The Social Animal

The Social Animal

Introduction

The Social Animal, by David Brooks, is a non-fictional account of the social lives of human beings. It looks deep into the human psyche in order to discover the motives for human actions. The story follows Erica and Harold, a fictional couple, through their entire lifespans. This includes a full examination of growth and development that starts in utero and expands over their lifetimes. Harold and Erica's relationship shows an array of longitudinal information that follows their relationship and explores such disciplines as psychology, sociology, politics, and history in an engaging approach to the social sciences.

Brooks cites many research findings in this story to explain social problems: love, educational methods, attachment styles, economics, historical research, and political struggles. Basically, this book presents the social sciences in a entertaining yet educational manner by integrating them into a story and showing their applications in real life. This enhances a better understanding of social processes that occur in everyday life, such as subconscious feelings, emotions, and drives.

Discussion

Traditionally, there have been two answers to the problem of the relationship between the individual and his society. One is the social contract theory and the other is the organic theory which we have already discussed in detail. According to the social contract theory, society is the result of an agreement or contract entered into by men who originally lived in a pre-social state.

Thus society is made by man and he is more real than his creation. On the other hand, according to the organic theory, society is an organic. Just as the parts of an animal body are functionally related and none can exist isolated from the rest, similarly, the members of society are functionally related to each other and no one can exist without society.

Hence, the society is more real than the individual. The relationship between the individual and the society is not one sided as these two theories seem to indicate.

Before we proceed to examine the true relationship between the individual and the society, we may just see in what sense man can be called a social animal. Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, says “Man is a social animal. He who lives without society is either a beast or a God”. Actually man is by nature and necessity, a social animal, man cannot survive in the absence of society. Society is indispensable for human race.

A few things, however, mark Brooks out as a bit special - things which ensure that his book will be widely read in Washington, Whitehall and Westminster. First there is his eye for developments in the sciences and their relevance to politics and policy. So far so wonkish. Then there's his still rarer ability to see American - and to some degree western - culture from a distance and in doing so cast new light on social trends and political issues.

This latter ability was put to good use in Brooks's decade-old bestseller, Bobos in Paradise, a finely observed, witty look at the values and aspirations ...