The Emergence of Sociology

The relatively new discipline/science sociology emerged as a response to the crisis the man had to confront due to the French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Commercial Revolution and Scientific Revolution occurred between 14th and 18th centuries (Renaissance Period- Enlightenment Period). The disappearance of monarchy, eradication of feudalism, transformation from an unstable economy to a fully-fledged economy, expansion of trade, major scientific inventions, paradigm shift from the revealed knowledge of the church to urge for enquiry were a few events/transitions that took place during the time period.  

Hope as a result of rapid industrial progress; and despair caused by social and political upheavals were the simultaneous paradoxical outcomes of this age. Subsequently, this existence of unprecedented wealth and unprecedented poverty paved the way for both conservative thinkers and enlightenment leaders to ponder on the impact of the revolutions in the given epoch in toto.  

Upholding the principles of Enlightenment Movement such as humanism, liberalism and individualism, they unanimously arrived at a conclusion that no human progress can be achieved without human reason and social order.   

Sociology as a new discipline is thus an offshoot of the reflections of those thinkers and deals with the scientific study of society.