PEOPLE BEHIND THE

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
AS A SCIENCE

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
He is a French mathematician and philosopher who
proposed a separate new science and society.
Social Physics
However, Comte discovered that Adolphe Quetelet,
a Belgian mathematician, has made use of the term
prior to him.

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
He found out that it is necessary to invent the term
sociologie
In 1839, he changed it to sociology, a word he
conceived.

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
Divided sociology into two areas:
SOCIAL
STATIC
(SOCIAL
STRUCTURE)
It
is
concerned with the various parts of society and
how these parts are held together.
SOCIAL DYNAMICS. It is concerned with the
analysis of change within and among the various
parts of society.

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
FATHER OF SOCIOLOGY POSITIVE
PHILOSOPHY
Identified three stages in understanding
society:
Theological Stage
Metaphysical Stage
Scientific Stage

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
THEOLOGICAL STAGE it is said that society is an
expression of Gods will.
the human being, with the able guidance of the
church, is capable of fulfilling the divine plan, to live
in accordance with Gods will.

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
METAPHYSICAL STAGE During this stage, people
no longer believe that society is the work of
supernatural forces.
People place more emphasis on the forces of nature
rather than God in explaining social events.

AUGUSTE COMTE (1789

1875)
SCIENTIFIC STAGE This approach is called
positivism, which he defined as a path to
understanding the world based on science.
The philosophy emphasizes the techniques of
observation, comparison, and experimentation in
the development of knowledge regarding the nature
of society and human action

HERBERT SPENCER (1820

1903)

HERBERT SPENCER (1820

1903)
He is a British philosopher scientist who advanced the
thesis that evolution accounts for the development of
social and natural life.
He stressed that society is similar to a living organism with
parts working together in order to survive.
Guiding principle society must adapt to its
environment to effect natural change, which will
inevitably bring progress and perfection in society.

HERBERT SPENCER (1820

1903)
Spencer is best known for his social evolution
theory.
societies
developed
through
a
process
of
struggle and fitness which he referred to as
the survival of the fittest.

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

He is a philosopher, economist, and a social activist.
He stressed that history as a continuous clash
among conflicting ideas and forces between parts of
society.
He believed that conflict between the haves
(bourgeois) and the have-nots (proletariat) is
necessary in order to produce social change and a
better society.

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

Marx regarded private property and capitalism
as the root cause of poverty.
Two of the most enduring legacies of Karl Marx are
the theories of Economic Determinism and the
Dialectic.

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

ECONOMIC DETERMINISM:
Means that economic relationship provide the
foundation on which all other social and political
arrangements are built.
He believed that family structure, law, and religion
would be developed after adapting to the economic
structure.

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

THE DIALECTIC:
Viewed change as a product of contradictions and
conflicts between parts of the society.
He predicted that the conflict between the ruling class
and the working class would lead to a new economic
system.
The dialectic model maintains that conflict is the only
factor that can bring change to the society.

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

Marx hoped to encourage conflict and ignite the
revolution that would bring about the desired
change.

KARL MARX (1818 1883)

Thesis

Antithesis

Synthesis

Antithesis

Synthesis
(And so on)

EMILE DURKHEIM (1858

1919)

EMILE DURKHEIM (1858

1919)
Durkheim is a French intellectual who devoted
himself in understanding the stability od society and
the importance of social participation for
individual happiness.
The lasting legacy of Durkheim is the theory that
examines the positive contributions of social
patterns.

EMILE DURKHEIM (1858

1919)
Major concerns: balance between regulation and
freedom.
Classic Study entitled: Suicide, when a society over
regulates and there is less freedom, fatalistic
suicide occurs.
It happens when human behavior is so confined by
social institutions that people cannot exercise their
independence.

EMILE DURKHEIM (1858

1919)
When there is too much freedom and less regulation,
anomic suicide happens
That is when societys influence no longer check
individual passions.

MAX WEBER (1864 1920)

MAX WEBER (1864 1920)

Weber is a
philosopher.

German

economist,

historian,

and

He believed that to understand the behavior of a

person, people have to understand the meaning of
the individual attributes of that behavior.

MAX WEBER (1864 1920)

Webers work was the basis for Verstehen
sociology which emphasizes the subjective
meaning of human actions.
Verstehen
is
understanding.

German

word

meaning

Weber was more interested in analyzing the

meaning of social pattern than in looking for
universal laws of human behavior.

MAX WEBER (1864 1920)

Weber also mention of value free sociology, an
idea that is concerned with establishing what is and
what is not to be.