AUGUSTE COMTE

(1798 – 1857)
 Considered as the “Father of
Sociology.”
 A French Philosopher and
Mathematician.
 Its aim was to discover the social
laws that govern the
development of societies.
 POSITIVISM – says that Science
and its methods is the only valid
way of knowing things.
HARRIET MARTINEAU
(1802 – 1876)
 The “Founding Mother of
Sociology.”
 A Writer, Ethnographer,
Political Economist and
Sociologist.
 She wrote her
“travelogues.”
KARL MARX
(1818 – 1883)
 Considered as the “Father of
Scientific Socialism.”
 Introduced the materialist analysis
of history which discounts religious
and metaphysical (spiritual)
explanation for historical
development.
 He belonged to the realist tradition
of social sciences that believed in
the power of scientific reason to
know the nature of society and
human beings.
EMILE DURKHEIM
(1858 – 1917)
 The pioneer of Functionalism in
Sociology.
 He famously argued that society
pre-existed the individuals and
will continue to exist long after
the individual is dead.
 His main contributions are in the
field of sociology of religion,
education and deviance.
MAX WEBER
(1864 – 1920)
 Was the pioneer of interpretive
sociology.
 For him, rationalization refers to the
disenchantment of the world.
 As science began to replace religion,
people also adopted a scientific or
rational attitude to the world.
 People refused to believe in myths
and superstitious beliefs.
 Modern individuals became
dependent on science to order their
lives.
 Considered as the “Father
of American
Anthropology.”
 He was the first
anthropologist to have
rejected the biological
basis of racism or racial
discrimination.
 He also rejected the
popular Western idea of
social evolution or the
development of societies
from lower to higher forms.
Each society is considered as having a
unique form of culture that cannot be
incorporated under an overall
definition of general culture.
 An anthropologist and
ethnographer.
 He developed the theory of
PARTICIPANT
OBSERVATION.
 A method of social science
research that requires the
anthropologists to have the
ability to participate and blend
with the way of life of a given
group of people.
 Was an English social
anthropologist who developed
the theory of structural
functionalism.
 In 1937, he became the Chair in
Social Anthropology in Oxford.
 Advocated the study of abstract
principles that govern social
change.
 He saw individuals as mere
products of social structures.
 According to this view, the basic unit
of analysis for anthropology and social
sciences are the social structures and
the functions they perform to maintain
the equilibrium of society.
“ True wisdom comes
to each of us when we
realize how little we
understand about life,
ourselves and the
world around us.”
 The Author of the
Book “The Republic.”
Was a newspaper
commentator and respected
world news columnist.

Wrote the book “The Phantom

Public,” 1925.