Social Facts or Other Facts?

     A society consists of individuals and they (human being) are part of nature. Although they are part of nature, their social facts cannot be expounded like other facts like natural sciences. Social facts have an objective reality which sociologists should analyze in a manner similar to how the physical world is analyzed by other researchers, such as physicists. All of society's components, including morality and religion, are historical artifacts. Since they have no transcendent origin and are part of the natural world, they can be scientifically studied. In my opinion, social facts have a distinct quality in comparison to other facts.

     A society is not just a group of people residing in a specific geographical area. Society is rather an ensemble of ideas, beliefs and feelings of all kinds realized by individuals; it indicates a reality that is produced when individuals interact with each other, resulting in the fusion of individual consciousnesses. Namely, a society cannot be explained by any other way than its own. For instance, in a society, suicide fact cannot be explained by the natural sciences. Society and social phenomena can be described only in sociological terms, as the convergence of human consciousnesses which obey their own rules once they are formed. It can not be explained, for example, in terms of biology or psychology, or reduced to a society's material forms and its immediate vital necessities, as is the case with historical materialism. On the other hand, social realities occur outside a particular individual and are cumulative and collective like natural sciences. One person cannot stage a coup or one person cannot initiate a tradition. One-off behavior is no tradition Social facts come out as a common product of a particular group or society, not a particular person. It is difficult to observe social facts directly. Therefore, one can make inferences and observe their effects by examining their effects on society. Furthermore, it is scientific if one works on social facts by being isolated from all kinds of values, prejudices and ideologies.

     When everything is taken into account, social facts have a clear quality if we compare to other facts. Social realities or events can be explained by social facts, not other facts like natural science. The social reality is cumulative like other facts, observable and experimental. Therefore, social facts have a distinct quality in comparison to other facts.