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What are Social Sciences?

Social sciences are a group of academic disciplines dedicated to examining society.
This branch of science studies how people interact with each other, behave, develop
as a culture, and influence the world.
Social sciences help to explain how society works, exploring everything from the
triggers of economic growth and causes of unemployment to what makes people
happy. This information is vital and can be used for many purposes. Among other
things, it helps to shape corporate strategies and government policies.
Social science as a field of study is separate from the natural sciences, which cover
topics such as physics, biology, and chemistry. Social science examines the
relationships between individuals and societies, as well as the development and
operation of societies, rather than studying the physical world. These academic
disciplines rely more heavily on interpretation and qualitative research methodologies.

 Anthropology
 Economics
 Political science
 Sociology
 Social psychology

History is also sometimes regarded as a branch of social science, although many

historians often consider the subject to share closer links to the humanities. Both
humanities and social sciences study human beings. What separates them is the
technique applied: humanities are viewed as more philosophical and less scientific.
Law, too, has some ties to social sciences, as does geography.
In the U.S., early education of social sciences begins in elementary school and
progresses throughout middle and high school with an emphasis on core social
sciences such as economics and political science. At the collegiate level, more
specialized disciplines are offered.
History of Social Sciences
The origins of social sciences can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. The lives they
led, and their early studies into human nature, the state, and mortality, helped to
shape Western civilization.
Social science as an academic field of study developed out of the Age of Enlightenment
(or the Age of Reason), which flourished through much of the 18 th century in Europe.
Adam Smith, Voltaire Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, Immanuel Kant, and
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David Hume were among the big intellectuals at the time who laid the foundations for
the study of social sciences in the western World.
Individuals began to take a more disciplined approach to quantify their observations
of society, and over time, similar aspects of society, such as linguistics and psychology,
were separated into unique fields of study.
Psychology
Psychology is one of the fastest-growing fields of social science. Psychology began as a
medical field of study in the late-1800s. The American Psychology Association formed
in 1892 enlisting 26 members. The work of Sigmund Freud throughout the early 20th
century, including his landmark books.
Economics
The history of economic thought goes back all the way to Ancient Greek philosophers
such as Plato, Aristotle, and Xenophon. Their works laid the foundation for nearly all
the social sciences, economics included. As travel became easier in the 15-18th
century and more nations were able to partake in international trade, the school of
mercantilism grew. Suddenly the economic actions of many nations were motivated by
the belief that a country should maximize exports and minimize imports.
This predominating school of thought was challenged by writers such as Adam Smith,
commonly known as the father of modern economics. Smith’s ideas, along with those
of Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke, promoted the idea of a self-regulating
economy and introduced the concept of what is today known as classical economics.
Adam Smith’s book the Wealth of Nations is still studied today and admired by many
politicians.
Two other important economists who have shaped the way we think of the subject
today are Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. Karl Marx famously challenged
capitalism as an appropriate economic model by placing an emphasis on the labor
theory of value. While Marx’s ideas are by no means widely endorsed by today’s
politicians, his critique of capitalism has had a huge impact on many thinkers.
On the other hand, the Keynesian school of economics is very popular amongst
today’s economists. Keynesian economics is considered a “demand-side” macro-
economic theory that focuses on changes in the economy over the short run and was
the first to separate the study of economic behavior and markets based on individual
incentives from the study of broad national economic aggregate variables and
constructs.
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Social Sciences and Business

The subject matter of the social sciences – human behavior, relationships, attitudes,
and how these things have changed over time – is of course useful information for any
successful business to possess. Naturally, the social studies field of economics is key to
the business sector. In particular, behavioral economists, who use psychology to
analyze and predict the economic decision-making processes of individuals and
institutions are increasingly sought after by some of the world’s largest brands.
However, even the concepts of social sciences such as demography, political science,
and sociology are frequently applied in many different business contexts. The fields of
advertising and marketing, for example, often use theories of human behavior from
these fields to more efficiently market their products to consumers.
Social Science Careers
Typical careers in the social societies include working as an economist, psychologist,
social worker, or in law, government, non-profits, as well as working in academia.
Many industries use economic analysis and quantitative methods to study and
forecast business, sales, and other market trends.
According to projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists are one of the
most sought-after workers in the US. The projected change in employment for
economists from 2019-2029 is 14%. Other social science-related careers are expected
to grow at a rate of 4%, which is the average for all occupations. The projected growth
in employment for social workers from 2019-2029, according to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. This is much higher than the average of all other occupations which is 4%.3.
Example of Social Sciences
Nowadays, colleges and universities offer numerous social science programs. For
example, They are:

 Anthropology
 Demography
 Economics
 Ethnic Studies
 Gender and Women’s Studies
 Geography
 History
 Linguistics
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 Political Science
 Psychology
 Sociology

When Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) undertook to promote “new modes and

orders” unlike those that had previously existed, he was expressing a historical vision
that came to define modernity (from the late Latin moder-nus, derivative of the
classical Latin modo, meaning “just now” or “in a certain manner”). This vision was one
shared in diverse ways by other founders of modernity such as Francis Bacon (1561-
1626), Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), and Rene Descartes (1596-1650), as well as world
explores of the period and leaders of the Protestant Reformation. From politics and
science to philosophy and religion, an influential cadre argued for the possibility of
introducing an historical break as significant as any that had proceded it, although they
also often made the case for this break as a kind of return to lost traditions of
antiquity.
That Machiavelli is considered a founder of a new form of political science indicates
the significance of this vision for the social sciences. Indeed, modernity gave rise both
to the kinds of societies or social relations studied by the field as well as to widespread
notions about what it means to practice science. Yet it is an ambivalent term.
Modernity can denote different historical periods and phenomena, and it is celebrated
and reviled for a variety of reasons. It has multiple meanings that inform debates
about the human condition and the nature of the social sciences. This is especially true
at the dawn of what many theorists describe as the “postmodern age.”

General Features of Modernity

Three essential features of the modern era set it apart from premodern ways of life.
First, modernity refers to radical societal changes, including the rise of democracies,
the spread of religious pluralism and secularization, the European colonization of
other parts of the world, the formation of the bureaucratic nation-state and market
economics, increased social mobility and literacy, and the growth of industrial society
with all the attendant changes in working conditions. Modernity is characterized by
advanced techno industrial society, which has brought gains in material well-being
primarily to the developed (or modernized) parts of the world. Indeed, a central motif
of modernity is the notion of unlimited progress. Yet it is also characterized by
uniquely modern problems such as the environmental risks associated with
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technologies. Many social theorists argue that the emerging knowledge or information
age constitutes a novel, postmodern society.

Second, modernity is characterized by a growing emphasis on reason and experience,

which speaks to the rise of modern science and technology. Most importantly, modern
science altered what it means to know. In the prologue to the never-completed work
The Great Instauration, Bacon first made the radical argument that “human
knowledge and human power meet in one.” Complaining of the vain speculations of
earlier philosophers, Bacon argued that knowledge should lead to “the conquest of
nature for the relief of man’s estate” (Novum Organism, 1620, LII). Unlike the ancients,
for whom theory was about things eternal, modern thinkers promoted a more
practical science concerned with altering the changeable. This alliance between
knowing and changing the world is rooted in the modern subject/object dualism first
articulated by Descartes.

Third, modernity ushered in new understandings of the human self and political
community, which reflected and conditioned these social and cultural changes.
Modern theorists such as Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and Immanuel Kant (1724-
1804) conceptualized the self as a reflexive, autonomous, and rational will, freely
choosing its ends and projecting its values onto an indifferent nature that is void of
purpose. Political association is cast less as the common pursuit for higher ends (the
“perfectionism” of ancient political theorists) than as procedures for adjudication
demands within a framework of individual rights and freedoms. C.B. Macpherson
named this political aspect of modernity “possessive individualism” (1962).

SPECIFIC MEANINGS OF MODERNITY

Modernity should be set within specific contexts, insofar as it is used to describe

different periods of history and aspects of life. Indeed, there are numerous features
associated with “being modern,” which have been developed in several fields of study.
For example, “modern art” refers to works produced in the period from the late
nineteenth century to the 1970s, a time characterized in part by the abandonment of
earlier emphases on representationalism and religious iconography. A related term is
modernism, which also has multiple meanings, but is often used to refer to cultural
movements composed of “modernists” who embrace the features of modern life
identified above. Bruce Lawrence, for example, characterizes many religious
fundamentalists as modern because they take advantage of technological advances
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(Lawrence 1989). But they are not modernists, because they reject the fundamental
philosophical underpinnings of modernity and refuse to wholly adapt their personal
identities and social lives to the dictates of the modern world. At its extreme, this
rejection of modernity has led to terrorist acts.

A few prominent uses of modernity from philosophy and social science indicate its
multiplicity. Karl Marx (1818-1883) emphasized the alienation of humankind under
modern capitalist systems and envisioned communism as an emancipating force.
Indeed, alienation is one predominant motif in critical theories of modernity. For
example, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) suggested that the essence of modernity is
“the death of God.” For Nietzsche, the modern worldview necessitates that “the
highest values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking: ‘why?’ finds no answer”
(Nietzsche [1901] 1967, p.9). He argued that each individual should mold his or her
own values as the pure expression of selfhood, ignoring traditions about good or evil.
In modernity, what was once thought of as transcendent and given becomes the
unstable product of the human will. Marx summarized this radical historical
contingency: “all that is solid melts into air” ([1848] 1994). Critical approaches to
modern society this often focus on securing personal orientation and meaning,
frequently through spiritual or communal practices.

Auguste Comte (1798-1857) described the modern era as the culmination of a three-
stage historical process, which is itself a characteristically modern interpretation of
history in its linear, progressive outlook. The scientific or “positive” stage transcends
the earlier “theological” and “metaphysical” stages. For Comte, the methods of the
natural sciences provide the only route to certain knowledge. In a more pessimistic
account, Max Weber (1864-1920) argued that the rationalization of life in modern
society traps individuals in an “iron cage” of rule-based control. Similarly, Jurgen
Habermas (b. 1929) criticized the modern notion of subject-centered reason by
developing theories of communicative rationality. Peter Wagner explained such
conflicting interpretations by arguing that modernity is ambiguous in presenting two
counterposed metanarratives – liberation and disciplinization (1994). Michel Foucault
(1926-1984) did much to highlight the latter dimension of modernity by arguing that
modern society involves pervasive systems of control and surveillance, which has
informed many theories critical of development and globalization. He argued that
modernity possesses certain underlying conditions of rationality that constitute an
understanding of the world and define what counts as truth. Similarly, Martin
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Heidegger (1899-1976) argued that modernity is a unique way of revealing and being
in the world, which he called Gestell (“enframing”). For Heidegger, modern human
existence is constituted by a technological approach to the world.

Work in feminist epistemology and the sociology of science has further refined
critiques of modern rationality. Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996), for example, argued that
scientific advance is not the steady polishing of the mirror of nature leading to a
correspondence with reality “in itself.” Rather, science is a community endeavor in
which groups define common problems and standards. Kuhn’s work ushered in a
variety of postmodern approaches to science and theories of our linguistically
mediated existence. Indeed, all of the thinkers mentioned here have spurred thought
about various alternatives to modernity. In one of the most provocative of such
accounts, Bruno Latour (b. 1947) argued that “we have never been modern,” meaning
that we have never been able to sustain the conceptual categories or the binary types,
especially those of “nature” and “culture,” posited by the modern worldview. The
harder we try to purify our world into distinct, bounded domains, the more
intermediary forms proliferate.