Am i a structuralist?
I feel i must heavy heartedly admit that i am to an extent a structuralist, i accept the points made and the ways these theories affect our society and agree more with the functionalist theories presented by Durkheim and Talcott Parsons. Which state that society is structured into functional parts such as: the family, education, the law, employment (or lack of it), bureaucracy/the state, culture/media, and religion, it is these primary influences which help form who we are and future generations and society for years to come.
I feel i must heavy heartedly admit that i am to an extent a structuralist, i accept the points made and the ways these theories affect our society and agree more with the functionalist theories presented by Durkheim and Talcott Parsons. Which state that society is structured into functional parts such as: the family, education, the law, employment (or lack of it), bureaucracy/the state, culture/media, and religion, it is these primary influences which help form who we are and future generations and society for years to come.
I also accept but do not agree with the points made in the conflict theories as presented by Karl Marx. He takes the stance of looking at these structured parts stated in the functionalist theories and says that it is not these structures which shape society but has the opposite view that it is economic reactions which define every functional structure within society. My reasons for disagreeing with this theory is because it rejects the ideas of individual interaction which i feel are vital for a fully functional society. It is an essential part of human nature and therefore by rejecting or disregarding the way we interact as individuals within society we are also taking away relationships which are an essential part of human life, we are the only species which has this clear form of language and emotional understanding (which machines are completely incapable of feeling) and this is something that should be acknowledged. It is human instinct to feel like we need a purpose in life and from the of a Marxist this feeling is highly if not completely diminished. For example, he would not walk into a classroom and get to know each individual student he would purely look at the class as a whole and state that they were just there to provide a future workforce.
The functionalist theories have my vote but this is a battle that i feel will never be fully resolved unless proved either is right or wrong which would be near impossible to do..
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