SAMPLE Sociology
1. The social upheaval in Europe resulted from the Industrial Revolution. 2. The political revolutions in America and France encouragedpeopletorethinktheirideasabout social life. 3. The development of imperialism —as the Europeans conquered other nations, the interactions with different cultures influenced the “why” of cultural variations. 4. Thenaturalsciences’ successcreatedadesiretoapplyscientificmethodstofindanswersabout the social world. Comte’s Three Stages of Society & Theories of Positivism
AugusteComtewasoneofthefoundersofthestudyofsociologyin1838.Comte proposed three stages of society: Theological Stage, Metaphysical Stage, & Scientific Stage . Table 4 - 1: Comte’s three stages of society
STAGE 1 - Theological Stage
STAGE 2 - Metaphysical Stage
STAGE 3 - Scientific Stage
The start of human society & the formation of social groups . People considered gods as personally influencing everything occurring in the world, even if they didn’t directly control it.
Began around the Middle Ages in Europe (roughly around the 1300s). Individuals viewed the world & events as natural reflections of human tendencies. Believed in divine powers or gods, but saw these beings as more abstract & less directly involved in the world’s day-to-day happenings. Instead, they believed that problems in the world were due to defects in humanity.
Individuals in this stage view the world and events through the lens of scientific principles .
Believe that the laws of science regulate everything.
For example, today, it’s commonly accepted that the planets orbit around the sun.
Positivism Comtebelievedthatsociologyshouldadoptapositivistapproach. Positivism isthebeliefthatsocieties have their own scientific principles and laws, similar to those in physics or chemistry. Moreover, positivismholdsthat objectivetruths aboutsocietycanbeuncoveredthroughscientificinquiryandthat ourunderstandingofsocietyshouldbebasedon empiricalevidence .Comtebelievedthisapproachwas essential to fully understanding society and its workings. Comte’s idea of positivism is, therefore, a product of the final stage of society, the scientificstage .
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