The humanities and social sciences are a complex of many disciplines, the subject of study of which is both society as a whole and the individual as its member. These include political science, philosophy, history, sociology, philology, psychology, economics, pedagogy, jurisprudence, cultural studies, ethnology and other theoretical knowledge.
Specialists in these areas are trained and graduated by the Institute of Social Sciences, which can be a separate educational institution or be a division of any liberal arts university.
Social Science Research Subject
First of all, they explore the society. Society is considered as an integrity that develops historically and represents associations of people that have developed as a result of joint actions and have their own system of relations. The presence of different groups in society allows you to see how interdependent individuals are from each other.
Social sciences: research methods
Eachof the disciplines listed above applies research methods characteristic only of it. So, political science, exploring society, operates with the category of "power". Culturology considers as an aspect of society that has value, culture and forms of its manifestation. Economics explores the life of society from the standpoint of the organization of housekeeping.
For this purpose, she uses categories such as market, money, demand, product, supply and others. Sociology considers society as a constantly developing system of relations between social groups. History studies what has already happened. At the same time, trying to establish the sequence of events, their relationship, causes, she is based on all kinds of documentary sources.
The rise of the social sciences
In ancient times, the social sciences were mainly included in philosophy, since it studied both the person and the whole society at the same time. Only history and jurisprudence were partially separated into separate disciplines. The first social theory was developed by Aristotle and Plato. During the Middle Ages, social sciences were considered within the framework of theology as knowledge of the undivided and embracing absolutely everything. Their development was influenced by such thinkers as Gregory Palamas, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John of Damascus.
Starting from the New Age (since the 17th century), some social sciences (psychology, cultural studies, political science, sociology, economics) are completely separated from philosophy. In higher educationinstitutions in these subjects open faculties and departments, publish specialized almanacs, magazines, etc.
Natural and social sciences: differences and similarities
This problem was solved in history ambiguously. Thus, the followers of Kant divided all sciences into two types: those studying nature and culture. Representatives of such a trend as the “philosophy of life” generally sharply contrasted history with nature. They believed that culture is the result of the spiritual activity of mankind, and it can be understood only by experiencing and realizing the values of people of those eras, the motives of their behavior. At the present stage, social sciences and natural sciences are not only opposed, but also have points of contact. This is, for example, the use of mathematical research methods in philosophy, political science, history; application of knowledge from the field of biology, physics, astronomy in order to establish the exact date of events that occurred in the distant past.
