Ideologies, Theories and Belief Systems

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  • Ideologies and Belief Systems
    • an ideology is a set of beliefs and values that is usually centered around a core principle which is essentially a belief system
      • traditional view of science - pursuit of facts and objectivity, identify cause and effect relationships that can be tested. After the enlightenment - science replaced religion as the dominant ideology in Western societies
        • replacing religion - science has led to technological and medical advances, replaced religion due to its open nature meaning it can be questioned and interpretation
    • Science as an open belief - Popper - science has become the dominant belief system in Western World
      • it is open to criticism and being challenged - science is built upon 'falsification' this means that all who believe in science attempt to challenge pre-existing theories and knowledge with the aim of testing its findings - if its wrong it can be replaced
    • Science is a closed belief system - Kuhn - science is a closed belief system due to the paradigm - pre existing framework that does not encourage freedom of thought - those who follow guidelines are rewarded and those who question it are ridiculed
    • religion as closed belief system - many religion claim they hold a monopoly of truth meaning they have the only correct worldview - argued this prevents change as traditional values are not flexible
    • secularisation - some sociologists believe that this lack of flexibility has led to a decline in religious beliefs in some societies
    • Marxist view - all ideologies, including science and religion are manipulated by the ruling class to maintain and reproduce social class inequality
      • they are in place to justify the capitalist system and prevent a working class revolution - sends the proletariats false class consciousness
    • feminist view - all ideologies such as science and religion have promoted patriarchy in society for generations - become male stream as they define male position of power by representing women as weak
    • postmodern view - claim any ideology is a meta narrative due to the fragmentation of society - these are dangerous as they do not allow for individual thought and free will

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