19th Century Sociology: Comte, Marx, and Durkheim
A New Beginning and Science: 19th Century Sociology
The 19th century, one of the most violent in European history, forced the creation of a new social order due to the French Revolution’s crumbling of the ancien régime. A change occurred in the way people worked. This new social organization polarized around two classes: bourgeoisie and proletariat.
Auguste Comte (1798-1859)
Plan of Planning and Sciences
Comte viewed the modern world as a time of disorder and anarchy. The title of his first work suggests he believed reform was necessary. He was convinced that the social anarchy prevailing at the time was the product of mental anarchy. Comtism was the opposite: an historical idealism. Sociology is superior to other sciences and may begin with social reform.
Three Stages or Law of Human Evolution
Comte stated that society and human conduct were governed by fixed laws:
- Theological-fictitious: Humans attributed phenomena in nature to the will of the gods and tried to dominate them through mystical-magical practices.
- Metaphysical or abstract: Mystical-religious ghosts dissolve, replaced by intellective-abstract entities and philosophical reflection.
- Positive-scientific: Resolves the chaos generated by the previous state. The evolution of the human mind has formed new knowledge: the scientific conduct. This replaces fantasy and abstract conduct through observation and respect for facts.
Religion, Sociology, and Humanity
For Comte, the sociology of science was more important as it encompassed all aspects of conceived human life. He saw his time as a critical period preparing for a new one. He isolated his intellectual life from most institutions, taking refuge in a group of faithful disciples who followed him until the end of his days.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Marx’s philosophy is based on materialism. The starting point is that the essence of man is not thinking or spirit, but matter. Marx insists on the material character of human existence and its relation to the world.
Alienation
According to Marx, in capitalist society, man is alienated. The causes of this state are found in the social conditions of the capitalist system. Not only is the product alienated, but also the producer.
There are two basic limitations Marx considered sufficient to demonstrate that classical political economy is not a genuine social science:
- The formation of an exchange economy is the result of a historical process, and capitalism is a historically specific production system. The first error of political economy is to assume that conditions of production characteristic of capitalism can be attributed to all forms of economy.
- Marx argues that all economic phenomena are also social phenomena, and the existence of a certain type of economy implies a certain type of society.
Historical Materialism
Man is nature (matter). The processing, production, exchange, and consumption of goods that man does to meet material needs is what Marx called social production life. For Marx, materialism has a historical nature. According to this, history is the succession of different modes of production, the actual process of production.
Émile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Durkheim developed a set of rules that sociology should follow to be considered a science:
- Consider social facts as things.
- Explain social facts by other social facts.
- Social facts are imposed on the individual.
Mechanical/Organic Solidarity
- Mechanical: Derived from similarities. Binds strongly to the group.
- Organic: Derived from differentiation, resulting from the division of labor. The individualization of the components of a society is the division of labor.
Anomie and Egoism
In The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim distinguishes three abnormal forms: anomie, inequality, and inadequate organization. He is convinced that pathological study provides useful data to better understand morphology. The main problem Durkheim seeks to solve is to find an explanation for the social dysfunctions characteristic of our contemporary world.
The New Moral
This is not necessarily identified with religion. The first option Durkheim sees as feasible is to recover the state of nature as Rousseau suggested. The second option is to seek new ideals that retain some of that practically forgotten sacred character. It is to discover and propagate those new ideals that configure the new morality. The new secular morality supersedes religion. Such is Durkheim’s confidence in the systematic application of the scientific method to social life, most notably in the areas of suicide and religion.