Auguste Comte (1798 - 1857)

Auguste Comte (1798 - 1857)

1. French philosopher & mathematician

2. raised the question of how social order was created and maintained.

3. argued case for a scientific method (positivism) through which the "laws of social development" could be discovered.

4. argued that all human societies passed through 3 stages.

   • the theological
     • order based on religious controls & beliefs
   • the metaphysical
     • transition phase. -- characterised by upheaval & disorder (religious order challenged by emergence of science)
   • the positive
     • science and reason revealed the true nature of the social world and replaced religion as the basis of the social order.

5. adopted a "consensus" perspective which stressed that social order was created & maintained through co-operation.