RAZON, Valjean Paulo M.

2011-411089

11-12-2013

Reflection on The Sociological Imagination

As we were given the readings for our first assignment I thought it would be just a short
article. Considering this was still just the first part of our semester. I was surprised to see it was
actually a book. So Before I got down to scanning it, I read commentaries on it and some infos
about the book. What was sociological imagination? Of all the info Ive read I think the best way
to describe what sociological imagination is (since most of what Ive read other than the book
agree on this) would say that it is actually the ability to relate ones own experiences to what is
socially occurring around the individual, The social reality one is living in. And somehow to a
deeper and more direct manner, to be able to realize that success and failure in ones life
potentially relies on the entire society rather than the individuals everyday life. Having seen this
I took a step back to reflect on what I believe in.
As someone who is a strong believer in Ein Sof (G-d, the Endless Father) and someone
who studies Torah it is very evident that this is somewhat reminiscent and parallel on Divine
Influence and a feeling of a greater power having a significant influence on the life of an
individual. It seems very much alike to believing that G-d always guides and affects the lives and
existence of everything which exists. I felt somewhat intrigued that this thought or find was what
this man, who probably doesnt care about G-d or the principles Ein Sof has set for all of
Existence. It made me take a pause to realize that it may be possible that Men somehow do not
believe or care about G-all of Existence. It made me take a pause to realize that it may be
possible that Men somehow do not believe or care about G-d but they actually experience Him
on their daily lives. Although Men are different it may be due to the degree of adherence to G-ds
principles which make each society different. One may say that if adherence is the case then G-d
does not affect them. But to think that it is actually based on that, would open doors to realizing
that even non-adherence means to be under the influence of that divine power. For responding
negatively to a principle does not nullify it, rather it actually affected the individual because we
observed a reaction, a negative one for that matter. However, there is also the Biblical principle
of freedom to choose your path thus shifting the burden of society to Individuals rather than G-d
himself. In this case, Individual choices would affect how the group would adhere to the
principles. Whatever the case, I still suggest that since Individuals are the basic unit of society, it
is them who form society and its perfection yet it reciprocates to the society breeding the new
Generation which somehow points that Society does affect the success and failure of an
individual to realize His goals.
In conclusion, I still think this is an egg or chicken problem, another cyclical king of
balance. No one can really fix it unless the whole structure, from brick to framework, changes.