auguste comte
TRANSCRIPT
Friday, April 7, 2023 © 1998-2006 by Ronald Keith Bolender
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SOC444 Sociological Theory:
Auguste Comte
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Auguste Comte
ReferencesComte, Auguste. 1896. The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte. Comte, Auguste. 1912. Systeme de Politque Positive. 4th ed. Coser, Lewis A. 1971. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in
Historical and Social Context. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Hoult, Thomas Ford. 1974. Dictionary of Modern Sociology. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams & Company.
Perdue, William D. 1986. Sociological Theory: Explanation, Paradigm, and Ideology. Palo Alto, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Rapoport, Anatol. 1953. Operational Philosophy: Integrating Knowledge and Action. New York: Harper & Brother Publishers.
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Auguste Comte
1798-1857The father of sociologyBorn in France
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Auguste Comte
The new social science that Comte sought to establish was first called social social physicsphysics but he later found the term stolen by another intellectual so he coined the word sociologysociology, a hybrid term compounded of Latin and Greek parts (Coser 1971:3).
Comte first used the term sociology in print in 1838 (Perdue 1986:37).
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Auguste Comte
The “father of sociology;” French philosopher who asserted . . . that the fate of mankind depends in
many respects upon the development of a science of human social relationships, that establish
scientific disciplines have progressed only to the degree that they have been grounded in facts and
experience, and that therefore the needed new science of human social relationships (a science
which Comte suggested naming sociology) should adopt the study and experimental techniques of
the physical sciences (Hoult 1974:76).
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Auguste Comte: Positivism
August Comte’s philosophy based on his conclusion that an intellectual discipline progresses only to the
degree that it is grounded in facts and experience, I.e., rests on
information about which one can reasonably make positive
statements. . . (Hoult 1974:243-244)
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Auguste Comte: Positivism
Positivism . . . seeks to describe only what “obviously” is, what one can
really be positive about, that is, sense data. A strict positivist, seeing a black
sheep on a meadow could not say, “There is a black sheep.” He could
only say, “I see a sheep, one side of which is black.”
(Rapoport 1953:74)
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Auguste Comte: The Law of Human Progress (or The Law of Three Stages)
As early as 1822, when he was still an apprentice to Saint-Simon, Comte set himself the task “to discover through
what fixed series of successive transformations the human race,
starting from a state not superior to that of the great apes, gradually led to the point at which civilized finds itself
today” (Comte 1912:Appendix).
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Auguste Comte: The Law of Human Progress (or The Law of Three Stages)
Applying what he conceived to be a method of scientific comparison
through time, Comte emerged with his central conception, The of
Human Progress or The Law of Three Stages.
(Coser 1971:7)
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Auguste Comte: The Law of Human Progress (or The Law of Three Stages)
Each of our leading conceptions--each branch of our knowledge, passes
successively through three different theoretical conditions: the
Theological or fictitious; the Metaphysical or abstract; and the
Scientific or positive. . . (Comte 1912:1-2)
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Auguste Comte: The Law of Human Progress (or The Law of Three Stages)
, , , Comte insists repeatedly that “intellectual evolution is the
preponderant principle” of his explanation of human progress . . .
(Coser 1971:8)
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Auguste Comte: The Law of Human Progress (or The Law of Three Stages)
Stage Time Period Ruled orDominated
DominateSocial Unit
Theological--Fictitious
From the dawn ofman
Priest
Military
Family
Metaphysical--Abstract
Middle Ages
Renaissance
Churchmen
Lawyers
State
Scientific--Positive
Industrialization IndustrialAdministrators
Scientific MoralGuides
Entire HumanRace
(Coser 1971:7-8)
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Auguste Comte:Hierarchy of the Sciences
Comte’s second best known theory, Hierarchy of the Sciences, is connected
with the Law of Human Progress.The social sciences, the most complex
and the most dependent for their emergence on the development of all
others, are the “highest” in the hierarchy.
(Coser 1971:9)
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Auguste Comte:Hierarchy of the Sciences
Sociology(Social Sciences)
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Astronomy
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
Social StaticsThe study of the conditions and pre-
conditions of social orderSocial Dynamics
The study of human progress and evolution
(Coser 1971:10-12)
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
Social StaticsFamily
True social unitSmallest unit of social study in sociology
The individual is not a legitimate component for research in sociology
Families become tribes and tribes become nations
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
It is within the family that the elementary egotistical propensities are curbed and harnessed to social
purposes. “It is by the avenue [of the family] that man comes forth from his mere personality, and learns to live in
another, while obeying his most powerful instincts.”
Comte (1896:281) and Coser (1971:10)
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
The family is the most elementary social unit and the prototype of all
other human associations, for these evolve from family and kinship
groups.Coser (1971:10)
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
Three Factors of Social StaticsLanguage
The means of storing the thought and culture of preceding generations
Without a common language men could never have attained solidarity and consensus
Without this collective tool no social order is possible
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
Religion A common religious belief provides a guide for
behavior Religion furnishes the unifying principle, the
common ground without which individual differences would tear society apart.
Religion is the root of social order It is indispensable for making legitimate the
commands of government. No temporal power can endure without the support of spiritual power.
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
Division of Labor Creates interdependence among
members of the society Society ultimately benefits from a
properly functioning division of labor As societies become more complex, the
division of labor is the only means to properly adjust to that complexity
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Auguste Comte:Social Statics and Social Dynamics
Social DynamicsIf the Social Statics are correctly balanced within a society, Social
Dynamics can be orderly and positive for society.
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Auguste Comte:Normative Doctrine
Normative DoctrineComte developed a complex blueprint of the good
positive society of the future, a society directed by the spiritual power of priests of the new positive religion and leaders of banking and industry. These scientific sociologists-priests would be the moral guides and censors of the community, using the force of their
superior knowledge to recall men to their duties and obligations; they would be the directors of education
and the supreme judges of the abilities of each member of society.Coser (1971:12-13)