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Topic 1
Beliefs, Ideologies & Science - Coggle Diagram
Topic 1
Beliefs, Ideologies & Science
Definitions
Beliefs
- About things we hold to be true (subjective)
Ideology
- A set of idea's values and beliefs that provide a means of interpreting the world, and represents the outlook, and justifies the interests of the social group
Ideologies
Marxist Ideology
- Dominant Ideology and Hegemony
- Marxism = dominant ideology in society: Perpetuating Capitalism - Althusser (ISA) Maintain FCC
Gramsci - Developed the Marxist view of ideology with the concept of hegemony
- Refers to process whereby the RC (through dominant ideology) maintains it's power by persuading others (WC) to adopt the RC Ideology as part of their values and therefore consent to RC rather than be forced to obey
Pluralist Ideology
- Pluralism: Views seeing exercise of power in society as reflecting a board range of social interests, with power spread across groups and individuals with no single monopoly of power
Pluralist Ideology
- A view suggesting there are many different types of social group, each with individual ideologies.
- None claim to be the 'correct' way of seeing the world or 1 is superior
- Links to postmodernism and decline of the metanarrative
This ideology falls into trap of claiming a form of superiority over other ideologies - persuading people that the prevailing ideas in society reflect broad image of social groups
- This is denying that there may be an unequal distribution of power in society (WC - Cultural capital = educational disadvantage) & that not all groups are equally able to influence those with power - PI conceals unequal distribution of power in society by persuading us this isn't the case
--> Contradicts itself and makes it a dominant ideology
Patriarchal Ideology
- Feminist = set of ideas that supports & ties to justify the power of men
Women = more suited to childcare (Religious organisations - Patriarchal in structure)
Political Ideology
- Provides analysis and interpretation of how society should work - suggest how power should be used by government to influence events and change society through policy
- Nationalism, Liberalism, Fascism, Communism or Anarchism
- Conservative, Labour, Green or Lib Dems - suggests particular political policies favour implementing if given the opportunity
Science
Scientism as a belief system - Scientism
- Is a belief system or ideology claiming science methods can claim true knowledge of the world
- Rejects truths that can't be explained by these methods
as the only means of finding knowledge is through Empirical Evidence
Empirical Evidence
- Observable evidence collected in the physical or social world
Not all scientists believe in scientism and accept there are other justifications as to understanding the world
e.g - Understanding why couples argue
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What is Science?
Seen as different to religion or an ideology as it claims to be true from scientific methods that produce empirical evidence, collected under conditions of objectivity and value freedom
Objectivity
- Approaching open-mindedly, avoiding bias and preparing research to be scrutinised by others
Value Freedom
- Beliefs and prejudices of a researcher shouldn't influence the way research is carried out and the way evidence is interpreted
Science as an Ideology
Paradigm's and Scientific Revolution
- Kuhn suggests that scientists work within PARADIGMS
- Paradigms are a framework of scientific concepts made within which scientists operate - they are supposed to be investigating things that are not called into the question
Kuhn challenges whether scientists set out to collect evidence in aim of falsifying their hypothesis
- Argues that scientists try to manipulate their finings to fit into the existing Paradigm rather than attempting to falsify it
- If an experiment finding falls out of he paradigm they will ignore it and only change the paradigm if the find is re-occurring
- Evidence is changed and manipulated in the favour of the scientists
- Overall, science is an everchanging series of paradigms whereby previous paradigms break down and create new ones causing a scientific revolution
- This suggests as science isn't objective and can be considered to be openminded = IDEOLOGY
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Religion
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Ideology and Religion
Religion offers a vision and understanding of the world like ideologies however differ as religion isn't tied to the interest of particular groups
Giddens - Religion = shared beliefs helping understand the ultimate meaning - 3 main aspects of religion:
1) Belief in Supernatural
- An entity that provides some understanding of the world
2) Faith on the Part of Believers
- A strong sense of trust and conviction in a person or entity based on testable, falsifiable evidence
3) A Body of Unchanging Truth
- Contains an unchangeable, fundamental truth
Marx - Religion is part of the ideology of the dominant class
- Helps form part of a world view justifying classes = opium
Intelligent Design
Fundamentalists in the US have transformed some original religious beliefs into an ideology "Intelligent Design"
- This is the religious belief that universe and living things aren't products of evolution but are products of God
- This religiously based ideology is wanted to be taught alongside evolution in schools
Science and Religion
Types of Belief System
Open - Belief System
Popper - Science aspires to be an Open-Belief System
- Research (even in paradigms) is open to scrutiny is only provisional as it can change as a result of further investigation
Closed- Belief System
Ideology and Religion = Closed Belief System - assert all embracing unchangeable body of belief whereby it cannot be disproved
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Postmodernism
Approaches to Ideology, Science and Religion
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The Decline of Metanarratives, Fragmentation of Belief and The Growth of 'Do It Yourself' Attitude
Postmodern societies are characterised by fragmentation of belief and a wide range of different religious beliefs
Decline in metanarratives is accompanied by people abandoning once taken-for-granted religious belief systems - less willing to accept what religious authorities say they should believe
Holds beliefs that people hold as purely a matter of personal taste - choose 'pink'n'mix' beliefs as they 'go shopping' in a 'spiritual supermarket' - changes as the fashion changes
Religion as a consumer product, Lifestyle and Identity Choice
Religion has declined as a source of collective identity based on traditions handed down by socialisation - Consumer choice on religion establishes individual identity
- World id now consumer driven and Religion is a product to be chose at a religious market with the choice to make your own personal do-it yourself personalised cocktail = New Age spirituality
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Evaluation
- Usefulness of PM contributions to issues such as the New Age growth can be used to be compared against others