Chapter 3-Comte -he coined positivism- the search for invariant laws ...
Chapter 3-Comte -he coined positivism- the search for invariant laws of both the natural and social world-laws can be derived from doing research and theorizing about social world (empirical research for Comte) -he thinks there is a real world and it is the scientists task to discover and report on it, therefore he is a realist -2 ways to get to real world, one through research, two through theorizing -he believes in pure empiricism through sensory observations and the belief in quantifications -positivism is under attack and now we are in a post positivistic age -he defines soc as a positivistic science, and relates it to physics, and it builds upon other sciences -he said there are 3 ways of doing social research 1. Observation- should be directed by theory and connected to some law 2. Experiment- natural experiment ie:earthquake 3. Comparison- humans to lower animal societies, or societies to different parts of the world or different stages of society over time -his 4th major methodology was historical research -he theorized in order to get laws of the social world -he created positivistic laws- The Law of 3 Satges: 1. Theological Stage- human mind searching for the nature/orgin of things and their purpose, the search for knowledge, monotheism- worship single divinity that explains everything 2. Metaphysical stage- transition stage, abstract forces replace God as the explanation/purpose of things ie:nature 3. Positivist Stage- all we can know is phenomena and the relations among them not their essential nature, search with empirical research and theorizing, Comte more interested in creating abstract laws than concrete ones -he found the French Revolution as due to a disorder of intellectual anarchy, he said 3 stages we’re weak and the answer to the intellectual chaos was positivism -Comte said 2 great concerns were order and progress -metaphysics offer progress without order -positivism is the only system that offers both: order through restraint of social disorder and progress through an increase in knowledge -he saw order and progress as mutually defining and interpenetrating -in Comte’s time there was a crisis of ideas and it could be solved by positivism -he described positivism as a ‘spirit’ therefore he is an idealist ‘ideas govern the world’ -he defines the soc study of social statics as the ‘investigation of the laws of action and reaction of different parts of the social system’ -the laws of social systems interacting are deducted from the laws of human nature (theory over empirical research) -he was anticipating ideas of later structural functionists -he developed a perspective on the parts or structures of society and the way in which they
function and their functional relationship to the larger social system, he saw parts and whole of the social system in a state of harmony/equilibrium -social statics describes an ‘ideal’ type of society -he is doing a macrosociology of social statics because he is looking at the interrelationship among the parts and the whole of the social system -he defined soc as the macro-level study of collective existence -he sees humans with egoism and altruism, the problem of human life is the need for altruism to dominate egoism, if we want a better world, people must be controlled so altruistic impulses emerge, controls must come from society -he has a negative view of people and their innate impulses of egoism, very limited view of peoples creative capacities as well -social world creates people -he distinguished 4 categories of instincts 1. Nutrition 2. Sex 3. Destruction 4. Construction (pride and vanity) -the instincts need external control -‘fundamental institution’ – macro level, family is the individual building block, individual constitutes different units and society forms out of them, through family we learn to be social, a change in family has profound effects on the individual and society -most important institution to Comte is religion -2 major functions of religion, one to regulate individual life and two fostering social relationships among people -another important social institution to him is language, it allows people to interact and therefore promotes unity -division of labor serves to hold people together, social solidarity is enhanced in a system where individuals are dependent on each other, worries about overspecialization -the government is based on force, force can hold society together or be destructive -goal of Comte’s social dynamics is to study the laws of succession of social phenomena, society is always changing but the change is ordered and subject to social laws, society follows a law of progressive development -Comte said that each stage in history is dialectically related to past and future stages -he limited his history study to Western Europe (the white race) because he saw it as the elite of humanity -theological stage: 1. Fetishistic- external objects given lives (ie: tree) 2. Polytheistic- developed in Egypt, Greece, etc. 3. Monothestic- emerge in Roman Catholicism -14th century Catholicism replaced by Protestantism, beginning of negativity because it
encouraged unlimited free inquiry, transitional stage (metaphysical stage) between theology and positivism, period of confusion, paved way for social revolution and later positivistic reorganization of society -the next time focused on the individual and individual rights, this furthered disorder and chaos -Comte said society as the positive idea of duties rather than individual rights, instead of focusing on rights, people were urged to concentrate on the duties of larger society, this would bring out altruism in people, new spiritual authority would be positivism -Comte wanted his ideas to lead to practical social change -2 objectives for positivism, was one to generalize scientific conceptions (advance science of humanity) and two to systematize the art and practice of life -positivism is both a scientific philosophy and a political practice -he sees wealthy as characterized by avarice, ambition or vanity -middle class is too involved in trying to move to the upper class -working class would bring action and women bring political change -working class is better able to think during their work day because their jobs are not fully absorbing -working class is superior intellectually and morally -sees communism as a moral rather than an economic movement, he said positivism is the alternative to communism, differences between positivism and communism are: Positivism: -moral responses -individuality and cooperation -leaders of industry are essential -inheritance is important because it provides for historical continuity Communism: -political responses -suppress individuals -eliminate leaders of industry -eliminate inheritance -Comte saw women as bringing the needed social feeling to politics, the feeling of more importance than intellect or action, yet he sees men as superior practically and intellectually because of this they actually implement positivism. Women were to alter educational process within the family and form ‘salons’ to disseminate positivistic ideas. He didn’t believe in gender equality -he emphasized order in social statics and progress in social dynamics. The importance of love associated with women, the motto ‘love, order and progress’. Positivism is important intellectually and morally. The feeling was to direct the intellect as well as practical activity. Morality is a science that exceeded even in soc. Morality lies at the center of relationship between theory and practice. -Theological is dominated by feeling and imagination, it is subjective
-metaphysical is dominated by feeling less able to deal with practical world -positivism offers unity of thought, feeling and action -with morality added to positivism he declares it a religion His Plans for the Future -new positivistic calendar, temple -members of upper class (bankers, industrialists) play central roles in the new positivistic society -positivistic library -urged chastity within family, virgin birth -only high types of women are allowed to reproduce His Positive Contributions to Soc -coined the term sociology -defined it as a positivistic science -3 methods of soc; observation, experiment and comparison -differentiated social statics and social dynamics (social structure and social change) -he defined soc as a macroscopic -he developed structural functionism -he offered dialectical view of macro structures -offered a strong sense of historical continuity -he integrated theory and practice His Weaknesses -theory over influenced by his own life -falls out of touch with real world (did no real empirical research) -out of touch with intellectual work of his time -increasingly anti-intellectual -failed in empirical and theoretical work -little actual soc in his work -really no original contributions -distorted by a primitive organicism (connection between social disorder and disease in organisms) this kind of organicism is long been eliminated from soc -he applied his Law of 3 Stages to everything -self-conceit lead to errors -positivist religion mirrored Catholicism and had no lasting impact -totalitarian implications of Comte’s plans for the future
function and their functional relationship to the larger social system, he saw parts and whole of the social system in a state of harmony/equilibrium -social statics describes an ‘ideal’ type of society -he is doing a macrosociology of social statics because he is looking at the interrelationship among the parts and the whole of the social system -he defined soc as the macro-level study of collective existence -he sees humans with egoism and altruism, the problem of human life is the need for altruism to dominate egoism, if we want a better world, people must be controlled so altruistic impulses emerge, controls must come from society -he has a negative view of people and their innate impulses of egoism, very limited view of peoples creative capacities as well -social world creates people -he distinguished 4 categories of instincts 1. Nutrition 2. Sex 3. Destruction 4. Construction (pride and vanity) -the instincts need external control -‘fundamental institution’ – macro level, family is the individual building block, individual constitutes different units and society forms out of them, through family we learn to be social, a change in family has profound effects on the individual and society -most important institution to Comte is religion -2 major functions of religion, one to regulate individual life and two fostering social relationships among people -another important social institution to him is language, it allows people to interact and therefore promotes unity -division of labor serves to hold people together, social solidarity is enhanced in a system where individuals are dependent on each other, worries about overspecialization -the government is based on force, force can hold society together or be destructive -goal of Comte’s social dynamics is to study the laws of succession of social phenomena, society is always changing but the change is ordered and subject to social laws, society follows a law of progressive development -Comte said that each stage in history is dialectically related to past and future stages -he limited his history study to Western Europe (the white race) because he saw it as the elite of humanity -theological stage: 1. Fetishistic- external objects given lives (ie: tree) 2. Polytheistic- developed in Egypt, Greece, etc. 3. Monothestic- emerge in Roman Catholicism -14th century Catholicism replaced by Protestantism, beginning of negativity because it
encouraged unlimited free inquiry, transitional stage (metaphysical stage) between theology and positivism, period of confusion, paved way for social revolution and later positivistic reorganization of society -the next time focused on the individual and individual rights, this furthered disorder and chaos -Comte said society as the positive idea of duties rather than individual rights, instead of focusing on rights, people were urged to concentrate on the duties of larger society, this would bring out altruism in people, new spiritual authority would be positivism -Comte wanted his ideas to lead to practical social change -2 objectives for positivism, was one to generalize scientific conceptions (advance science of humanity) and two to systematize the art and practice of life -positivism is both a scientific philosophy and a political practice -he sees wealthy as characterized by avarice, ambition or vanity -middle class is too involved in trying to move to the upper class -working class would bring action and women bring political change -working class is better able to think during their work day because their jobs are not fully absorbing -working class is superior intellectually and morally -sees communism as a moral rather than an economic movement, he said positivism is the alternative to communism, differences between positivism and communism are: Positivism: -moral responses -individuality and cooperation -leaders of industry are essential -inheritance is important because it provides for historical continuity Communism: -political responses -suppress individuals -eliminate leaders of industry -eliminate inheritance -Comte saw women as bringing the needed social feeling to politics, the feeling of more importance than intellect or action, yet he sees men as superior practically and intellectually because of this they actually implement positivism. Women were to alter educational process within the family and form ‘salons’ to disseminate positivistic ideas. He didn’t believe in gender equality -he emphasized order in social statics and progress in social dynamics. The importance of love associated with women, the motto ‘love, order and progress’. Positivism is important intellectually and morally. The feeling was to direct the intellect as well as practical activity. Morality is a science that exceeded even in soc. Morality lies at the center of relationship between theory and practice. -Theological is dominated by feeling and imagination, it is subjective
-metaphysical is dominated by feeling less able to deal with practical world -positivism offers unity of thought, feeling and action -with morality added to positivism he declares it a religion His Plans for the Future -new positivistic calendar, temple -members of upper class (bankers, industrialists) play central roles in the new positivistic society -positivistic library -urged chastity within family, virgin birth -only high types of women are allowed to reproduce His Positive Contributions to Soc -coined the term sociology -defined it as a positivistic science -3 methods of soc; observation, experiment and comparison -differentiated social statics and social dynamics (social structure and social change) -he defined soc as a macroscopic -he developed structural functionism -he offered dialectical view of macro structures -offered a strong sense of historical continuity -he integrated theory and practice His Weaknesses -theory over influenced by his own life -falls out of touch with real world (did no real empirical research) -out of touch with intellectual work of his time -increasingly anti-intellectual -failed in empirical and theoretical work -little actual soc in his work -really no original contributions -distorted by a primitive organicism (connection between social disorder and disease in organisms) this kind of organicism is long been eliminated from soc -he applied his Law of 3 Stages to everything -self-conceit lead to errors -positivist religion mirrored Catholicism and had no lasting impact -totalitarian implications of Comte’s plans for the future
