SOCIOLOGICAL THEORISTS: -Auguste Comte-Herbert Spencer

-Karl Marx-Emile Durkheim

-Max Weber

BY C Settley

Positive philosophy: Positivism What does positive mean? (do you think of

‘good’ ? Sunshine/roses/calming?) In this context it refers to certainty. Definite

knowing. “the only valid knowledge is knowledge

gained through the scientific method”- A. Comte

Through experimentation and observation. Comte looked back at how society got to his

positive stage.

AUGUST COMTE

3 Stages: 1) Theological stage (fictitious stage) 2) Metaphysical stage (abstract stage) 3) Positive stage (scientific stage) He believed that religion plays a lesser role

in each of these and science plays a greater role as it progresses.

AUGUST COMTE

1. Theological stage (fictitious stage) Religion without science Spirits, Gods etc Think about Game of Thrones…. Things that they believe in……

AUGUST COMTE

2. Metaphysical stage (abstract stage) An abstract power guides events in the

world. Think about scientific individuals like: Isaac

Newton and Thomas Jefferson (an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third President of the United States)

AUGUST COMTE

These people are scientific in their mind set but believe in higher powers.

Scientific religion

AUGUST COMTE

AUGUST COMTE

ATHEISM- the only religion not to be tolerated according to J.Locke:

Lastly, those are not at all to be tolerated who deny the being of a God. Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist. The taking away of God, though but even in thought, dissolves all; besides also, those that by their atheism undermine and destroy all religion, can have no pretence of religion whereupon to challenge the privilege of a toleration.

Religion gives structure to the individual.

AUGUST COMTE 3. Positive stage

(scientific stage) Final stage Look at things and

draw conclusions based exclusively on science

Scientific methods Disregards the

metaphysical principles Independent of religion

and metaphysics

AUGUST COMTE

AUGUST COMTE

Evolution of the social organism= evolution/development of the physical world, biological organisms, human mind, human culture and societies

He contributed to a wide range of subjects (religion, ethics, anthropology, sociology, psychology etc)

HERBERT SPENCER

Acquired knowledge from friends and acquaintances He believed that the ultimate goal of societal

evolution is complete harmony and happiness. Spencer's theory of evolutionary change is built

upon three basic principles: 1) integration (the bringing of people of different

racial or ethnic groups into unrestricted and equal association, as in society or an organization);

2) differentiation (to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish);

3) definiteness (considerable variation in the expression)

HERBERT SPENCER

Homogenous phenomena are inherently unstable, which makes them subject to constant fluctuations.

These fluctuations force homogeneous systems to differentiate, which results in greater differences.

In other words, homogeneous systems grow to become heterogeneous.

He argued that people might think they deal with the same issues as sociologists do; however, they are not trained to adequately comprehend these issues. One of the ways that Spencer believed sociology could become more legitimate was for sociologists to study other disciplines, especially biology and psychology. Biology could be linked to sociology through the search for the basic "laws of life," understanding society as a "living body" and focusing on human beings as the starting point of sociological inquiries

HERBERT SPENCER

Functionalist approach: According to functionalism, society is a system of

interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole.

For example, each of the social institutions contributes important functions for society: Family provides a context for reproducing, nurturing, and socializing children; education offers a way to transmit a society’s skills, knowledge, and culture to its youth; politics provides a means of governing members of society; economics provides for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; and religion provides moral guidance and an outlet for worship of a higher power.

The functionalist perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts.

HERBERT SPENCER

Studies society in a way of identifying the inequalities. (Conflict theory).

He believed that a society evolves through stages of which the following 3 were the most important:

Feudalism (the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service)

KARL MARX

Capatilism: minority (bourgeoisie/factory owner), majority (proletariat/factory worker). Significant economic inequality between these two groups. Marx believed this inequality would fuel a change in society.

Class consciousness: working class getting to the same wave length.

Thesis antithesis

synthesis

What do you think the synthesis would be?

KARL MARX

Socialism (a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole)

KARL MARX

Believed that capitalism was productive as it made countries richer.

And in certain ways was liberating. Believed that the economic system was doing

something to people’s minds….it was literally driving them to suicide.

Once a nation became industrialised (developing of countries), suicide rates went up. He made comparisons with nations in his time.

Suicide theory was to shed light on the unhappiness in societies: mental distress created by capitalism.

EMILE DURKHEIM

He tried to explain why people become so unhappy in modern societies due to capitalism. 5 factors:

Individuals Excessive hopes More freedom Religion. Atheism. Weakening of the nation and family

EMILE DURKHEIM

What made capitalism possible? Religion: eg Catholics, Protestant ethics.

MAX WEBER

Mukesh Mishra. Slideshare.net. Retrieved 12/08/2015

KHAWAJA FAROOQ ABDULLAH. Slideshare.net. Retrieved 12/08/2015