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Sociology → Introduction → Culture → Society → Relationship between Man and Society
‘Man is a social animal.’ Nothing better explains the relationship between man and society than the said words of Greek philosopher Aristotle. The material and practical basis of the relationship between man and society is however has also been described in several important theories, two of which will be discussed in this topic.
Relationship between Man and Society?
The words ‘relationship between man and society’ formulates one of the major debates of sociology. It won’t be wrong to state that the sociology as a subject finds basis of its origin in this debate. Sociology which is concerned with the society cannot conceive its existence if a society is empty of individuals.
Theories on Man and Society Relationship
Two important theories in this regard are following;
A. Social Contract Theory
It is the most cherished theory which tries to explain;
- The origin of society
- Relationship between individual and society
- Explicit or implicit submission of social animal to the will of the state
Social contract theory is based on the separate works of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Rousseau who showing an agreement on the origin of society under definite evolutionary phases varied on the circumstances which led to its origin.
Thomas Hobbes presented this theory for the first time in his famous work ‘Leviathan’. He stated that man was brutal and nasty in the primitive history. There was a situation of war of all against all. Then men got exhausted of it and sat down to devise a plan for peace in their lives. This made them to shape a proper society. And in this society the relationship between them was based on cooperation along with healthy competition. The individuals of the society did choose from among themselves a sovereign who could effectively govern the whole of the society. They made a pact with him in this regard.
John Locke while agreeing with the views of Hobbes, dared to differ in the very first point. According to his scheme of social contract, man was never brutal. He was living a peaceful life. It was the institution of private in society that made him make a social contract with his fellows as well as the sovereign he chose.
Rousseau differed in the point of sovereign’s choice. According to him, it is right that man became nasty in race for grabbing private property but he didn’t choose a sovereign. It was the general will of the people of the society that became sovereign.
B. Organismic Theory
In an attempt to explain the relationship between individual and society, Herbert Spencer forwarded his organismic theory of society.
Herbert Spencer pointed out that human society is like an organism. He gave following important aspects in this regard;
- Society like organism grows or develops gradually. The human organism goes through the laws of development, maturation and decline. Similarly society also passes through some taws such as the laws of birth, growth and change or decay.
- Both society and organism become victim of germs.
- Society and organism both exhibit differential structure functions.
- Both society and organism are composed of units. Society is composed of the individuals and thus, individuals are considered as the units of society. Similarly, organism is also composed of different organs such as eyes, ears, hands, legs, head etc., and these are regarded as the units of an organism.
- Both in society and organism there exists close integration or interdependence of parts. Just as the different parts of the organism are mutually interdependence and on the whole, also the individuals in a dependent are mutually interdependent like the cells in an organism dependent in the whole.
Analysis
Both the theories – social contract and Social Organism – are quite helpful in defining the relationship between man and individual. The theories carry some flaws but despite being very old, still theorize the modern societies and their relationships with the individuals they host.