Auguste comte contribution to sociology ppt

Auguste Comte — is the founder of positivism, a philosophical and political movement which enjoyed a very wide diffusion in the second half of the nineteenth century. It sank into an almost complete oblivion during the twentieth, when it was eclipsed by neopositivism. His political philosophy, on the other hand, is even less known, because it differs substantially from the classical political philosophy we have inherited.

In the Course , Comte said, science was transformed into philosophy; in the System , philosophy was transformed into religion. The positivists, i. 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.

Moreover, in a number of cases, the post-positivists simply rediscovered points that were well established in paleo-positivism such as the need to take into account the context of justification and the social dimension of science but subsequently forgotten. Philosophers and sociologists have begun to draw attention to the interesting views defended over a century and a half ago by the founder of positivism.

It thus seems that the eclipse of the original positivism is nearing its end. The title of what Comte always regarded as his seminal work written in when he was only 24 years old leaves no doubt as to the bond between science and politics: it is Plan for the Scientific Work Necessary to Reorganize Society , also called First System of Positive Polity.

Its goal is the reorganization of society.

Auguste comte, positivism pdf

Science gets involved only after politics, when Comte suggests calling in scientists to achieve that goal. So, while science plays a central role in positive polity, positivism is anything but a blind admiration for science. From these introductory remarks, some of the main threads of what follows can already be seen.