Auguste Comte

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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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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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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, , , Comte insists repeatedly that “intellectual evolution is the

preponderant principle” of his explanation of human progress . . .

(Coser 1971:8)


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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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)


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Auguste Comte:Normative Doctrine

Comte’s New Positive Order Love as its Principle Order as its Basis Propress as its Aim Altruism

Live for Others

Auguste Comte

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