Chapter Info (Click Here)
Book No. – 25 (Sociology)
Book Name – Masters of Sociological Thought
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. THE WORK
1.1. LOGICAL AND NONLOGICAL ACTION
1.2. RESIDUES AND DERIVATIONS
1.3. TWO TYPES OF NONLOGICAL THEORIES
1.4. SUBJECTIVE INTENTIONS AND OBJECTIVE CONSEQUENCES
1.5. THE LIONS AND THE FOXES
1.6. THE THEORY OF ELITES AND THE CIRCULATION OF ELITES
1.7. SOCIAL UTILITY “OF” AND “FOR” COLLECTIVES
1.8. SUMMARY AND ASSESSMENT
2. THE MAN
2.1. PARETO AS BUSINESSMAN AND SPURNED POLITICIAN
2.2. A BELATED ACADEMIC CAREER
3. THE INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT
3.1. THE HEIR OF MACHIAVELLI
3.2. THE INFLUENCE OF EVOLUTIONISM AND POSITIVISM
3.3. PARETO’S DEBT TO MOSCA AND MARX
4. THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
4.1. THE GENERAL SCENE
4.2. PARETO’S COLLEAGUES AND AUDIENCE
4.3. PARETO’S INFLUENCE IN AMERICA
Note: The first chapter of every book is free.
Access this chapter with any subscription below:
- Half Yearly Plan (All Subject)
- Annual Plan (All Subject)
- Sociology (Single Subject)
- CUET PG + Sociology
LANGUAGE
Vilfredo Pareto
Chapter – 11
Table of Contents
THE WORK
- Pareto aimed to complement political economy by applying methods from the natural sciences to the social sciences, specifically in his work The Treatise on General Sociology.
- His goal was to construct a system of sociology analogous to J. Willard Gibbs’ generalized physico-chemical systemin thermodynamics.
- A physico-chemical system is an isolated aggregate where components, like water and alcohol, are interdependent, so changes in one part lead to adjustments in others.
- Similarly, Pareto viewed the social system as a network of individuals (analogous to molecules) with interests, drives, and sentiments influencing each other.
- His general sociology aimed to analyze the mutually dependent variations in the factors determining human conduct.
- Pareto’s treatise focuses on the nonrational aspects of human behavior, leaving rational aspects largely to his economic writings.
- He was motivated by his earlier concerns with economics, recognizing that economics, especially modern economics, only dealt with rational actions aimed at acquiring scarce resources.
- Pareto turned to sociology to address the nonrational aspects of human behavior, which were largely neglected in economic theory.
- Rather than discarding economic theory, Pareto sought to supplement it with sociological and social-psychologicalconcepts to explain aspects of human behavior that economic analysis couldn’t fully address.
- His work focused on differentiating between rational and nonrational elements of action, not on classifying concrete behaviors.
- Pareto aimed to analyze the elements of human actions rather than specific behaviors themselves.
LOGICAL AND NONLOGICAL ACTION
- Pareto defines logical actions as those that “use means appropriate to ends” and logically link means with ends.
- Logical actions must be logical both subjectively (for the person performing them) and objectively (from the standpoint of others with more knowledge).
- Nonlogical action is all action that does not fit Pareto’s definition of logical action, forming a residual category.
- Pareto follows an inductive procedure to analyze the nonlogical element of human action, examining a wide array of historical cases and belief systems.
- He concludes that nonscientific belief systems rarely determine action but instead express deep-seated sentiments.
- People tend to “logicalize” their behavior, making it appear as the result of logical ideas, but in reality, actions are more often guided by pre-existing sentiments.
- Example: A person refrains from murder due to a horror of murder (sentiment), rationalizing it with a belief that “the Gods punish murderers” (theory).
- Human sentiments (A) strongly influence beliefs (B) and actions (C), while beliefs have much less influence on actions.
- To think that beliefs directly influence actions is a rationalistic fallacy in previous social theory.
- Nonlogical actions (B and C) are observable, but sentiments (A) are inferred and studied by psychologists.
- Pareto was not interested in analyzing psychic states but accepted them as data of fact for social analysis.
- Pareto focused on conduct reflecting psychic states and theories that justify nonlogical actions, especially nonscientific theories.
- He critiqued metaphysical, religious, and moral systems, showing they were not scientific and served to rationalize human actions.
- Ideals like liberty, equality, progress, or the General Will were seen by Pareto as vacuous and similar to myths used by primitive societies.
- Pareto argued that these myths often mask actions, making them seem respectable even though they are not verifiable.
- Pareto’s task was to unmask such myths, revealing how reality is distorted in theories and descriptions of it.
- Unmasking served both Pareto’s scientific and ideological purposes.