How does common sense differ from sociological thinking PDF

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common sense and sociological thinking...

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How does common sense differ from sociological thinking? Common sense can be defined as an action that is carried out naturally as part of your day to day routine and comes from within whereas sociological thinking comes from outside influences where our behaviour and thinking is affected by those around us. In this essay I will argue the way in which common sense and sociological thinking are different. Common sense is a major part of our daily lives and is based on personal experience for example themes like age is part of common sense because it is fixed and cannot be changed regardless of any outside influences. Even though things like the media and consumerism may have an effect on the way we feel about our age it is more related to common sense as it is something that cannot be changed and is something that is naturally apart of us. Bauman argues that ‘those human actions and interactions that sociologists explore have been given names’ and so for example things like families, organizations, cities, churches and any other groupings held together by regular human interaction are objects of commonsensical knowledge (Bauman and May,2001,p7). As well as this, common tasks such as getting dressed in the morning, going to work, interacting with people is all part of common sense and is something that we tend to do naturally. For example when we tend to repeat things often enough they become familiar to us and so eventually become commonsensical as we become used to carrying out that specific task or action (Bauman and May,2001,p10). Thinking sociologically means that the way we act is influenced by our outside surroundings and is shaped by the wider society culturally, socially and economically. For example the definition provided by Bauman and May suggests that to think sociologically is to ‘defamiliarize the familiar’ (Bauman and May, 1990, p.10). In other words, they argue that our daily way of life for example the way we act and the things we do is effected by our social surroundings. Emile Durkheim argues that sociology is a science of social facts, facts are things which are part of the outside society and are pre-existing from the past. Although this can be criticised for example it could be argued that actually social facts are new and are created and discovered everyday instead of being given and pre-existing. Thinking sociologically allows new ideas and views to be thought about, it enables individuals to understand different views and ideas. For example Bauman and May believe in thinking sociologically we understand the people around us a little more in relation to their hopes and desires (Bauman and May, 2001, p11). Therefore in this manner thinking sociologically, enables human interaction and for people to actually make decisions based on their social surr006Fundings rather than just for themselves. However thinking sociologically can also be linked to common sense because the way we tend to act and behave with ourselves and each other is effected by those around us. In particular, in recent times people tend to think a lot more about what others think of them and so this majorly effects the way we act. Therefore in this manner common sense and sociological thinking are actually similar because it often becomes natural for a person to behave in a way that is suited to others. Thinking sociologically can also broaden our horizons (Bauman and May, 2001), as we are able to consider new options and opportunities and are exposed to a new way of

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thinking. Thus, in this way thinking sociologically allows us to view things in an entirely different light whereas with common sense it can become repetitive as it involves doing and thinking in the same way over again. In conclusion, sociological thinking and common sense although have certain similarities are in fact different. Sociological thinking allows a new way of looking at things and is effected by our outside surroundings whereas common sense is part of our everyday lives and is natural as it comes from within. However sociological thinking makes us different and unique from those around us as it enables us to experience new things. Therefore, sociological thinking and common sense are different. Bibliography 

Bauman, Z and May, T. (2001). Thinking Sociologically (2nd ed.). Australia: Blackwell Publishing....