The word society emerged in the 16th century, derived from the French société which stemmed from theLatin societas, a "friendly association with others," from socius meaning "companion, associate, comrade or business partner." The Latin word is probably related to the verb sequi, "to follow", and thus originally may have meant "follower".[2]
In political science, the term is often used to mean the totality of human relationships, generally in contrast to the State, i.e., the apparatus of rule or government within a territory:
I mean by it (i.e. the State) that summation of privileges and dominating positions which are brought into being by extra-economic power... I mean by Society, the totality of concepts of all purely natural relations and institutions between man and man...[3]
In the social sciences, a society has been used to mean a group of people that form a semi-closed social system, in which most interactions are with other individuals belonging to the group. Society is sometimes contrasted with culture. For example, Clifford Geertz has suggested thatsociety is the actual arrangement of social relations while culture is made up of beliefs and symbolic forms.
According to sociologist Richard Jenkins, the term addresses a number of important existential issues facing people:
- How humans think and exchange information – the sensory world makes up only a fraction of human experience. To understand theworld, we have to conceive of human interaction in the abstract (i.e., society).
- Many phenomena cannot be reduced to individual behavior.
- Collectives often endure beyond the lifespan of individual members.
- The human condition has always meant going beyond the evidence of our senses; every aspect of our lives is tied to the collective.[4]
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