AUGUSTE COMTE: Positivism and the scientific study of Society
Last Updated on January 19, by Karl Thompson
Auguste Comte is the founder of Positivism. The key idea of Positivism was that science can be used to understand society and build a better world.
Comte argued that knowledge of society can only be acquired through scientific investigation, and and by observing the laws that govern social stability and social change.
He believed that Scientific understanding of these laws can bring about change and that this scientific knowledge could be used to bring about social progress.
Auguste Comte: HIstorical Context
By the end of the 18th century, increased industrialization had brought about radical changes to traditional society in Europe. At the same time, France was struggling to establish a new social order in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Some thinkers, such as Adam Smith, had sought to explain the rapidly changing face of society in economic terms; others, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, did so in terms of political philosophy. Adam Ferguson had described the social effects of modernization, but no one had yet offered an explanation of social progress to
Auguste Comte
1. Introduction
It is difficult today to appreciate the interest Comte's thought enjoyed a century ago, for it has received almost no notice during the last five decades. Before the First World War, Comte's movement was active nearly everywhere in the world (Plé ; Simon ). The best known case is that of Latin America: Brazil, which owes the motto on its flag ‘Ordem e Progresso’ (Order and Progress) to Comte (Trindade ), and Mexico (Hale ) are two prominent examples. The positivists, i.e., the followers of Comte, were equally active in England (Wright ), the United States (Cashdollars ; Harp ) and India (Forbes ). And in the case of Turkey, its modern secular character can be traced to Comte's influence on the Young Turks.
None of this activity survived the First World War. The new balance of power created by the Russian Revolution left no room for positive polity, and Comtean positivism was taken over by neo-positivism in philosophy of science. The term ‘post-positivism’, used in the second half of the 20th century, demonstrates the complete disappearance of what one might call, in retrospect, “paleo-positivism”. As a
Auguste Comte
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Who Was Auguste Comte?
French philosopher Auguste Comte grew up in the wake of the French Revolution. He rejected religion and royalty, focusing instead on the study of society, which he named "sociology." He broke the subject into two categories: the forces holding society together ("social statics") and those driving social change ("social dynamics"). Comte's ideas and use of scientific methods greatly advanced the field.
Early Life
Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte was born on January 19, , in Montpellier, France. He was born in the shadow of the French Revolution and as modern science and technology gave birth to the Industrial Revolution. During this time, European society experienced violent conflict and feelings of alienation. Confidence in established beliefs and institutions was shattered. Comte spent much of his life developing a philosophy for a new social order amidst all the chaos and uncertainty.
Comte’s father, Louis, a government tax official, and his mother, Rosalie (Boyer) Comte, were both monarchists and devout Roman Catholics. While attending the University of Montpellier, Comte abandoned thes
Saint-Simon and Saint-Simonism
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Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, was born in Paris, 17 Oct., ; died there, 19 May, He belonged to the family of the author of the "Memoirs". At an early age he showed a certain disdain for tradition; at thirteen he refused to make his first Communion and was punished by imprisonment at Saint Lazare, whence he escaped. During the War of Independence he followed his relative, the Marquis de Saint-Simon, to America, took part in the battle of Yorktown, was later made prisoner, and recovered his liberty only after the Treaty of Versailles. Before leaving America, being as yet only twenty-three years old, he presented to the Viceroy of Mexico the plan of a canal between the two oceans. In he drew up important schemes for the economic improvement of Spain. During the Revolution he grew rich by speculation, was imprisoned for eleven months, and under the Directory, though leading a prodigal and voluptuous life, continued to dream of a
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