WHAT IS MODERNITY?
WHAT
WAS ITS ROLE IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL
SCIENCE
CHAPTER 1- LESSON 1
UNDERSTANDING MODERNITY AND SOCIAL
SCIENCE
• In the 2012 London Olympics, the spectacular opening rites highlighted a
dominant theme –the rise of Britain from mainly feudal and rural country to
become a major industrial force in the world by the end of the 19th century.
• This performance centerpiece provided a powerful message: Modern
British society was not only created by a group of elite visionaries and
statesmen but also by ordinary laborers and factory workers who toiled
under harsh conditions to transform an idyllic countryside to a populated,
factory-laden, and smoke emitting city of chimneys and stream engines. In
other words, modernity in that country was result of various forces:
changes in the people’s values and work ethics, economic and
technological breakthroughs, and political turmoil.
To catch portion of the opening performance of the 2012 London Olympics, you may
check at https://www.youtube.com/watch?vE6NBHx80ovY (Retrieved on November 25,
• “Modernity” is a concept that deals not only with the
shift in the physical and material conditions of society
but also with the mental and behavioral shifts among
people.
• Modernity was an economic and ideological
phenomenon that challenged the West (mainly, Europe
and North America) in the late 19th to early 20th century
and to which the people responded with varying levels
and intensities according to their respective status or
class.
• Hence, the modern times –as how modernity is referred
to in popular language –is characterized by the
presence of urbanism and capitalism. It is believed that
due to this radical and rapid process of social and
technological changes, Western society evolved from a
largely feudal state to a modern, industrial, and
capitalist state.
• Because of various factors such as imperialism,
globalization, and political and cultural expansion of
Western powers and highly industrialized nations,
modern living has also become the model of life in other
• Nevertheless, modernity is not only about society
developing and progressing economically and
technologically and ushering dramatic changes in
the population. There are also the underlying
philosophy, behavior, and values that guide
institutions, modes of thinking, and social relations.
• Social and cultural innovations promoting rational
control and order in society surface so that society
itself is coherent and its branches function in unison
to reach its potential.
• According to Weber, even some religions –how
Calvinist Protestants, for example –have reworked
their beliefs to emphasize work ethics and self-
improvement, hence, contributing a lot to the success
of an incipient capitalist spirit in Europe.
• In modern society, superstition and folklore are of
little use because science, technology, and empirical
and objective knowledge are of primary importance.
The propensity toward rational and scientific thoughts
has paved the way for technological innovation and
scientific breakthroughs.
• Modernity has become a blueprint of society that promotes
individualism and, in the world of Emile Durkheim, organic
solidarity or interdependence among its segmented and
differentiated members who are usually unrelated residents of
the city.
• Emile Durkheim, a French social thinkers of the early 20th
century and considered the “Father of Sociology and
anthropology”, provided the foundation of modern social
science. He saw a society that is interdependent on the basis
of having specialized yet complimentary work or activities.
Society should always strive to be coherent and orderly, and it
only happens when each part of a bigger whole does its job or
• “Functionalism”, a concept that was borne out of this
conception of society, suggests that cultural and
social institutions are created to perform certain
functions that in the end contribute to the overall
health of society, thus, preserving itself to prosperity.
• This is in stark contrast to the concept of a “community” that
is traditional in character and smaller in scope. In Durkheim’s
terms, this has mechanical solidarity, which means basis
of people’s cooperation and society’s integration is
due to similar experiences in work, lifeways, values,
and worldviews. This means that the reason why people
feel connected with each other is because they do the same
type of activities, live in the same area, and experience the
same things. Thus, solidarity or cohesion is met through
modes of social bonds such as kinship and doing the same
kind of work such as farming, pottery, fishing, ect. Thus,
activities are more communal and collective than
• When modernity in the form of highly urbanized and
congested cities was still in its incipient stage in Europe,
social thinkers and philosophers noticed that modernity did
not come without a price.
• Social ill of complex nature surfaced as an outcome of rapid
change and progress brought about by unbridled capitalism.
New types of social forces came into view and played a vital
role in the lives of the people.
• One of these forces was the idea of “class” based on how
people are related to the vital ingredients or forces of
production, say, a machine or a factory.
BRINGING POSITIVISM TO THE FORE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
• Social Sciences use the same philosophy that guided the
development of the Natural Science. “Positivism”, a
philosophy developed in Europe about a century before
the industrial Revolution, shaped scientific tradition
through the 19th century and beyond.
• Positivism believes that scientific thought is a superior
knowledge than superstition and religion, and it is
achieved through an objective and empirical analysis of a
phenomenon.
BRINGING POSITIVISM TO THE FORE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
• The French Enlightenment philosophe,
Auguste Comte, who was the proponent of
Positivism, suggested that the theology and
metaphysics are flawed since they could
not be proven empirically and could not be
trusted. He along with other Enlightenment
thinkers or Positivist, believed in the power
of rational thought in uncovering hidden
processes and structures in society.
BRINGING POSITIVISM TO THE FORE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE
• Hence, modern society, as envisioned by the above-mentioned
philosophy, is seen as a better, improved, and democratic society due
to science –as opposed to the old ways and habits of the previous
society dominated by the Church and aristocracy –and a function of an
increasing rational mind.
• Social science, hence, started an intellectual mode of inquiry about
society with a very scientific mindset.
• Human sensory perception would be very crucial in this mode of inquiry
as everything must be seen, felt, smelled, tasted, or heard for one to be
able to say that an event has actually occurred or transpired.
YOUR TASK: (ACTIVITY #3)
How the modernity affects the
development of Social Science?
(Make a Poster about your answer)
RUBRICS:
Content- 10
Creativity- 10
Originality- 10
Total : 30 points
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