societies as an extension of God's will. Others, like John Locke, were more pragmatic and believed that it was a way to secure private property.

Marx, for his part, believed that societies arose so that a few could control the means of production.

Influence of society on people

Mainly since postmodernism, social thinkers have begun to worry about how the society in which we live influences our way of thinking. This is the work of disciplines like social psychology and sociology.

Thus, in recent times it has been tried to deconstruct beliefs, attitudes and points of view that have been supposedly inculcated by society. This field is not yet well explored, but it is becoming increasingly important.

Examples

Here we will see competing examples of analysis of society by two of the most famous authors of social thought: Rousseau and Hobbes.

Rousseau believed that, in their natural state, humans are good and innocent. In the beginning we lived happily in nature.

However, the emergence of private property made us distrust each other and we saw the need to create a government that would defend our possessions. Therefore, he viewed modern societies as a mistake.

Hobbes, for his part, believed that humans are evil by nature. According to his theory, before societies we were all in constant war with everyone.

Thus, society emerged as a way to control and protect ourselves. In this way, he believed that it was something necessary to be able to enjoy a certain well-being.

References

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3. "Social thought through history and an approach to the definition of sociology" in: Monographs. Retrieved on: July 06, 2018 from Monographs: monografias.com.
4. "Social Philosophy" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: July 06, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
5. "Thought" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved: July 06, 2018 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org.