Auguste Comte
Sociological Theory
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
UMD
ISIDORE AUGUSTE MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER COMTE (1798-1857)
A. LIFE AND TIMES
- BORN JANUARY 19, 1798
SICK BUT SMART
- IN 1814 HE ENTERED THE ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE, 4TH ON LIST
SCHOOL CLOSED IN 1816
- SUPPORTED HIMSELF BY TUTORING,
DID NOT REAPPLY WHEN SCHOOL REOPENED
- MET HENRI SAINT-SIMON IN 1817
BROKE WITH SAINT-SIMON IN 1824
- MARRIED IN 1825
- INSTITUTIONALIZED, REMOVED BY WIFE, NOT DEEMED CURED, TRIED TO
COMMIT SUICIDE
- 1838, WOULD READ NO MORE "FOR REASONS OF CEREBRAL HYGIENE"
- FROM 1844 ON HE SIGNED HIS WRITINGS "THE FOUNDER OF UNIVERSAL RELIGION, GREAT PRIEST OF HUMANITY"
- PREACHED SUBMISSION AND NECESSITY OF ORDER, THIS IS WHAT
ALL GREAT LEADERS HAD IN COMMON
- DIED ON SEPT. 5, 1857 OF CANCER
B. SCIENTIFIC WORKS
- GOAL TO FIND GENERAL LAWS OF SOCIETY
- SOCIAL PHYSICS - ONCE FOUND USED FOR SOCIAL ENGINEERING
- MOST BASIC OF ALL SOCIAL LAWS
THE LAW OF THREE STAGES
- 1. THEOLOGICAL - MILITARY
NATURAL PHENOMENA EXPLAINED AS BEING DUE TO THE WILL AND ACTION OF DIVINITIES
- 2. METAPHYSICAL - JUDICIAL
NATURAL PHENOMENA EXPLAINED AS BEING DUE TO SOME FORCE WITHIN THE OBJECT ITSELF (EG, "MANA")
- 3. POSITIVISTIC - INDUSTRIAL
SCIENTIFIC METHOD USED TO DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN EVENTS OF THE PHENOMENAL WORLD
ALL ARE CHARACTERIZED BY SPIRIT AND STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS
- 1. SUPERNATURAL - SLAVERY & MILITARY
- 2. FUNDAMENTAL ESSENCES (STATE OF NATURE) ELABORATE POLITICAL & LEGAL FORMS
- 3. POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE - INDUSTRIAL PATTERNS
- SOCIAL CHANGE
- IDEAS MOST IMPORTANT LEADING TO
- CORRESPONDING STRUCTURAL CONDITIONS WHICH MUST BE FULLY DEVELOPED BEFORE NEXT STAGE OF HISTORY
- ALWAYS A PERIOD OF CRISIS & CONFLICT
- MOVEMENT IS OSCILLATION
- UNEVEN DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORLD OF SCIENCE THROUGH THREE STAGES
- SOCIOLOGY COMES IN WHEN OTHERS HAVE DEVELOPED
- SOCIETY CAN NOW BE REORGANIZED ON SCIENTIFIC & RATIONAL GROUNDS
- (ONE REASON COMTE BROKE WITH ST. SIMON, SIMON WANTED REFORM NOW,
COMTE WANTED THEORY FIRST
- HIERARCHY OF THE THEORETICAL SCIENCES: MATHEMATICS - MECHANICS
- PHYSICS - CHEMISTRY - BIOLOGY - SOCIOLOGY
ALL HAVE REACHED THE POSITIVE STAGE EXCEPT SOCIOLOGY, LATEST TO DEVELOP, MOST GENERAL
- COMTE'S SOCIOLOGY DIVIDES INTO TWO PARTS: STATICS AND DYNAMICS
- STATICS: THE STUDY OF EXISTENT CONDITIONS (SOCIAL ORDER)
- DYNAMICS: THE STUDY OF THE LAWS OF SUCCESSION OF THE THREE STAGES (PROGRESS)
- STATICS
- BASIC FACT OF SOCIAL ORDER IS, CONSENSUS UNIVERSALIS, THE NECESSARY CORRELATION OR INTERCONNECTION AMONG THE ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY
- A. CONSENSUS UNIVERSALIS IS THE VERY FOUNDATION FOR
SOLIDARITY AS WELL AS THE BASIS FOR THE DIVISION OF
SOCIAL LABOR
- B. DIVISION OF LABOR ENHANCES ORGANISMIC ANALOGY
- COMTE DISTINGUISHED THREE LEVELS OF SOCIETY;
- A. THE INDIVIDUAL (BIOLOGICAL)
- B. FAMILY
- C. SOCIAL COMBINATIONS
(CITIES) HUMANITY ITSELF IS THE HIGHEST FORM
THE BASIC SOCIAL UNIT FOR SOCIOLOGY WAS THE FAMILY
- DYNAMICS:
- A. PROGRESS IS OBSERVABLE IN ALL ASPECTS OF SOCIETY, PHYSICAL, MORAL, INTELLECTUAL, POLITICAL
- B. THE INTELLECTUAL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT, HISTORY IS DOMINATED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS LEADING TO CHANGES IN OTHER AREAS
- C. COMTE SAY "CORRELATIONS" BETWEEN BASIC INTELLECTUAL STAGES AND STAGES OF MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT, TYPES OF SOCIAL UNITS, TYPES OF SOCIAL ORDER,
AND SENTIMENTS
| INTELLECTUAL PHASE | MATERIAL PHASE | TYPE OF SOCIAL UNIT | TYPE OF ORDER | PREVAILING SENTIMENT |
| THEOLOGICAL | MILITARY | THE FAMILY | DOMESTIC | ATTACHMENT |
|
METAPHYSICAL | LEGALISTIC | THE STATE | COLLECTIVE | VENERATION (AWE OR RESPECT) |
|
POSITIVE | INDUSTRIAL | RACE (HUMANITY) | UNIVERSAL | BENEVOLENCE |
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