The Promise of Sociology
we are currently living n a world whereby everyone faces and lives with all kinds of personal issues every day. In most cases, we find ourselves living life with a series of continuous traps in which we cannot get out of due to a lack of viewing things in different ways. It is vital to understand that a person’s life as an individual is interrelated in one way or another with society. All these types of theories exist in The Promise by C. Wright Mills. According to Mill, an individual’s life is founded on the society where they come from and the things around them at a certain time. He also states that sociological imaginations help us understand an individual’s lifestyle, traditions, habits, and background. To better understand “imagination,” it is essential to identify the association between personal troubles and the public’s issues. According to Mill’s perspective, the social imagination promise is the ability to link up two different spheres of the individual’s experience into social order based on reasons to all, intelligence, and goodwill.
The major argument of the essay by Mills states that we are supposed to have a social imagination. In this case, we should adopt a shift in the perspectives of asking questions, assuming, and thinking. Miss is successful in presenting the argument because social imagination helps show a bigger picture of society. An individual who adopts social imagination contains a bigger view of things happening around the world and has a great problem-solving ability. Mills has also included a lot of illustrations in his essay to support his arguments. When explaining the differences between issues and troubles, he integrates the examples of divorces and unemployment. At the start of the essay, Mills explains the human conditions in the 1950s. In this case, it makes it interesting as it is relatable to a man in the contemporary world. I find no weakness in his argument; however, I think that the value of personal sense is lost due to social imagination. Instead of someone being involved in acting and thinking uniquely through their issues, they tend to follow society’s perspective on the social imagination lens.
As discussed earlier, Mill’s argument is strong, and it is also quite similar to the Karen Stemheimer article, “How to Think a Sociologist.” According to Mill, he suggests that we are supposed to shift our perspectives on how we ask questions and think about the situations that surround us. Stemheimer suggests the same in her article where her third step states that “Ask even more questions.” In another case, at the beginning of the essay, Mill states that everyone’s life is full of issues and troubles; however, we should understand life complexities, see things from a different perspective and attempt to come out of the problems. This type of view can also be identified in Stemheimer’s article in the fifth step, where it states that “Embrace life’s complexities.” In Mill’s essay, he claims that we should have a sociological perspective in which we attempt to think critically. On the fourth step of Stemheimer article, it claims that “Make the everyday strange.” According to Stemheimer, the article also have an idea that we should prepare ourselves to perceive all day patterns and events in a critical manner (Sternheimer). In this case, we find that most of the ideas in the two articles are similar.
As Mills discusses different ideas in his essay, there brings about mixed reactions and feelings about it. With Mill’s argument at the beginning of the essay, I conquer that people in the current life feel that their lives are a series of traps (Mills 1). He also claims that the more people become aware of the threats and the ambitions that transcend their immediate locals, the more they tend to feel trapped (Mills 1). In applying his ideas in my personal life, I think that he is right as many are when I feel trapped in situations and have no way to come out of it. However, I tend to disagree with Mills’ idea that we cannot understand a person’s life without understanding their individual lives and social history. I think it is not important to understand the social history of a person to know more about them and their problems (Mills 1). I also agree with Mills statement that a person is capable of understanding their gauge, fates, and experiences through identifying themselves in their period and identify their chances in life thought becoming aware of the personal circumstances (Mills 3). in this case, he illustrates that if someone identifies their social positions of circumstances, they can easily succeed and play their roles in the society. I also conquer the ideology of public issues and private troubles. In this case, I can say that I agree with most of the ideas presented by Mills in his article, The Promise.
In conclusion, we can identify Mill’s essay offers a perspective of social imagination, which offers sociologists’ perspective on society. The social imagination definition is to view the world from a sociological perspective, ask questions, and offer answers in a sociological manner. Fundamentally, social imagination is essential in society recently. It links up the personal troubles and the public issues, associates the biography and history, and provides a feeling of certain anxieties and crises in society today.
Works Cited
Mills, C. Wright. “The Promise of sociology.”The Sociological Imagination. 1959.
Sternheimer, Karen. “How to Think Like a Sociologist.”Everyday Sociology (2009). <https://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2009/06/how-to-think-like-a-sociologist.html>.
