Social Philosophy

Social philosophy is the philosophical study of questions about social behavior (typically, of humans). Social philosophy addresses a wide range of subjects, from individual meanings to legitimacy of laws, from the social contract to criteria for revolution, from the functions of everyday actions to the effects of science on culture, from changes in human demographics to the collective order of a wasps nest. Social philosophy deals with the concept and principles regarding the society in relation to moral, spiritual and live. There is often a considerable overlap between the questions addressed by social philosophy and ethics or value theory. Other forms of social philosophy include political philosophy and jurisprudence, which are largely concerned with the societies of state and government and their functioning. Social philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy all share intimate connections with other disciplines in the social sciences. In turn, the social sciences themselves are of focal interest to the philosophy of social science. The philosophy of language and social epistemology are subfields which overlap in significant ways with social philosophy. Social philosophy explores philosophical questions about social issues and social behavior. Social philosophy deals with a broad range of subjects. Common examples of ideas in social philosophy include social contract theory, cultural criticism, and individualism. The various topics in social philosophy cross over between many other philosophical categories, including epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of politics, morality, and so on. Major themes in social philosophy include the self, social entities, and the relationship between them. Individualism often comes up in social philosophy, including questions regarding the separation, or lack thereof, of individual persons from society and each other. Social philosophy often mixes with sociology, cognitive anthropology, and psychology. In that those fields offer the science and experimentation that social philosophers can then study and contemplate. Any given discussion or theory may often have elements of social philosophy as well as social sciences. Major parts of social philosophy do overlap with political philosophy, especially in regards to authority, revolution, property, and rights. However, social philosophy also deals with more subtle forms of social interaction, authority, and conflict. For example, while legal philosophy addresses issues of formal government and formal law, social philosophy addresses more informal issues such as the social structure of voluntarily formed groups, such as the social power of a celebrity. In this way, we can contrast legal power, such as that of a governor, with social power, such as that of a popular high-school student. Social philosophy can also address group dynamics and the ways in which people group together or otherwise act in union. Topics can include fashion, fads, cults, crowds, and so on and so forth. Social philosophy also deals with social values. Social values can relate to morality, especially in regards to moral theories that define morality by what society

encourages and discourages. For this reason, social philosophy can overlap with morality and moral values.

http://onlinephilosophyclub.com/social-philosophy.php (May 2, 2012) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_philosophy (May 2, 2012) (BSA1)

Reported by: Ana Miadel Martal