Origin and development of sociology

LEARNING OUTLINE
Follow this Learning Outline as you read and study this chapter .

The History of sociology

The Founders of sociology
August Comte – Social static and social dynamic, Law of human
development, and Positivism

Emile Durkheim - Rules of sociological methods, Division of

labor and Social solidarity

Herbert Spencer - The law of social evolution and Laissez-faire

Karl Marx – Dialectical materialism and Class conflict

Max Weber - Sociology of religion and Protestant ethic and the

spirit of capitalism

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 The history of sociology
 Sociology was developed as a way to study
and try to understand the changes to society
brought on by the Industrial Revolution in the
18th and 19th centuries. Some of the earliest
sociologists thought that societies and
individuals’ roles in society could be studied
using the same scientific methodologies that
were used in the natural sciences, while
others believed that is was impossible to
predict human behaviour scientifically, and
still others debated the value of such
predictions. Those perspectives continue to be
represented within sociology today.
 August Comte –(1798-1857)
 Auguste Comte coined the term
“Sociology” and suggested the use of
positivism – applying the scientific
approach to the social world – but he did
not utilize this approach himself. He
established two specific problems for
sociological investigation: a) Social statics;
and b) Social dynamics.
 Social statics refers to the problem of
order and stability- how & why do societies
hold together and endure?
 August Comte –(1798-1857)
 Social dynamics refers to the problem of social
change- what makes societies change and what
shapes the nature and direction of the changes?
 Law of human development refers of using
scientific methods to reveal the laws by which
societies and individuals interact would lead in a
new “positivist” age of history. His main
sociological theory was the law of three stages,
which held that all human societies and all forms
of human knowledge evolve through three
distinct stages from primitive to advanced: the
theological, the metaphysical, and the positive.
 Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
 Emile Durkheim played an important role in
the development of sociology.

1. A primary goal of his was to get sociology

recognized as a separate academic
discipline.

2. He was interested in understanding the

social factors that influence individual
behavior; he studied suicide rates among
different groups and concluded that social
integration, the degree to which people are
tied to their social group, was a key social
factor in suicide.
 Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

3. Durkheim’s third concern was that social research be

practical; sociologists should not only diagnose the
causes of social problems but should also develop
solutions for them

4. Religion performs the key function of providing  social

solidarity in a society. 

 Emile Durkheim developed theories of social

structure: that included functionalism, the division of
labor, and anomie. These theories were founded on the
concept of social facts, or societal norms, values, and
structures. Functionalism is a concept with three
integral elements.
 Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

 He viewed societies as evolutionary, coined

the term “the survival of the fittest”, and
became known for social Darwinism.

 He argued that just as the various organs in the

body work together to keep the entire system
functioning and regulated, the various parts of
society work together to keep the entire society
functioning and regulated (Spencer 1898).
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
 By parts of society, Spencer was referring to
such social institutions as the economy,
political systems, health care, education,
media, and religion. Spencer continued the
analogy by pointing out that societies evolve
just as the bodies of humans and other
animals do (Maryanski and Turner 1992).
 Theory Survival of the Fittest:It was
Herbert Spencer, not Darwin, who coined the
phrase 'survival of the fittest' due to the
fact that he believed human behavior was
designed in a way that strives for self-
preservation. Darwin later used the term
'survival of the fittest' in his edition of
 Karl Marx (1818-1883)
 Karl Marx (1818–1883) was a German
philosopher and economist.
 He is the founder of the conflict
Perspective, believed that class conflict –
the struggle between the proletariat and
the bourgeoisie – was the key to human
history.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
 Marx developed a critical analysis of capitalism that
saw the material or economic basis of inequality
and power relations as the cause of social instability
and conflict. The focus of sociology, or what Marx
called historical materialism (the “materialist
conception of history” 
 Conflict theory by karl marx:
 Social conflict theory is a Marxist-based social
theory which argues that individuals and groups
(social classes) within society interact on the
basis of conflict rather than consensus.
 Max Weber (1864-1920)
 Max Weber defined religion as a central force in social change. For example,
Protestantism encourages greater economic development and was the central
factor in the rise of capitalism in some countries.
 Max Weber’s Theory of Rationalization:

 The rationalization of society is a concept that was created by Max Weber.

Rationalization refers to the process by which modern society has increasingly
become concerned with:
 Efficiency: achieving the maximum results with a minimum amount of effort
 Predictability: a desire to predict what will happen in the future
 Calculability: a concern with numerical data, i.e., statistics and scoring
 Dehumanization: employing technology as a means to control human behavior
 Rationalization is a product of scientific study and technological advances in the
Western world. By reducing tradition's hold on society, rationalization led to new
practices. Instead of human behavior being motivated by customs and traditions,
rationalization led to behaviors that were guided by reason and practicality.
Rationalization not only transformed modern society, it played an important role
in the development of capitalism. Though rationalization was first apparent in the
creation of bureaucracies, it has spread to all aspects of society.
 Theories presented by different sociologists:

sociologists theories

Theory of 'positivism' and how science and society interact.

August Comte Theory of social dynamics
Theory Law of three stage( law of human development)

Theories of social structure: that included functionalism,

Emile Durkheim
the division of labor, and anomie

Herbert Spencer Theory Survival of the Fittest included functionalism

Karl Marx Conflict theory
Max Weber Max Weber’s Theory of Rationalization