Auguste Comte and Early Positivism
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Transcript of Auguste Comte and Early Positivism
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Auguste Comte and Early Positivism
Chapter 4
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August Comte (1798-1857)
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French After the Revolution
• Intellectual Background of Positivism:• Efforts in the rehabilitation of social order after the
French Revolution 1789. There are two mainstreams:
• 1. Return to traditional society (political romanticists)
• 2. New values of modernity and dream of future of the scientific industrial society (positivists)
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What is ‘Positivism”?• Epistemological doctrine that true knowledge is
only about fact. • Nature and scope of knowledge
• The fact or the factual is an object that can be observed with our senses.
• Term ‘positive’ doesn’t mean good or useful
• It means ‘the factual’.
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Comte: Social Environment Social Upheaval• Political Instability• Democratic• Oligarchy of middle-class elites• Dictatorship of Napoleon (1799-1814)• Return to Bourbon monarchy
• Economic problems• Religious turmoil
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Comte: Social Environment
Religion & Politics• Parents were Roman Catholics
• Power of Church decreasing•Role in education• Land confiscated
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Comte: Goals for Sociology1) Create order• Spiritual order
• Social & political problems• Diagnose & Cure like diseases
• Society’s basic unit=Family
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Comte: Goals for Sociology
2) Discover natural laws
3) Replace Catholic Church as source of:• Truth• Understanding• Order
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Comte: Intellectual Roots
Saint-Simon•Comte’s mentor
•Both had theory with 3 stages
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Comte: Intellectual Roots
Benjamin Franklin
• “Secular code” of morality •Based on scientific understanding of human nature
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Comte’s Calendar
•To make human life more rational
•1849, published 13 month calendar
•Positivist Calendar
•13 months of 28 days each
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Comte’s Calendar• 1 extra day at end of year• Had no weekdays
• 1 extra day on leap years
• Year begins on Monday, Moses 1
• Begins with 1789 as year 1
• 2014= year 226
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Comte’s Calendar Names of the months: Best representatives of mankind 1. Moses 2. Homer 3. Aristotle 4. Archimedes 5. Caesar 6. St. Paul 7. Charlemagne 8. Dante 9. Gutenburg 10. Shakespeare 11. Descartes 12. Frederick II (“The Great”, King of Prussia) 13. Bichat (Marie François Xavier Bichat a French anatomist & physiologist)
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Positivist View of History• According to Comte the history of
mankind develops in three stages:
1. Theological Stage
2. Metaphysical Stage
3. Positivist Stage
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Comte: Ideas• “Law of 3 Stages” • 1. Theological Stage (Understanding based
on)
•Will of Human-like:• Gods• Spirits• Demons• Ghosts
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Early Theological Stage
Objects are alive & have human-like qualities•Rocks•Trees•Weapons
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Later Theological Stage
Monotheism •One all-powerful god •Explained everything
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2) Metaphysical Stage
• (1300 to his time period)
• Natural forces were not superhuman
• Abstract concepts like ‘cause’, ‘ether’ , ‘being’, ‘substance’ etc.
• No more God • God was an abstract entity.
• Social organization = laws-oriented society
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2) Metaphysical Stage (cont.)
•Transition
•Upheaval & chaos
• Feudal institutions destroyed
• Make way for Positive Stage
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3. Positivist Stage• • Man explains natural phenomena factually
• Ex. Fall of an apple not caused by God or ‘primal cause’, but by ‘gravitation’.
• Humans can observe neither God nor primal cause.• Only fact is observable.
• Social organization is industrial society
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• Invariable natural laws•Sociological truths•High Priests of Sociology
•Positive spirit•Morality & duties regulate society
3) Positivist Stage
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3) Positivist Stage•Private economic activities
•No government intervention
•Restrict pretensions of wealthy
•Silences the poor
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Positivist Stage
•Social inequality= “just”
•Based on individual abilities
•Shared truth
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Societal Stages
• Societies go through these stages as well:• Theological •Metaphysical • Positive
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Theological Stage
Ancient World: Dominated by military men
Basic societal unit is family
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Metaphysical Stage
Middle Ages: Under authority of churchmen and lawyers
The state rises to social prominence
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Positive StageModern Age: Governed by industrial
administrators and scientific moral guides. Whole human race becomes main social
unit.
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Historical Comparison
“The historical comparison of the consecutive states of humanity is not only
the chief scientific device ...it constitutes the substratum of the science...
Sociology is nothing if not informed by a sense of historical evolution”
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TR 9/16 Historical Comparison
Comte: Different parts of the world were at different stages of development.
Comparing these different social systems enables better understanding of social order and social change
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Scientific Stages• Each science based on prior development
science preceding it• Each is more complex than the last
• Social sciences are most complex and • Highest in the hierarchy
• Sociology completes positive method. • All others are preparatory to it
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The Hierarchy of Sciences
• According to Comte, mathematics is fundamental to all sciences.• Mathematics is basis of modern astronomy• Mathematics and astronomy are the basis of
modern physics. • These three sciences are the basis of the
chemistry and biology. • The complete and last science is sociology that
assumes the other five sciences.
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Comte’s Terms
First named new science “social physics”
Later changed this to “sociology”
From the Greek “soci” which means “society” and
Latin “ology” which means “study of”
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Comte’s Terms
•Social Statics= Stability
•Social Dynamics= Change
•Social Realism=•Society is real•“Social organism”
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Comte: Human Nature
•Humans incapable of self-control
•Need social (societal) control
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Comte: Women’s Role in Society
• Intellectually inferior to men
•Emotionally superior (e.g., altruism)
•Model altruism for children & men
•Make society harmonious
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Comte: Relevance to Sociology
1. Coined term “Sociology”
2. Applied sociology (improve society)
3. Social statics & Social dynamics
4. Emphasized positivism•Science creates truth
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Functionalism
Comte one of the first functionalists
Stressed consequences that social phenomena have on entire social system
And interconnectedness of parts of the system
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Functionalism
Always be a “spontaneous harmony” between parts and whole social system
Political institutions and social manners
Manners and ideas
Society must be connected with the development of humanity