AP SOSC 1000 9.0 B. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL SCIENCE. FALL ...
AP SOSC 1000 9.0 B. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL SCIENCE. FALL/WINTER 2012-2013.
PERSONAL NOTES DONE FROM READINGS:
Sept. 5 Read: Sagoff #1 p1, Shusky #2 p3, Shusky #3 p25, Mann #4 p45. Sagoff #1 p1:
“We act as consumers to get what we want for ourselves. We act as citizens to achieve what we think is right or best for the community.” Sagoff talks about hypocrisy. Ex. “I speed on the highway; yet I want the police to enforce laws against speeding.” The distinction between consumer and citizen preferences has long vexed the theory of public finance.
Shusky #2 p3:
Economics was born from the speculations of political economists who wondered which forms of production and distribution were the “right” ones. They were concerned with what was “good” for human beings. Anthropology was born out of the debate over slavery. Although each field deals with human behavior, each has a different viewpoint owing to its unique concepts. While such views can and do lead to conflicting interpretations, they also provide diversity.
Shusky #3 p25:
Copernnicus upset some theologians because his ideas implied not only that the sun was the center of the solar system but also that the solar system was a tiny part of the universe. Scientists engage in a kind of puzzle-solving process. No one considers mixing the pieces of two different puzzles. The puzzle solving is interesting in itself, but the pieces fit together in a pre-determined way. (Much of science is like this; that is the paradigm shapes the results.
Kuhn’s view of scientific development is itself revolutionary. It is assumed that science gives an ever-increasing control over nature. The more one knows, the more one can predict, and better predictions mean a better life. Kuhn notes that scientific growth is similar to the evolution of life through natural selection. Like the natural sciences, social science undergoes changes. However, in a science of behaviour the rejection of an old theory in favor of a new one is not dependent simply on a buildup of anomalies. Early economic theory illustrates the importance of social conditions. A social order grew out of the decisions of a large number of people, each of whom tried to maximize his or her own interests; such competition resulted in a kind of overall cooperation in the form of market equilibrium. Capitalists did not pay workers the full value of the goods they produced; instead, they charged more for the goods, thereby creating a “surplus value” or profit. Profit therefore, amounted to exploitation.
Sept. 19: Read McNeil #7 p87, Zinn #8 p89 McNeil #7 p87: The care and repair of Public Myth
Myths are general statements about the world and its parts, and in particular about nations and other human in-groups that are believed to be true and then acted on whenever circumstances suggest or require common response. Myths, moreover are based on faith more than on fact. (their truth is usually proven by the action they provoke). Belief by itself is not enough. Consequently, human hopes are never fully realized, and unforeseen side effects continually throw up new problems that redirect action even in the most routinized situations. It is directing and redirecting action that myth comes into play. Conversely, when actions undertaken in accordance with accepted ideas fail to achieve anything like the expected result. Discrediting old myths without finding new ones to replace them erodes the basis for common action that once bound those who believed into a public body, capable of acting together.
Zinn #8 p89: Columbus and Western Civilization
“Who controls the past controls the future. And who controls the present controls the past.” In other words, those who dominate our society are in a position to write our histories. Some of the teachers made suggestions on how the truth could be told in a way that would not frighten children unnecessarily, but that would avoid that falsification of history taking place.
PERSONAL NOTES DONE FROM READINGS:
Sept. 5 Read: Sagoff #1 p1, Shusky #2 p3, Shusky #3 p25, Mann #4 p45. Sagoff #1 p1:
“We act as consumers to get what we want for ourselves. We act as citizens to achieve what we think is right or best for the community.” Sagoff talks about hypocrisy. Ex. “I speed on the highway; yet I want the police to enforce laws against speeding.” The distinction between consumer and citizen preferences has long vexed the theory of public finance.
Shusky #2 p3:
Economics was born from the speculations of political economists who wondered which forms of production and distribution were the “right” ones. They were concerned with what was “good” for human beings. Anthropology was born out of the debate over slavery. Although each field deals with human behavior, each has a different viewpoint owing to its unique concepts. While such views can and do lead to conflicting interpretations, they also provide diversity.
Shusky #3 p25:
Copernnicus upset some theologians because his ideas implied not only that the sun was the center of the solar system but also that the solar system was a tiny part of the universe. Scientists engage in a kind of puzzle-solving process. No one considers mixing the pieces of two different puzzles. The puzzle solving is interesting in itself, but the pieces fit together in a pre-determined way. (Much of science is like this; that is the paradigm shapes the results.
Kuhn’s view of scientific development is itself revolutionary. It is assumed that science gives an ever-increasing control over nature. The more one knows, the more one can predict, and better predictions mean a better life. Kuhn notes that scientific growth is similar to the evolution of life through natural selection. Like the natural sciences, social science undergoes changes. However, in a science of behaviour the rejection of an old theory in favor of a new one is not dependent simply on a buildup of anomalies. Early economic theory illustrates the importance of social conditions. A social order grew out of the decisions of a large number of people, each of whom tried to maximize his or her own interests; such competition resulted in a kind of overall cooperation in the form of market equilibrium. Capitalists did not pay workers the full value of the goods they produced; instead, they charged more for the goods, thereby creating a “surplus value” or profit. Profit therefore, amounted to exploitation.
Sept. 19: Read McNeil #7 p87, Zinn #8 p89 McNeil #7 p87: The care and repair of Public Myth
Myths are general statements about the world and its parts, and in particular about nations and other human in-groups that are believed to be true and then acted on whenever circumstances suggest or require common response. Myths, moreover are based on faith more than on fact. (their truth is usually proven by the action they provoke). Belief by itself is not enough. Consequently, human hopes are never fully realized, and unforeseen side effects continually throw up new problems that redirect action even in the most routinized situations. It is directing and redirecting action that myth comes into play. Conversely, when actions undertaken in accordance with accepted ideas fail to achieve anything like the expected result. Discrediting old myths without finding new ones to replace them erodes the basis for common action that once bound those who believed into a public body, capable of acting together.
Zinn #8 p89: Columbus and Western Civilization
“Who controls the past controls the future. And who controls the present controls the past.” In other words, those who dominate our society are in a position to write our histories. Some of the teachers made suggestions on how the truth could be told in a way that would not frighten children unnecessarily, but that would avoid that falsification of history taking place.
