Founders of Sociology
Auguste Comte
Auguste Comte, the nineteenth-century French author (1798-1857), was the person who coined the term sociology, although it is not the only source of sociological thought. Comte spoke of “social physics” to refer to the new field of study but his intellectual rivals also used this term. Therefore, he wanted to distinguish his approach from that of others, so he coined the term sociology to describe the discipline that sought to create.
Comte believed that this new area could produce a knowledge society based on scientific data and felt that sociology was the last science was created, and that was the most significant and comprehensive of all. For him, sociology was to contribute to the welfare of mankind by using science to understand and therefore predict and control human behavior.
Émile Durkheim
The author Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) has had a more lasting influence in modern sociology than Auguste Comte. According to Durkheim, to be scientific sociology was studying social facts, i.e., aspects of social life—like the state of the economy or the influence of religion—that shape our individual actions. He thought we should study social life with the same objectivity that scientists involved in nature.
As it expands the division of labor, people become more dependent on others because each needed goods and services we provide to perform other occupations. According to Durkheim, the processes of change in the modern world are so rapid and intense, creating major social disturbances, which he linked to anomie, a sense of aimlessness and despair produced by modern social life.
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), a contemporary of Durkheim, embodied ideas that attempt to explain the social changes that were occurring during the Industrial Revolution, like the other classic thinkers of his time. A great deal of his work focuses on economic issues, but considering that he always tried to connect economic problems with social institutions, his work is full of interesting sociological observations.
Marx’s theoretical perspective is based on what he called the materialist conception of history. According to this approach: the main causes of change are not the ideas or values of human beings. Instead, social change is primarily induced by economic influences. The conflict between classes, rich versus poor, is the engine of historical development.
Marx focused on the change in the modern era. For him, the most important transformations of this period are linked to the development of capitalism, a production system that contrasts sharply with the previous economic orders of history, since it involves the production of goods and services to sell to a wide range of consumers. Those with the capital—factories, machinery and big money—form a ruling class. The rest of the population constitutes a class of employee or working class, which has no means for their own survival and that, therefore, must seek jobs that provide those with the capital. Consequently, capitalism is a class system in which the conflict between them is constant.
For Marx, capitalism will be replaced in the future by a classless society with no major divisions between rich and poor. The economic system will become common property and establish a more egalitarian society than the current one. Marx’s work has had far-reaching influence on the twentieth-century world. Until the recent collapse of Soviet communism, more than a third of the earth’s population lived in societies whose governments are considered heirs of their ideas.
Max Weber
Max Weber (1864-1920), contemporary and compatriot of Marx, was influenced by the works of his contemporary, but was critical of some of its main ideas. He rejected the materialistic conception of history and believed that class conflicts were less relevant than Marx supposed. For Weber economic factors are important, but the impact of ideas and values about social change is equally significant. Weber concluded that certain aspects of Christian doctrine had been instrumental in the emergence of capitalism. Contrary to Marx, this view did not arise only from the economic transformations but, for Weber, ideas and cultural values help to set up a society and shape our individual actions.
According to Weber, capitalism—a characteristic way of organizing economic activity—is just one of many important factors that constitute social development. The impact of science and bureaucracy are factors that underlie capitalism and, in some ways are more important than capitalism itself. Science has shaped modern technology and will continue in the future, while bureaucracy is the only way to effectively organize large groups of people and therefore inevitably continue to expand economic and political development.