Events,
Issues and Concepts of Quebec History
Last
revised: 23 August 2000 |
Concepts
in Social Science and History
Claude
Bélanger,
Department of History,
Marianopolis College Concepts
are born of the necessity that individuals have to organise the information they
learn or to systematise the experiences they go through. The term derives from
the Latin language (conceptus) which means to conceive. Thus, a concept
is general idea, created by the mind from specific occurrences, whose purpose
is to categorise objects or events that, despite their seeming singularity or
uniqueness, have in fact a great deal in common. If the objects or the events
were not categorised, they would all appear as a shapeless mass and it would be
virtually impossible to learn anything from them. We
need to organise information so as to understand its relevance and significance,
to be able to draw from past experience (memory), to construct new ideas, as well
to analyse new situations. In
practice, concepts create classes of items out of what might otherwise appear
as separate and individual components. When these components have characteristics
in common, despite differing in details, we group them together and form a concept.
The existence of the concept then permits us to understand more fully each component
as well as to grasp immediately a reality not previously experienced. For example
we may learn separately about dogs, cats and cows but as our knowledge of such
creatures increases we inevitably arrive at the point where systematisation becomes
necessary and the concept of animal is born. Animal is not a reality; it is a
creation of the mind. Once we grasp what animals are all about, we may instantly
begin to understand what a zebu is, even if we have never encountered one and
do not know the word, as long as we are told that it is an animal. We might separately
learn about tables, chairs, sofas but the process of learning will be facilitated
if we arrive at the concept of furniture. When
formulating concepts, it is vital to avoid the pitfalls of stereotyping in elevating
single characteristics to the rank of the typical and thus the general, or overgeneralizing
by creating categories from too few examples. Thus,
it is inevitable that we use concepts. The Greek philosopher Socrates was among
the first to bring the universal elements of concepts, and the knowledge that
may be derived from them, to be accepted. The Sophists that preceded him had drawn
the conclusion that the wide variety of experiences and perceptions that individuals
encountered demonstrated that universal truth or knowledge could not exist. Rather,
Socrates showed that elements that are true for all people can be arrived at and
accepted and that the true quest of science was to uncover and demonstrate these. For a long time the discipline
of history, with philosophy among the oldest of the fields of knowledge, attempted
to avoid the use of concepts. In consequence, the studies were inevitably descriptive
and rarely produced a satisfactory understanding of events or issues. In time
the discipline evolved and developed concepts specific to its objects and, as
well, borrowed from other disciplines when they developed concepts appropriate
to the study of history. Key
concepts of history are causes, consequences, time/chronology, revolution, civilisation,
West, Zeitgeist [the spirit of the time], world view, Quiet Revolution,
etc. From other disciplines of the Social Sciences, history has borrowed heavily.
From sociology: class, society, modernisation, family, etc. From political science:
power, state, political system, etc. From anthropology: culture, ethnocentrism,
racism, etc. From economics: production, demand, etc. From Geography: region,
migration etc. From psychology: personality.
©
1998 Claude Bélanger, Marianopolis College
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