DISS (LESSON 1)
coined by William Thompson in
Emergence of the Social
Science
- The study of human and social
behavior is not a new discovery;
the essential ideas in the social
sciences date back to ages ago as
seen in the inquiries of ancient
philosophers such Plato and
Aristotle in Europe, and Confucius
and Lao Tzu in East Asia.
- What is relatively new is the use of
objective and standardized rules in
the analysis of human behavior.
The Historical Development
of the Social Science
- In the early stages of the
development of human civilization,
the people's primary concern was
to work for their own survival. The
common desire to survive and
provide for each other's
subsistence was the basis for the
establishment of society.
- As time progressed, people's
knowledge became more refined
and developed. Individual's then
sought to know more about their
world and learned to ask questions
in the process. What is the nature
of life? What is the cause of
conflict in this world? Why do
inequalities exist?
- Those questions fall under the
disciplines of Social Sciences;
which are a group of academic
disciplines that deal with the
human aspects of the world.
- The term "social science" was
his book An Inquiry into the
Principles of the Distribution of
Wealth Most Conducive to Human
Happiness (1824). Since then, the
term social science has been used
to refer generally to all fields of
study that analyze society and
culture.
Main Branches of
Knowledge
SOCIAL SCIENCES
● To analyze, explain, and predict
human behavior.
● End goal is the generation of the
new knowledge
● Application of an empirical,
rational, and objective
methodology
HUMANITIES
● To better appreciate the meaning
and purpose of the human
experience - both broadly in the
nature of the human condition, as
well as within each unique
individual.
● End goal is generation of wisdom,
to better explore and address the
"big questions" and meet the
challenges in the human condition.
● Application of an interpretative
methodology (use of text analysis,
reflective thinking, and
acknowledgment of audience) to
render something meaningful for
others.
NATURAL SCIENCES
 ● To understand, explain, and predict
the world we live in using scientific
methods and distinctive methods
of inquiry.
● Discovery of laws that rule the
world (with focus on the natural
world)
● Application of natural science
methods (systematic observation,
measurement, and experiment)
PLATO - 424/423 - 348/347 BC
Development of the Social
Science
● The Social sciences boast of a
long and interesting history, one
that is shaped by the individual's
inherent desire to find answers to
unresolved questions, study the
rise and fall of institutions. and
understand socio-political
phenomena.
● The need to explore the world -
because of the natural curiosity of
humans about the world-social
science evolved.
- Greeks and Romans - played a
vital role in the development of an
approach to answering such
questions.
- Socrates-Socratic Method
- Plato - The Republic
- Aristotle - Politics
- Cicero - De Re Publica (Mixed
Constitution)
- Polybius-Histories (Anacyclosis)
SOCRATES - 470 - 399 BC
1. From Athens
2. Founder of Western Philosophy /
Thought
3. Teacher of Plato
4. Socratic Method
- method of analyzing a
topic by formulating a series of
questions designed to analyze its
various aspects, and examine or
clarify a person's point of view.
1. From Athens
2. Founder of the Academy
3. Teacher of Aristotle
4. Republic - ideal state
- concept of Just man and
Just society
- Platonic justice
- Tripartite soul - division of
labor - division of society
Philosophical king - a
theoretical ruler who combines
philosophical knowledge and
temperament with political skill and
power.
Auxiliaries - the warriors,
responsible for defending the city
from invaders, and for keeping the
peace at home. They must enforce
the convictions of the guardians,
and ensure that the producers
obey.
 Workers/Producers - The
laborers who make the goods and
services in society.
ARISTOTLE - 384 - 322 BC
1. Born in the city of Stagira
2. Founder of Lyceum
3. Teacher of Alexander the Great
4. Politics - 3 forms of Association
- attain highest good -
greatest happiness - eudaimonia
"Man is a political animal." - men
greed for power and title
5. “Money can’t buy happiness”
6. Virtues man
- The mean of having ethics
and being kind
POLYBIUS
– great historian of the Hellenistic period
– was born in 208 BC in Arcadia, a region
located in Greece’s Peloponnese
– Analysis of mixed constitution -
separation of powers (checks and
balances)
– Analysis of Roman Empire
– Anacyclosis
- Anarchy → Monarchy → Tyranny
→ Aristocracy → Oligarchy →
Democracy → Ochlocracy
- For every good government, there
is a bad government
CICERO (3 Jan 106 BC - 7 Dec 43 BC)
– Roman philosopher, statesmen
– From Arpinum, Roman Republic
– De Re Publica
– mixed constitution
- Consuls: 1, monarch
- Senate: few, aristocracy
- People: many, democracy
– Equal blending and balancing of 3
classes in state
– Separation of powers – checks and
balances
THE RISE OF MEDIEVAL
SCHOLASTICISM
– marriage of reason and religion
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
– Summa Theologica, De Regno
– There is a prime mover
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
– De Civitate Dei/The City of God
– heavenly city
– peace in a city can be achieved without
war
SCIENCE, SECULARISM, AND
SOCIETY
HUMANISM
– philosophical movement which placed
the human beings capacity for reason and
rationality at its center
– advocated secularism distanced
learning from religion
– Leonardo Da Vinci
– Galileo Galilei - affirmed the heliocentric
model
– Francis Bacon - systematic way of
testing hypotheses
AGE OF REASON
– moving further away from theology and
faith based approaches to knowledge in
favor of schools of thought such as
Rationalism and Empiricism
RATIONALISM
– mathematical and logical principles to
understand reality
– Rene Descartes “Cogito Ergo Sum” – “I
think therefore I am”
EMPIRICISM
– observations and sense experiences to
understand reality
– John Locke - The Social Contract
Theory
– Thomas Hobbes - Leviathan
AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT - His famous book was entitled Two
– extension of Age of Reason Treatises of Government (1690). From this
– focuses on the concept of power and writing, the Social Contract Theory
state, democracy, and rights of common developed.
people
– Voltaire - writings inspired American and - Unlike Hobbes, Locke believed that man
French Revolutions is naturally good and has natural rights of
– Immanuel Kant - merged rationalism and life, liberty, and property. For him, the role
empiricism of the government is to protect these
– Adam Smith - Father of Modern rights. To do this, the government and the
Economics members of the society enter into a social
contract but the power of the government
THE LATE MODERN PERIOD AND is limited. People can revolt against the
DISCIPLINIZATION government when it fails to fulfil its duty of
protecting their natural rights.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
– scientific, social, and political – an implicit agreement between the
developments people and their government about what
should each other give to each other
– Auguste Comte
- Positivism – assures that the government in question
has been consented to by the people it
– Karl Marx has jurisdiction over, gives people the right
- The Communist Manifesto to check their government if it steps out of
- Das Kapital (Socialism – line, leaving power with the majority
Communism)
THOMAS HOBBES: LEVIATHAN
– Herbert Spencer – a sea monster that is a metaphor for
- Social Statics (Social Darwinism) Hobbes’s perfect government

SUPPLEMENTAL RESEARCH: – people are unsuited to political life as

RENE DESCARTES: ‘I THINK
THEREFORE I AM’ (COGITO, ERGO
SUM)
– first step in demonstrating attainability of
knowledge
– If you think, if you doubt your existence,
this proves your existence
– Whatever you think and believe is true, it
stands true to you
they naturally compete with each other
– think much more highly of themselves
than of other people
– passions magnify the value they place
on their own interests
– One of his famous works is the
Leviathan (1651).

JOHN LOCKE: THE SOCIAL
CONTRACT THEORY
– people live together in society in
accordance with an agreement that
establishes moral and political rules of
behavior
– The title of his book was derived from a
sea monster in the book of Job.
– He believed that man is naturally evil
and needs protection from hurting
him/herself.
– Because of this nature of man,
government is needed to put order into
society and for this to work, people have
to give up their rights in the hands of the
government.

– Humans and the government enters into

a social contract wherein members of the
society cannot rebel against the monarchs
and the monarchs have the right to put
down rebellion.

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW ON EU DATA

LAW (Europe