Unit-act

From Geography

The unit-act, action undertaken by an actor, is the central element to the social system. In literature the role of the unit-act in the social system is compared to that of a particle in physics. A unit-act is defined as "a piece of behaviour which we can describe in terms of an actor selecting a means or method of obtaining some chosen "end" or purpose" (Campbell, 1981, p. 189).

The centrality of the unit-act means that a society consists of units that are both "teleological" and "subjective". That means that an actor is always "in pursuit" of an end and that that particular end is thought of, envisaged, by himself. The subjective character of the end means that it is different for every actor and therefore every actor has a different "end" of his action in mind.

References

• Campbell, T. (1981) Seven theories of Human Society. Clarendon Press, Oxford

Contributors

• Page created by TeunVanDeVen - 15:09, 11 October 2012 (CEST)