Sociology, Liberalism and The Milgram Experiment

Throughout Unit 1 we have covered a wide range of concepts and key terms which were based on the topic of ideologies as well as the social sciences. Among these many terms there were 3 of them which stood out to me most, Sociology, Liberalism and the Milgram experiment.

Sociology is one of the many branches of social science and it is the methodical study of society; more specifically the study of human relationships, conducts, and the construction of society itself. This branch of social science is significant because it allows us to better comprehend how society as well as the social system works. Another reason it’s important is because it educates us on the things that have an affect on society, so this in return will allow us to become aware of our problems. Once we know our problems regarding society we can fix them so that we may advance in a positive manner. This seemed to be a key concept because sociology was mentioned indirectly many times throughout this unit with the mention of society and social structures. The reason it resonated with me was because it’s one of the more important branches of social science, because it helps us better understand society which is essentially all of us. If we don’t study and understand how we all act and the reasons as to why we do things in a social environment then we will not be able to improve society.

Liberalism is a type of of government that is established upon the rights and freedoms of a person. This government operates according to the majority rather than minority, even though the minority are still recognized. Liberalism is important because this is where the voices of those that depend on the political spectrum. So essentially it’s protecting the rights that we have whether it may be our basic human rights such as freedom of speech, association and expression or even our rights to vote. Another reason why liberalism is significant is because it allows for everyone to be equal in many aspects and grants us a fair and safe government which will in return mean that our society will be equal and safe as well. This was a key concept to me mainly because this seems like a government that looks out for the interests of the people regardless of age, race or religion. This system allows the people to have freedom and equality which is not something that is granted to all people by their government systems.

The Milgram experiment was directed in the 1960’s by Stanley Milgram who was a psychologist from Yale University. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the reasons that were given for the millions of deaths that occured in the Holocaust by those who committed them. The 40 men that were in this experiment all responded to an ad in the newspaper stating that they would be paid $4. 50 to participate in a study. The study included a teacher and a learner who was actually an actor, the teacher would mention a bunch of word pairs and the learner would have to repeat them back. If a mistake was made then the teacher would have to shock the learner, with the amount of volts increasing each time. During the experiment the learner would get the answers wrong on purpose and a few of the teachers refused to shock them but they would then be ordered to continue with the experiment and majority of the time they did. This experiment revealed shocking truths about human nature, originally it was predicted that only 1% would give the maximum shock of 450 volts but 65% of the participants carried out the maximum volts. Anywhere a person is, regardless of age or race one thing that’s always taught is to always obey those that are in charge and this experiment proved just how much a person is capable of and that one doesn’t know to what lengths they could go to if they were ordered to do something.

This experiment was an important one because it shows the clash between obedience and authority and it allows us to see how regular people with no prior mental issues could almost go as far as killing a person. Another reason why this was so crucial is because it then gives us a better understanding so that when incidents occur such as that of the holocaust and on a minor scale murder, we can understand how a person could commit a crime.