Reference no: EM133524018
Assignment:
1) What were the ideas of August Comte?
A. Comte was influenced by both Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment ideas
B. Comte's "positive" philosophy - "positivism"
2) Positivism is a philosophy committed to both finding scientific knowledge/laws (through theory and research) and to applying scientific knowledge (practicing sociology or applied sociology). In this practical way, science can be used to make positive contributions to society. For Comte, the main objective of science, including sociology, is problem-solving
3) Critique of positivism:
a) wrongly assumes that science is a value-free or "objective" endeavor.
b) wrongly assumes that reality is simply "out there" waiting to be discovered. Knowledge is not separate from the humans looking for it.
c) wrongly assumed that society is "lawful," or regulated by immutable scientific laws. Most of the social patterns that sociology uncovers are subject to change.
(C. Sociology as the study of "Social Dynamics)
4) Comte's evolutionary model: "The Law of Three Stages"
a) Theological stage encompasses a period of history when all knowledge was based on religious thinking. All explanations of natural and social phenomena are predicated on divine intervention. This stage is so long that it can divided into three sub-stages: fetishism, polytheism, monotheism
b) Metaphysical stage - in this stage human knowledge is based on the universal "laws of nature," not God per se, but his orderly universe.
c) Positivist stage. This is the final stage of human evolution in which the human mind embraces scientific thinking as the dominant source of knowledge.
5) Each of these stages, or modes of thought, correspond to a specific form of social organization
a) The theological stage is dominated by militarism or militaristic societies
b) The metaphysical stage is dominated by nationalism, or the nation state
c) The positivist stage is dominated by industrialism,
D. Sociology as the study "Social Statics"