Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Social sciences

Homonymy

Three Ways in Which Homonymy Can Arise

1.1 Phonetic Convergence

Under the influence of ordinary phonetic changes, two or more words which once had different forms coincide in the spoken language and sometimes in writing as well. For example, meat and meet.

1.2 Semantic Divergence

When two or more meanings of the same word drift apart to such an extent that there will be no obvious connection between them, polysemy will give place to homonymy and the unity of the word will be destroyed. For example, pupil, meaning ward or scholar, and pupil, meaning the apple of the eye. Another example is collation, meaning comparison or light repast. It is difficult to say in particular cases where polysemy ends and where homonymy begins:

• If two words identical

Introduction to Classical Sociology: Durkheim and Weber, J. C. Portantiero

Sociology as a field of knowledge appeared in the mid-nineteenth century. Social and political phenomena began to be understood as collective processes that precede the creation and organization of human society.

The Origin of Sociology

The stimulus for the emergence of sociology is the Industrial Revolution (the social and political crisis that generated economic transformation). The factory proletariat appeared. Two positions emerged: one is socialism (Marx) and the other sets the classical sociological tradition (Weber and Durkheim). Society may undergo changes, but these should be orderly. The task was to unravel that order, to identify and correct deviations, and to... Continue reading "Classical Sociology: Durkheim, Weber & Founding Thinkers" »

The Application of Science and Policy

Marxist historical materialism investigates human society without ideological assumptions, based on empirical individuals and the relations established between them.^[7] Unlike approaches that show capitalism as a static system or as a product of natural evolution, historical materialist research reveals its historical character and therefore transitional nature in the development of mankind.

Marx and Engels applied this new conception of history to analyze political and social events of the past and their time. This led to a new wave of socialism, where the taking of sides by communism and proletarian class struggle compounded the scientific study of bourgeois society and the transition from this to a communist... Continue reading "Science, Policy, and Marxist Historical Materialism" »

What seems irreconcilable with the French Revolution—historicism and individualism, in that case identified respectively with societal privileges and rights, now naturally belong to the same family: constitutionalism, understood as the doctrine of priority rights and therefore the limits to government security purposes.

Individualistic natural law and historicism in America share a common path, essentially because they have to fight the same enemy: statism, i.e., the European synthesis, which also applies to England, joining power to make laws and sovereign power. The union for the opposite perspective of the American revolutionaries means valuing the legislator's position, and not a specific public authority authorized by the constitution,... Continue reading "The Interplay of Individualism and Historicism in the American Revolution" »

Conditioning Factors in the Hominization Process

Friedrich Engels, in his work The Role of Work in the Transformation from Ape to Man, explains the process of humanization, noting four defining characteristics.

One of the primary elements that led a group of hominoids to become hominids was bipedalism (standing upright), which enabled the development of an arch on the soles of the feet, while the upper limbs became shorter than the lower. Similarly, the center of gravity shifted backward, encouraging skull transformation. The foramen magnum (the opening in the skull base through which the spinal cord passes) moved from the back to the central part of the skull base. The architecture of the face and jaw also modified, with prognathism disappearing.... Continue reading "Human Evolution: Bipedalism, Language, and Cultural Development" »

Peripheral Nationalisms

Throughout the nineteenth century in Spain, intellectual and political groups publicly differentiated the characteristics of the peripheral areas of the peninsula from the traditional state unit. These peculiarities were designated with the concepts of regionalism and nationalism, questioning the territorial structure of the state. The state model adopted by Spanish liberalism was centralized and unitary, continuing the model imposed by the Bourbons in the eighteenth-century Decree of Nueva Planta.

Faced with this standardization, a series of peripheral nationalisms arose, opposing it and defending their peculiarities as a people. They posed a new way to see Spain: diverse and multinational. Their origins lie in a cultural

The Concept of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution is defined as the appearance of a new economic system which involved the use of new sources of energy (steam and coal) that helped boost complex machines capable of producing much cheaper and faster. These machines replaced traditional tools and animals as draft power and moved the production from traditional shops to large factories.

Origins in the Textile Sector

The Industrial Revolution emerged in England over a long process that began in the textile sector in the second half or last third of the 18th century. This process is related to new methods of production, such as the domestic system that arose to prevent the control of the unions.

The Global Spread of Industrialization

Later,... Continue reading "The Rise of Modern Industrialization and Capitalism" »

Basic Characteristics of Business Administration Schools of Thought

The three main administrative schools of thought are: The Classical School (Traditional or Customary), the Psycho-Sociological School (Human Relations and Human Behavior), and the Systems School.

School: Classic or Custom

This school is also called the classical or traditional school. It suggests that administrative tasks should be considered and implemented as they were in the recent past, guided by custom or tradition. Many current managers practice this, and often the results are favorable.

Its primary use is to maintain the status quo, meaning things continue in the same way as always within the company's management. Managers who follow this school believe it's the safest path... Continue reading "Classical School of Business Administration: Principles and Practices" »

Ancient Astronomical Observations

Early astronomers peered into the sky month by month, as part of a religious ritual. They noted that certain stars appear just before the sun and disappear immediately after it. These observations were repeated over the years, with meticulous measurements and annotations of the times and positions these phenomena occurred in the sky. This led to the conclusion that these cycles were repeated cyclically with each season. The sky, in essence, provided a large celestial schedule that allowed them to predict seasons favorable for hunting and navigation.

For the Egyptians, when the star Sirius appeared above the horizon before dawn, it signaled the approach of the planting season. The Babylonians, meanwhile, developed... Continue reading "Cosmic Chronicles: A Journey Through Astronomical Discoveries" »

Major Consequences of the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution fundamentally changed the social, economic, political, and lifestyle structures of mankind, driven by the invention and implementation of large-scale machinery. Below are the key impacts:

Economic Impacts

• Increased work performance and reduced production costs, leading to significant wealth growth in industrialized nations.
• Development and accumulation of large capital companies and corporations.
• Design, development, and perfection of communication and transportation means, facilitating international exchange.
• Creation of modern financial institutions, including chambers of commerce, insurance companies, and banks.
• Development of the credit income system and the emergence of