Understanding Social Institutions and Human Behavior
Institutionalization
Our behavior is regulated. The set of guidelines that govern our behavior in a specific area are institutions (family, education, etc.). Political institutions, taking into account the premature underdevelopment of instinct, man has a dependence on institutions. They are the substitution for the lack of instinct; they tell us how to live. Institutions were closely connected to the typing (roles) and routines. Institutions may change but not disappear; a society cannot live without institutions.
Characteristics of Institutions
- Exteriority: Calls that are outside because they are here.
- Objectivity: Everyone, or almost everyone (except those that are socially deviant), recognizes their existence in social conditions.
- Coercivity: Punishment.
- Historicity: They have power; they have tradition.
- History and Moral Authority: We must not always accept the use of institutions.
Sociological Machiavellianism
To be Machiavellian, largely, if I take life and consciousness of my actions, I take my roles. Sociological Machiavellianism also means giving up, removing innocence. Sometimes things will not work out, and other times they will. Not everything is nice and pink; we do not always want the role (e.g., a teacher who takes the police exam but does not want to do it because he is not identified). I am aware of what I do, and I am critical. I can be more responsible. Being Machiavellian in this context means being consistent with decisions and assessing the possible consequences.
Products and Producers
We are producers and products that can be in the world. There are no products without producers and vice versa. The products make us able to intervene in the world. We can become collaborators or saboteurs in the world. Depending on the place where we are born, the people we are with, etc., we can be saboteurs. Charisma causes a person to get a new look at things (e.g., Jesus, Obama). There is no society with no absolute power.
How do we become saboteurs?
- Distancing
- Transformation
- Handling
- The Reserve Role (x)
- Ecstasy (x): This is when someone is in a state of submission, an inferior condition (servant), and believes everything they are told. It is a semi-sabotage of the role.
Max Weber’s Perspective on Social Sciences
Science does not decide what I think or how I live. Social sciences and natural sciences follow different methods, and this does not mean that one is better than the other. In social sciences, we have a question that can never be physical: What happens when the plaster falls, do you feel it? This is not in the physical sense, but if the other person feels it and why. They are different, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Social sciences propose comprehension. Weber’s sociology has been named comprehensive sociology because it seeks comprehension. Sociology is the science of social action, and action must be because you have social actors.
Types of Social Actions
- Effective: Those that “leave the soul.”
- Traditional: Routine.
- Rational in Relation to Values: Acting through principles (e.g., “Everything for the homeland”).
- Rational in Relation to Objectives: Calculating the consequences and the shortest way to reach the objectives (e.g., terrorist actions).
Types of Ethical Actions
- Rational in Relation to Values: The ethics of convictions.
- Rational in Relation to Objectives: The ethics of responsibility.