Early Sociologists and

their Sociological Contributions

Auguste Comte
(January 19, 1798 September 5, 1857)

Isidore Auguste Marie Francoise Xavier Comte

Father of Sociology
Coined the term sociology
Saw sociology as the product of a three-stage
historical development.
(1) theological stage (beginning of human
history to the end of the European Middle
Ages) people took a religious view of
society and saw it as an expression of
gods will.
(2) Metaphysical stage (Renaissance)
people understood society as a natural
rather than supernatural phenomenon.
(3) Scientific stage of history applied the
scientific approach to the study of society.

Harriet Martineau
(1802 1876)

Translated the works of Auguste Comte from

French into English. Revealed the evils of slavery,
rights of women, emancipation of slaves and
religious tolerance. In her view, scholars and
intellectuals should not simply offer observations
of social conditions; they should act upon their
convictions in a manner that will benefit society.

Karl Marx
(May 5, 1818 1883)

Herbert Spencer
(1820 1903)

Considered as the second founder of sociology

because of his publication of the first sociology
textbook in 1855 entitled, Social Statics.
Compared society to the human body. The parts of
the human body function interdependently to help
the entire organism to survive, social structures
(any stable pattern of behavior) work together to
preserve society.
Followed the work of Charles Darwins theory of
biological evolution which holds that species
change physically over many generations as it
adapts to its natural environment. He proposed
that society is a jungle with the fittest people
rising to the top and the weak gradually sinking
into miserable poverty.

Sees society as a god. Society exists beyond

ourselves. Because it is larger than us it has the
power to guide our thoughts and action. People
create society but once created, it takes a life of its
own.

Philosopher, economist and political activist born

in Tier, Prussia.
Economic Determinism assumed that the most
basic task of any human society is providing food
and shelter to sustain itself. Thus, family structure,
law, and religion all develop after adapting to the
given economic structure.
Social conflict struggle between segments of
society over valued resources. The most
significant form of social conflict is class conflict
arising from the way a society produces material
goods.

Max Weber
(April 24, 1864 June 14, 1920)

David Emile Durkheim

(April 15, 1858 1917)

Published a study on suicide (1897) which

demonstrates the great influence upon individual
behavior of varying forms and degrees of social
integration. He classified suicide as follows:
(1) Altruistic suicide a person feels a deep
sense of moral obligation an is willing to
place the groups welfare above his/her
own survival (spy who gets caught).
(2) Egoistic suicide occurs when the
individual feels little connection to the
larger society and is not affected by social
constraints
against
self-destructive
behavior.
(3) Anomic suicide occurs in a time of great
social disorder or turmoil. Anomie refers to
a loss of direction that is felt in a society
when social control of individual behavior
has become ineffective (normlessness).
(4) Fatalistic suicide related to the
powerlessness that people feel when their
lives are regulated to an intolerable extent
(prisoners).

Emphasized how human ideas shape society.

Ideasespecially beliefs and valuesare the key
to understanding society. He saw modern society
not just as a product of new technology and
capitalism, but of a new way of thinking.
Rationalization of society the historical change
from tradition to rationality as the dominant mode
of human thought; members of pre-industrial
societies are traditional whereas people in
industrial-capitalist societies are rational.