ASSIGNMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT HAMAD BASHIR ROLL# 31 M.

COM FINAL "CONTRIBUTIONS OF AUGUSTE COMETY TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY"

SOCIOLOGY;
The immediate goal of sociology is to acquire knowledge about society like all the sciences....., as Samuel Koenig has pointed out the ultimate aim of sociology is " to improve man's ad ustment to life by developing ob ective knowledge concerning social phenomena which can be used to deal effectively with social problems". Thinkers occupy a prime position in the development of any discipline, especially so in the social sciences. Sociology 'is no e!ception to this rule, and in its emergence and develop a plethora of social thinkers have made their contributions. Systematic study of sociology a science, particularly, as a separate discipline, originated with "nsider #uguste $rancois % &avier 'omte during nineteenth century. "t is during this period modern sociology emerged the places like $rance, (ermany and )ngland. Since then, gala!ies of thinkers and writ have contributed to the development of sociological thought. #uguste 'omte, *erbert Spencer )mile +urkheim and %a! ,eber are the four men who are regarded as the central figures founding fathers and the great masters of sociological thought in the. +evelopment of mod sociology.'

AUGUSTE COMETY;
#uguste 'omte, a volatile $renchman, philosopher, moralist and sociologist, traditionally regarded as the father of sociology. *e coined the term sociology and bee father of sociology. *e tried to create a new science of society, which would not only e!plain the past of mankind but also predict its future course. #uguste 'omate was born in $rance the year -./0. *e invented a new discipline which he called at first social physics and changed it to sociology thereafter. "#uguste 'omte may be considered

as first and foremost, sociologist of human and social unity" so writes the $rench sociologist 1aymond #ron. "mportant works are2 3-4 5ositive 5hilosophy 3-06789:4. 3:4 Systems of positive polity 3-0;- 8;94 364 1eligion of *umanity 3-0;<4. *is contribution to sociology can be divided into four categories. They are namely28 3-4 'lassification and ordering of social sciences. 3:4 The nature, method and scope of sociology. 364 The law of three stages. 394 The plan for social reconstruction. 3;4 5ositivism.

BRIEFLY DESCRIPTION OF AUGUSTE CONTRIBUTIONS:

-.'omte gave to 'sociology' its name and laid its foundation so that it could develop into an independent and separate science. :.'omte's insistence on positive approach, ob ectivity and scientific attitude contributed to the progress of social sciences in general. 6.'omte, through his "=aw of Three Stages" clearly establish the close association between intellectual evolution and social progress. 9.'omte, through classification of sciences drives home the fact that sociology depends heavily on the achievements of other sciences. The 'interdisciplinary approach' of the modern times is in tune with the 'omtean view. ;.'omte gave ma!imum importance to the scientific method. *e criticised the attitude of the armchair social philosophers and stressed the need to

follow the method of science. <.'omte divided the study of sociology into two broad areas2 "social statics" and "social dynamics". 5resent day sociologists have retained them in the form of 'social structure and function' and 'social change and progress'. ..'omte upheld the 'moral order' in the society. The importance which he attached to morality highly impressed the later writers such as #rnold Toynbee and 5itirim #. Sorokin. 0.'omte also contributed to the development of theoretical sociology. /.'omte had argued that sociology was not ust a "pure" science, but an "applied" science also. *e believed that sociology should help so solve the problems of society. This insistence on the practical aspect of sociology led to the development of various applied fields of sociology such as "social work", "social welfare". -7.'omte's famous books 3i4 '5ositive 5hilosophy' >in si! volumes? and, 3ii4 "5ositive 5olity" >in four volumes? are a memorable contributions to the development of sociological literature.

DESCRIPTION; LAW OF THREE STAGES:

#uguste 'omte was the first person to proclaim =aw of Three stages, which became the corner stone of his thought. @f course, this famous law had been borrowed from 1. A. Turgot, B . C.Dico and Saint8Simon. The law states that human thought has undergone three separate stages in its evolution and development. #ccording to him human thought as well as social progress pass through three important stages. These three stages are the universal law of human progress. These three stages are common in case of the development of human knowledge as well as social evolution. *uman individual is a staunch believer during childhood, then becomes a critical metaphysician in adolescence and becomes a natural 5hilosopher during manhood. # similar case of development takes place in case of human society. =aw of Three Stages not only talks about the progressive transformation of society but also e!plain the transformation in minds of

the people. The evolution of human mind goes hand in hand with a typical form of organisation of society. The period of growth and development in society is known as2 3-4 Theological or $ictitious stage. 3:4 %etaphysical' or #bstract stage. 364 5ositive or Scientific stage. 'omte stated that each succeeding stage is superior to the earlier stage.

1.Theological or Fictitious Stage:

+uring the primitive stage, the early man believed that all phenomena of nature are the creation of the divine or supernatural. The primitive man and children do not have the scientific outlook, therefore it is characterised by unscientific outlook. They failed to discover the natural causes of various phenomena and hence attributed them to supernatural or divine power. $or e!ample, primitive men saw (od everywhere in nature. They supposed that e!cess or deficiency of rain due to (odly wrathE such a casual e!planation would be in terms of theological or fictitious e!planation. The theological stage of thinking may be divided into three sub8stages such as a4 Fet !" !# was the primary stage of theological stage of thinking. +uring this period primitive people believed that there is a living spirit in the nonliving ob ects. This is otherwise known as animism. 5eople worshipped inanimate ob ects like tress, stones, a piece of wood, etc. These ob ects are considered as $etish. b4 P$%&t"e !# means believing in many (ods. 5rimitive people believed that different (ods control different natural forces. )ach (od had some definite function and his scope and area of action was determined. $or e!ample, (od of water, (od of rain and (od of fire, (od of air, etc. c4 M$'$t"e !# is the last and the most developed form of theological thinking. %onotheism means believing in one (od or (od in one.

2.Metaphysical or Abstract stage: %etaphysical stage is an e!tension of theological stage. +uring this period, reason and rationality was growing. 1eason replaced imagination. 5eople tried to believe that (od is an abstract being. Soul is the spark of divine power i.e. inform of abstract forces. "t is believed that an abstract power or force guides and determines the events in the world. %etaphysical thinking discards belief in concrete (od. The nature of enquiry was legal and rational in nature. $or e!ampleE 'lassical *indu "ndian society where the principle of transmigration of soul, the conception of rebirth, notions of pursuant has were largely governed by metaphysical uphill.

3.Positive or Scientific Stage:

This positive stage is also known a scientific stage. The dawn of -/th century marked the beginning of this stage. "t is characterised by scientific knowledge. "n this stage, human mind gave up the taken for granted approach. #t this stage, human mind tried to establish cause and affect relationship. Scientific knowledge is based on facts. $acts are collected by observation and classification of phenomena. 5ositivism is a purely intellectual way of looking at the world. 5ositivism emphasises on observation and classification of data and facts. @ne can observe uniformities or laws about natural as well as social phenomena. 5ositivistic thinking is best suited to the need of industrial society.

C( t ) !#!:
The concept rational doesn't have universal meanings, what is rational to one society may not be to society another. %a! ,eber advocates that the nature of progress of society should not be studied by the preconceived philosophical outlines rather they should be studied form ob ective and empirical stand point.