Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Social sciences for Baccalaureate

Outline of Scientific Knowledge Through History

Greco-Medieval Era

Introduction

Philosophy was considered equivalent to Science and dealt with universal essences. Myth, on the other hand, was associated with *doxa*, representing multiple and changing appearances. The Middle Ages maintained a similar scheme, but with a theological basis.

The Universe: A Biological Model

• The universe was seen as a living being, finite (limited) and ordered (a cosmos), and full of matter (not empty).
• Qualitative Approach: Nature endowed each substance with potentialities determining its nature:
  • Plants: grow, survive, nurture, and reproduce.
  • Animals: feel, crave, and move.
  • Humans: think.
• Geocentric and Geostatic: A heterogeneous view where celestial phenomena differed from

Social and Political Movements in 19th Century Europe

Key Concepts

• Class Society: A form of social organization in Europe after the Industrial Revolution and the bourgeois revolutions, characterized by social groups or classes differentiated by wealth.
• Bourgeoisie: The social class that owns the means of production and controls political, economic, and social life in 19th-century Europe.
• Proletariat: The working class within the capitalist system, possessing only their labor and facing challenging living and working conditions.
• Protectionism: Economic practices advocating tariffs on foreign products to protect domestic industries.
• Free Trade: Economic theory advocating for no state intervention in international trade.
• Chartist Movements: A political

Understanding State, Power, and Authority

State: A group of people within a unified territory, sharing a single market, and organized under a legal framework to ensure social peace and order under a single government.

Power: The ability to impose one's will on others.

Authority: Leadership held by an individual with power.

The Leviathan and the Social Contract

The social contract serves as the foundation of political legitimacy, validating a social order where some rule and others obey. Equal and free individuals, acting rationally, enter into a contract, establishing a government as humanity transitions into society.

Rousseau's Perspective

Rousseau believed that the state of war exists within civil society, leading to inequality, domination, and...

The Rainbow Nation

Nelson Mandela often referred to South Africa as the "Rainbow Nation" to capture the diversity of the country's population and to emphasize the vision of unity in the post-apartheid era. The term "Rainbow Nation" reflects Mandela's commitment to building a nation where people of different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds could coexist harmoniously.

The Madiba Clan

Nelson Mandela belonged to the Thembu royal family, and his clan within the Thembu people is called the Madiba clan. "Madiba" was also a term of respect and endearment that many South Africans used to refer to Mandela.

Flags in 'Invictus'

In the movie "Invictus," during the first rugby match, you would see the national flags of South Africa and Australia. The scene...

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet

Nowadays, the ease of accessing information and content on various topics and in various formats seems like a great opportunity, but it can also be counterproductive. Therefore, it is important to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the internet to understand how we can take better advantage of it.

Advantages of the Internet

The internet offers access to a wide variety of content on numerous themes through the web. From news information to highly specialized topics—scientific, humorous, cultural, entertainment, educational, and playful content. The internet has also created new jobs thanks to its creation and evolution.

Disadvantages of the Internet

One of the disadvantages of the internet that...

Terrorism: Historical Perspective and Current Realities: Some Data (I)

Some Data from the report “40 years of data on international and domestic terrorism”, Heritage Foundation:

• The psychological impact of the 11/S bombings was huge and might have foreshadowed a new generation of terrorism. Similar bombings in Madrid and London in the coming years seemed to be a confirmation.
• The fact is that the report from the Heritage Foundation from 2011 registered as many as 39 plots foiled since the fateful bombings: “Simply put, the intelligence and law enforcement communities are better able to track down leads in local communities than they were on September 10, 2001”.

Targets and Casualties:

• Bombings which take place in the first world lay larger

Marx's Materialist Philosophy: Labor and Social Structures

Marx adopted Hegel's dialectical method, which involves evolving through affirmation and negation to reach an improved state. For Marx, the only reality that evolves is matter. Humans, as beings of flesh and bone, work and develop themselves throughout history by transforming society and nature. Thus, humans are active and practical beings, with work as their primary activity. This is why the Marxist system is called materialism: work puts humans in relation to nature and with other humans, thereby building society. Human essence, therefore, is the set of social relations. These social relations determine human consciousness. However, in capitalist society, where the worker is employed,

19th Century Spanish Society: Class Structure and Conflict

The Dominant Bloc: Aristocracy and High Bourgeoisie

The progressive economic identification between the two groups completed the merger process between the families of the dominant bloc. This identification was based on shared interests, including:

• Ownership and wealth
• Links to liberal governments
• Intermarriage
• Titles of nobility

This integration between "aristocrats and princes of money" was also an ideological approach based on the values of progress, individual freedom, moral order, and a strict Catholic Puritanism.

The Middle Class (Petty Bourgeoisie)

The middle class consisted mainly of the petty bourgeoisie, who were owners of family businesses, including:

• Shopkeepers and small traders

Establishment, Incorporation, and Loss

Changing Lexicon

• Words alter their shape and/or subject.
• New words are created.
• Some words disappear.

Hometown

Estate Glossary

Many words come from Latin. For example, "son" comes from the Latin word filius.

Learned Words

These words come from Latin and have not evolved. For example, fabulare (to speak) and fables are doublets.

Substrate Words

These words come from languages that were spoken in the Iberian Peninsula before Roman colonization. For example, chatarra (scrap) comes from Euskera (Basque).

Loanwords

These words come from people who have lived alongside Castilian speakers (Arabic, etc.) and languages with which Castilian has maintained political and social contact. The lexicon of the language has been adding...

• Features of Galileo and Descartes

  Galileo presents science as a hypothetical, deductive, and experimental method. This is central to his approach to the scientific method, framing the investigation of nature as a dialogue. The only way forward is to propose hypotheses, which involve imagination and intuition, not certainty. Descartes' scientific method contrasts; its core is analysis and synthesis, not hypothesis and experiment. Galileo's method is compositional:

  1. It encodes and reflects steps.
  2. It seeks to extend this method to all knowledge, including metaphysics.

  Descartes' approach combines two key aspects:

  1. Defining the scientific method.
  2. Extending the method to all knowledge.

  Galileo differs by seeking to extend the scientific method to other