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6 I The Best Online Education System in the world
MAN'S RELATION TO SOCIETY
Marian Baltazar
Class of 1980, University of the Philippines College of Manila
AB Political Science
Man as a human being cannot live without society because it is crucial for the human life for him to arise and
continue, and that is what man’s relation to society is. We need a society to belong because we cannot exist
alone. We need to interact with our peers in an environment adaptable to us and this is the society. God
created the nature but we created the society. It is only right that we have a direct relationship with our society.
Every individual belongs to a society just like the nature which belongs to God. A society exists because of its
standard norms and values that the people created to live with. Societies are curbed by ethics and they are
made according to human behavior and requirements. With the long line of generation where we come from,
our ancestors created the society. But this society is revised since its inception by us. This is true for it is formed
and created according to our different needs, comfort and behavior.
We cannot survive without our socialization and interaction with others. As humans, we crave for socialization,
that is, we need that extra opinion, joke or recommendation from other people. The same thing is true when
we simply chat with fellow humans and these are the reasons why we cannot survive without a society. Every
human being is a part of a society in which we live and move. And yes, we need to survive in a society, where
there are rules formulated for us to follow and live happily with.
So much as an individual cannot exist without a society, the vice-versa holds true too! Society does not exist
without the individuals for a society is composed of individuals. In the same manner, we can say that society is
comprised of primary and secondary organizations and bodies. In this organization, the individuals are
connected with them and they are inseparably related with one another. In any changes that occur in an
institution, whether it is cultural, economic, religious, legal or educational, it will also bring about changes in
other institutions too. This makes the social life a phenomenon for it is dependent on the social machinery, but
neither can we say that the identity of the individual nor that of the institutions is dissolved completely as a
whole in the society.
Human life is social, for human needs, benefits, work and activity are social in essence. Thus, the social system
can be maintained through the division of labor, division of profits and a shared common satisfaction of needs
within a particular set of traditions and systems. Therefore, a society represents a group of human beings who
are under the influence of a set of beliefs, ideals and goals and who are amalgamated with one another. They
are immersed in a continuum of collective life. These collective social experience and collective life are man’s
relation to society.
Questions for discussion:
1. How do you think man is related to society?
2. Can man exist without a society? Explain your answer.
3. Is the relationship of man to society a fact? Why or why not?
4. Do we try to cultivate our relationship with the society? How?
5. How would you define a society in your own terms?