MODULE 1.18
Auguste Comte (1798–1857)
Auguste Comte (1798–1857), a French philosopher and the father of positivism, gave sociology its name in 1839. Positivism holds that valid knowledge about the world can be derived only from using the scientific method. Comte advanced the “Law of Three Stages”, which maintains that societies develop according to three stages: the theocratic, the metaphysical, and the positive.
In the theocratic stage (Stage 1), people explain the events occurring in the world as the work of personified deities with supernatural qualities that allow them to exert their will upon the world.
In the metaphysical stage (Stage 2), people draw upon abstract and broad concepts to define features of reality that cannot be observed or known through direct observation. Metaphysics deals with big philosophical questions such as the meaning of life and the distinction between good and evil.
In the positive stage (Stage 3)—the conceptually superior stage according to Comte—people use scientific explanations to understand the world. Comte placed sociology in this third stage of thinking; he maintained that sociologists were scientists who studied the results of the human intellect (DeGrange 1939).
What did Comte mean by this? First, sociology is a science, and only those sociologists who follow the scientific method can presume to have a voice in describing and guiding human affairs. Second, sociologists study the things humans have created and their effects on society. Comte recommended that sociologists focus on social statics, the forces that hold societies together and give them endurance over time, and social dynamics, the forces that cause societies to change. Comte’s preoccupation with order and change is not surprising, given that he was writing at a time when the Industrial Revolution was transforming society in unprecedented ways.
To illustrate Comte’s thinking, he would be interested in the social forces that have held any city together over time even as new residents are born and as other residents move in and out and die. Comte would also focus on how the city has changed over time and on the social forces responsible, including changes triggered by global, national, and local events.