The origin of society

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Objective 

1. The chapter will facilitate an understanding of the origin of society.
2. To inculcate and develop a critical understanding of the theories which explain the origin of society.

Introduction
Understanding society is a very complex phenomenon. As many explained that society is the collection of groups of individuals characterized by common interest with a distinctive culture. Since society is the basis of social system, a very pertinent question that arises is as to how society came into being. So far no acceptable theory has been put forth about the origin of the society. There is number of theories that have developed to understand the origin of society.  There are different thoughts and theories about this, some of which may briefly be described below.
1- Theory of Divine Origin: Those who believe in the Divine origin of the society make us believe that society is the handy work of God and it was given to the human being of God. But this theory has obvious defects and both sociologically as well as historically it is difficult to believe that society is the creation of God. Today, this theory does not hold any ground in the modern scientific age.
2- Force Theory: There are also some sociologists who believe that force brought the society into being. They opine that in society, there were few powerful and strong people who exercised their authority over others. They brought the people together and made them live together. Gradually these people began to live together and appreciate each other's problems with the result that they began to feel the necessity of living in society and thus, according to them, force brought society. But this theory does not have much historical evidence and support.
3- Patriarchal and Matriarchal Theories: Sir Henry Maine and Jenks believed the institution of the family brought society into existence. According to them as long as the people did not feel or realize the necessity of family life, they did not bother about society or obeying social bonds. The origin of the family bought people together. Whereas for Maine, the family was patriarchal, for Jerks it was matriarchal. Undoubtedly family contributed considerably in the origin of society, but there is sufficient evidence to prove that even before the family, society was in existence.

4- Theory of Social Contract: Three famous social contract philosophers namely Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau make us believe that like state, society is also the result of a contract. According to Hobbes, early man was nasty and brutish and did not know about society. It was to end this uncertain life and to pass-happy days that the people decided to live in society and thus the society originated. According to him, the society was the result of a social contract. Then came Locke, who too believe that in the society he was leading a peaceful life. There were also certain social laws which the people had made for themselves and which they were willing to obey as well. But the people had no recognized system of justice with the result that they entered into an agreement to sacrifice their liberty and became members of regular society. It was with this agreement that society originated. Rousseau, another political thinker said that the need and necessity of society was realized only to serve ever-increasing social problems and in order to live peacefully in the society, they entered into an agreement that brought society into being.
5- Organic Theory of Society: This theory was expounded by Herbert Spencer who said that there is much similarity between the organs of an individual as well as those of society. He was of the opinion that society was like a living organism and that both in the case of individual and social organisms, the parts cannot be separated fro each other.
 But this theory too has not found much favor with our modern thinkers with the result that the society has been put to much criticism. One of the differences between the individual and social organism is that whereas in the case of an individual is that in case of society and individuals have respective fixed places and cannot freely move about. Them another difference is that in the case of society and individuals, the process of birth is different. Further, society has no specific form as an individual. The society is not and cannot be organism; it is like an organism. It is a mental system and not a physical one. Whereas are the individual has a central organ of perception, society has no such central organ.
6- Group Mind Theory: This theory is opposed to the organic theory of society. It was initiated by Plato who called society a mind writ large. It is an idealist theory about society. Hegel was one of the first important thinkers who contributed to this idea. According to him, society is the embodiment of Absolute Mind and universal spirit of Absolute Idea. According to him, society expresses reason and that the individual can live only as a member of society. Without society, he is an abstraction.
 Bosanquet was another philosopher who contributed to this idea and said that society was a common substance of the minds of all citizens. But the chief exponent of this theory was Mcdougall who said that both individual, as well as social minds, can be studied on the same patterns and that group mind functions at a different level from the individual mind and controls individual mind to function. According to him, "The society has a mental life which is not the mere sum of sum of the mental lives of the units, if and in so far they could be known as isolated units, would not enable to deduce the nature of the life of the whole in the way that is implied in Spencer's analogies."
 But the theory of Group Mind has been severely criticized. It is said the theory of Group Mind cannot be a reality because no such thing can exist in actual life. It is merely a hypothetical rather than a real conception. It is also said that Group Mind Theory subordinates individual to that of the society which again is not correct because individuals and society are separated from each other. They must work in close co-operation and have inter-dependence. It is therefore only conception and deception to believe that the group mind is something apart from the individual mind.
7- Modern Theory about Origin of Society: This theory works on the assumption that society is a growth. It is not the handiwork of God. In the process of evolution, the family contributed a lot it was the desire to lead a family life and protect the family members from internal and external attacks that the people began to understand the significance of society. Religion came close to family and proved a contributory factor in the establishment and strength of society. Then came many other factors including those of proper food, clothing, shelter, comforts and meeting of desires. Thus the proper origin of society is in evolution and growth.

Study Reference 

1. Berger, P. L. 1966. Invitation to Sociology. Great Britain: Penguin Books. 
2. Bilton, T. et al. 2002. Introductory Sociology. New York: Palgrave.