Social sciences call a form of spiritual activity of people which is directed to increase and improvement of knowledge of society. The sociology and cultural science, pedagogics and rhetoric, economy, psychology, linguistics, geography and history, political science and law concern them. Social sciences are divided into three big groups.
Social sciences, still often call them public, study laws, the facts and dependences of socio-historical process and also the purpose, motives and values of the person. They differ from art in the fact that for a research of society use a scientific method and standards, including the qualitative and quantitative analysis of problems. The analysis of public processes and detection in them of regularities and the repeating events is result of these researches.
Sciences about society
The first group includes the sciences giving the most general knowledge of society, first of all, it is philosophy and sociology. The sociology studies society and laws of its development, functioning of social communities and the relations between them. This multiparadigmalny science considers social mechanisms as self-sufficient means of regulation of the social relations. The most part of paradigms is divided into two directions — microsociology and macrosociology.
Sciences about certain spheres of public life
Carry economy, cultural science, political science, ethics and an esthetics to this group of social sciences. The cultural science is engaged in studying interaction of cultural dominants in individual and mass consciousness. An object of a research of economy is the economic reality. Because of its width this science represents the whole cluster of disciplines which differ from each other in a study subject. Treat economic disciplines: macro - and microeconomics, econometrics, mathematical methods of economy, statistics, branch and engineering economy, history of economic exercises and a great number of others. Ethics researches morals and morality. Metaethics studies origin and value of ethical categories and concepts, using the logiko-linguistic analysis. Standard ethics is devoted to search of the principles regulating behavior of the person and directing his acts.
Sciences about all spheres of public life
These sciences are penetrated by all spheres of public life, this jurisprudence (law) and history. Relying on various sources, history studies the past of mankind. A subject of studying jurisprudence is the right as the socio-political phenomenon and also set of the obligatory certain rules of conduct established by the state. The law considers the state as the organization of the political power which provides the administration of all society by means of the right and specially created government.