The Blasé Attitude
In sociology, the number of people living together and a variety of necessities and possibilities serve as a fundamental explanation of urban mentality. In the 19th century, society was captured by the ideas of individualism and the desire to obtain freedoms in different sectors. People were obsessed with the development of interpersonal relationships, but money had a negative impact on human emotions and promoted inequalities that were hard to control.
Georg Simmel investigated the differences between people who lived in rural and urban areas and found urban life in a struggle to protect individuality. Simmel offered the idea of the blasé attitude or “an indifference to distinctions” (as cited in Bodnar, 2015, p. 2092). He called these distinctions meaningful in relation to money and needs; thus, indifference should not be compared to apathy or boredom solely but to the intention to find protection and feel safe.
In the 19th century, when a capitalist economy was highly promoted and explained by Karl Marx, it was important to manage different social-psychological situations. Indifference or indulgence in the things that create distinctions between people was an obligatory step to add value to urban mentality (Bodnar, 2015). The blasé attitude is a possibility to react properly and find out the rationality of human behaviors.
Intolerance, as well as other problematic areas in human relationships, may have different backgrounds. Bodnar (2015) addresses the lack of choices and concerns about unclear public space boundaries. This sociological term remains ambiguous even today because people cannot understand if it is correct to develop blasé thoughts for protection or demonstration of specific emotions and attitudes. Society creates a number of conditions and limitations for individuals, and it is the responsibility of every person to prove rights and freedoms, relying on the blasé attitude or similar concepts.
Scientific Sociology
The foundation of scientific sociology in the United States has its history and specific conditions that could explain the importance of this concept. According to Morris (2017), “an intriguing, well-kept secret” is related to the development of scientific sociology. Early sociological methods were frequently criticized by many schools, including its well-known representative, W.E.B. Du Bois. This sociologist underlined the lack of evidence, weak perspectives, and the presence of scientific racism that challenged the establishment of contact with affected populations (as cited in Morris, 2017). To provide a clear definition of scientific sociology, it was necessary to consider history, gather qualitative and quantitative data, and complete ethnographic fieldwork.
Social reforms promoted by Du Bois played a critical role at the beginning of the 20th century to support African Americans in particular. A new scientific concept in sociology was proposed as “rigorous and emancipatory” to find a new direction in modern sociological thought and re-organize the attitudes toward equal human relationships. Scientific sociology turned out to be a new wave for many schools to introduce the real causes of racial inequality and oppression, relying on study results with actual people who “lied and died behind the veil of racism” (Morris, 2017, p. 6).
The goal was to recognize the power of scientific racism in a particular context and create a new brand where racial prejudice and discrimination have to be revealed. Scientific sociology helps specify why the current understanding of race is wrong and why it is vital to empower and liberate black people. Despite the professionalism of social scientists, many errors had already been made, and the task of philosophers and thinkers was to remove injustice and set new fair measures.
References
Bodnar, J. (2015). Reclaiming public space. Urban Studies, 52(12), 2090-2104. Web.
Morris, A. (2017). W. E. B. Du Bois at the center: From science, civil rights movement, to Black lives matter. The British Journal of Sociology, 68(1), 3-16. Web.