Ideology

After reading Wikipedia's definition of Ideology I can some what agree with most of the information posted defining the word. In all honesty the definition still appeals to me as being alot of words with little significant meaning. Or in other words the definition can be altered into simpler terms. But we will get to that later.

Lets start off with the one main component of the definition I strongly disagree with. The very beginning of the text states ideology as being "a set of aims and ideas, especially in politics", this to me couldn't be more incorrect. Ideology is a term that should be used when referring to a world or life view much more broader than just politics. A person's ideology could heavily influence his/her position when it come to politics but not fully determine it. A present day example can be found with the ideology of our past election. I don't think that since U.S. citizen might be African American that doesn't mean his ideology would of directly make him vote for Barack Obama. His ideology he/she has acquired from being African American could influence him to vote for the democratic party but not make the person. Everyone evaluates life everyday, our ideology shapes how we evaluate life and make decision.

I think ideology connects to a theory used in communication terms. The idea of Standpoint Theory means "a person's position in society shapes his/her view on society". This theory proves true to me when talking about ideology. If you think about it our position in society is another way to describe the type of ideology we assume. For example if our role in society is a poor maybe homeless individual than our ideology will be that of a unfortunate person. The ideology or outlook on the world this type of person would probably not be too positive because of his/her social status.

Now my last bone to pick with Wikipedia's definition comes when it states "a way of looking at things with common sense and with philosophical tendencies". My argument is the idea than can't common sense and philosophical ideas be determined through society and culture? I would think that ideology is determined through common sense and philosophical tendencies, I don't agree that these things are derived from our personal ideologies.

Ideology- The outlook a individual assumes when analyzing information based on his/her culture, environment, and social status.

Above is my personal definition of ideology. Its shorter than Wikipedia's but still broad in content like any definition for the word ideology should be. Ideology to me is more of an idea than a concrete term. I don't think any persons ideology on life is exactly the same as any other persons ideology. Ideology is unique to the individuals personal character and upbringing. A persons identity reflects their ideas how they arrive at those ideas and in a world view their ideology.