Comte (1798-1857)
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Transcript of Comte (1798-1857)
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Comte (1798-1857)
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
In The Positive Philosophy (1853) Comteput forth the view that all phenomena aresubjected to invariable natural laws
Sociology would discover these laws andbe at the pinnacle of these sciences
Comte saw social physics as the Queen
of the Sciences
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
The name social physics, was renamed
sociology when Comte realized that oneof his adversaries (Adolphe Quetlet-
mathematician) has used the term before
Sociology is a hybrid from Greek (socioor society) and Latin (logus, study on a
high level)
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For Comte, each science builds on theone that precedes it. Sociology is theculmination of all the sciences that went
before it. Given its place in the evolutionof the sciences, sociology could look atsocial laws, just as the natural and
physical sciences looked at natural andphysical laws
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Sociology, for Comte, was first andforemost a science, and its methods ofanalysis were thus based on the
scientific methods of discovery that wereused at the time
The key to Comtes new science of
sociology was the idea that society had areality of its own, one that could not bereduced to the existence of individuals
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
This notion of society having a reality ofits own (society as sui generis) wouldalso become a staple of functionalism.
Individuals are not very important,perhaps not very important at all, inComtes sociology; his major concern
was society and its laws
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Comtes Law of Human
Progress
Knowledge passes through 3stages
Theological or fictitious;metaphysical or abstract andpositive or scientific
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
Theological stage up until about A.D1300
Focus of explaining all events by the willof the supernatural
The theological stage evolved throughthree phases: fetishism, polytheism andmonotheism and its social form wasdistinguished by military conquest andslavery
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Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
The metaphysical stage existed until1800 was characterized by ascribingevents to nature
Two phases: destructive andconstructive
Positive stage- the ascendancy ofscience and the major social form wasindustrialism
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Q1 Comtes source of
order/solidarity/conflict:
The negative aftermath of the FrenchRevolution proved to be the focus ofComtes work to establish order
The underlying basis of social order wasthe distribution of function and thecombination of effort
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Q1 Comtes source of
order/solidarity/conflict:
By Distribution of function,Comte meantthe division of labour and the attendantincreasing labour specialization
By combination of effort Comte meant
combining the actions of the wholesociety towards a common goal, all of
which would be coordinated through theefforts of some kind of institution ofpower and authority
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Q1 Comtes source of
order/solidarity/conflict:
For Comte, society was like a livingorganism and conflict was to be avoidedas much as possible
For Comte as society evolves to thepositivistic stage, conflict would becomea dim memory as harmony began its
reign
Sociology would ensure order that didnot exist the previous stages
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2. Relationship betweenconsciousness and society
Comte believed that the external worldshaped and influenced the minds ofindividuals
According to Comte, progress to thePositive Stage egoism will be subjugatedto altruism, enabling the human speciesto progress toward a harmoniousexistence
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3. Methodological Issues
Introduce the concept of positivism- amethod of inquiry based on empiricismand that is geared to the discovery of
general laws 4 appropriate methods of empiricism:
Observation; experiment; comparison
and historical analysis
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3. Methodological Issues
Observations- conclusions must be baseon observations. Observations should belinked to theory.
Related to this view of observation wasComtes approach to how social scientist
should use the concept of hypothesis in
his or her observations.
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3. Methodological Issues
Hypotheses needed to be verified byboth induction (the building of atheoretical framework through the
accumulation of data) and deduction(the use of a theory to test propositions)
By emphasizing predictions, the positive
philosopher could go beyond merelyusing predominantly scientific criterion ofinduction. Scientists could also use both
deduction and induction
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3. Methodological Issues
Experiment- Comte argued thatsociologists can employ experiments viaindirect experiments.
With indirect experiments thesociologists can look at where naturallaws are disturbed and draw inferences
Today, with some modifications, we callthis methodological approach deviantcase analysis
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3. Methodological Issues
Comparison- the comparative methodwas extremely important to Comte.Three types of comparisons were
advocated: comparisons of humans toanimals, comparison of existing societiesand comparison of societies at different
stages of their development
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3. Methodological Issues
The first two methods of comparisonwere to be used in looking at socialstatics and the third when the focus of
inquiry was on social dynamics. All threetypes would help the sociologist discoverthe immutable laws that governed
human societies
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3. Methodological Issues
Historical- the historical method was themost useful one for the sociologist. Itdifferentiated biology from sociology and
enabled the sociologist to see thedirection of laws as they developedovertime.
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4.Does Comtes sociology lead
to freedom?
The simple answer is NO becauseComte was a determinist and had littleinterest in freedom
Comte saw people as coming to live inharmony with the immutable lawsdiscovered by sociology in the
Positivistic stage of human development
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4.Does Comtes sociology lead
to freedom?
He envisioned a new existence forhumankind, one based on conformity tothe laws emanating from the Religion of
Humanity.
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Comte: An Assessment
Critique-
1. His personal life affected his work
2. Comte did no real empirical work. 3. He practiced cerebral hygiene
His basic methods of social research-
observation, experimentation,comparison and historical research-remain major methods of social research