IB Philosophy 1.6.2 Social Conditioning Notes

Socialization and Social Conditioning

1. Topic 1.6.1 examined whether free will is compatible with determinism at the level of physics and metaphysics (the philosophical study of what reality is made of and how it works). This topic shifts focus to a different kind of constraint on freedom: the shaping of individuals by social structures, institutions, and cultural norms.
2. The IB syllabus asks: "What is the difference between socialization and social conditioning?" This distinction is philosophically important.
3. Social conditioning, by contrast, carries a more critical connotation. It suggests that social influences do not merely educate individuals but shape their desires, beliefs, and identities in ways that serve the interests of existing power structures.
4. The distinction can be illustrated by an example. Learning a language is socialization: it equips the individual with a tool for communication and thought.
5. Pierre Bourdieu, the French sociologist, developed the concept of habitus to describe how social conditioning works. Habitus (roughly: a set of deeply ingrained habits and instincts) refers to the attitudes, tastes, and ways of seeing the world that people absorb from their social background, often without realising it.
6. Louis Althusser, the Marxist philosopher, argued that social conditioning runs through what he called ideological state apparatuses — institutions like schools, churches, the media, and the family — that quietly pass on the dominant beliefs of the ruling class. He argued that these institutions do not just inform us; they actively shape who we think we are, creating identities that fit neatly into existing power structures (think of how schools reward obedience and define success in market-friendly terms).
7. Althusser illustrated this with a simple image: imagine a police officer calling out 'Hey, you!' in the street. The person who turns around has recognised themselves as the one being addressed, and in that moment, has accepted their position as a subject of authority.
8. This connects to 1.5.2 (Nature versus Nurture). Locke argued the mind begins as a blank slate, written on entirely by experience. Skinner's behaviourism (the theory that all human behaviour is shaped by rewards and punishments in our environment) went further: he argued there is no room for inner decision-making at all. If either view is right, social conditioning becomes the most powerful force determining who we are.

The Depth of Ideological Conditioning and Habitus

1. The debate is no longer about whether conditioning occurs, but about how deep it goes and whether it can be overcome.
2. Ideology works the same way as the police officer example: it addresses us and, in responding, we quietly adopt the identity society has prepared for us.
3. On this view, even our sense of being free, autonomous individuals is itself a product of ideological conditioning.
4. These habits of mind feel natural and personal, but they are in fact the product of class, education, and cultural environment. Bourdieu's concept reveals how deeply social conditioning can penetrate individual identity.
5. Crucially, habitus is not a set of beliefs that can be straightforwardly revised through reflection. It shapes how we perceive, move, speak, and react before conscious deliberation kicks in, which is why Bourdieu thought social conditioning was particularly hard to overcome by simply 'choosing differently' (see 1.1.3 for a concrete illustration).
6. Being taught that one's gender, race, or class determines one's worth or possibilities is social conditioning: it constrains the individual's sense of self in ways that serve the existing social hierarchy.
7. The conditioned individual may believe they are choosing freely when in fact their choices have been predetermined by social forces.

Foucault, Socialization, and Disciplinary Power

1. Socialization refers to the general process by which individuals learn the norms, values, and practices of their society. It is a necessary part of human development: without socialization, individuals could not communicate, cooperate, or navigate social life.
2. Even if we are not determined by the laws of physics, we may still be profoundly shaped by the society in which we live.
3. The concept of social conditioning also connects to 1.1.3 (Cultural Identity): the earlier topic examined how culture shapes identity, while this topic asks the more critical question of whether that shaping constitutes a constraint on freedom. Are we free to choose our identity, or has that identity been chosen for us by the society into which we were born?
4. Michel Foucault offered one of the most influential analyses of social conditioning through his concept of disciplinary power. In Discipline and Punish, Foucault argued that modern institutions (prisons, hospitals, schools, factories) shape individuals by subjecting them to surveillance, normalisation, and regulation (constant watching, pressure to conform to a standard, and strict rules).
5. Foucault's central illustration was the panopticon, a prison designed so that guards can see all cells from a central tower, but inmates cannot tell whether they are being watched. The result is that inmates eventually self-regulate as though they are always observed.
6. Foucault argued that modern schools, hospitals, and workplaces operate on the same principle: the constant possibility of surveillance produces individuals who discipline themselves without needing to be coerced.