Sociology, asked by shivam1214, 1 year ago

The four dimensions of sociology according to auguste comte

Answers

Answered by DIVINEREALM
36

Hi dear user@Shivam1214

He advocated four methods in the new science of social physics:

(1) observation, (2) experimentation, (3) comparison, and (4) historical

analysis.

1.Observation

For Comte, positivism was based on use of the senses to observe

social facts —a term that the next great French theorist, Émile

Durkheim, made the center of his sociology. Much of Comte’s

discussion of observation involves arguments for the “subordination

of Observation to the statical and dynamical laws of phenomena”

13 rather than a statement on the procedures by which unbiased

observations should be conducted. He argued that observation of

empirical facts, when unguided by theory, will prove useless in the

development of science. He must be given credit, however, for firmly

establishing sociology as a science of social facts, thereby liberating

thought from the debilitating realm of morals and metaphysical

speculation.

2.Experimentation

Comte recognized that artificial experimentation with whole

societies, and other social phenomena, was impractical and often

impossible. But, he noted, natural experimentation frequently

“takes place whenever the regular course of the phenomenon is

interfered with in any determinate manner.” 14 In particular, he

thought that, much as is the case in biology, pathological events

allowed “the true equivalent of pure experimentation” in that they

introduced an artificial condition and allowed investigators to see

normal processes reassert themselves in the face of the pathological

condition. Much as the biologist can learn about normal bodily

functioning from the study of disease, so also social physicists

can learn about the normal processes of society from the study

of pathological cases. Thus, although Comte’s view of “natural

experimentation” was certainly deficient in the logic of the experimental

method, it nonetheless fascinated subsequent generations

of scholars.

3. Comparison

Just as comparative analysis had been useful in biology, comparison

of social forms with those of lower animals, with coexisting

states, and with past systems could also generate considerable insight

into the operation of the social universe. By comparing elements that

are present and absent, and similar or dissimilar, knowledge about

the fundamental properties of the social world can be achieved.

4.Historical Analysis

Comte originally classified historical analysis as a variation of the

comparative method (i.e., comparing the present with the past).

But his “law of the three stages” emphasized that the laws of social

dynamics could ultimately be developed only with careful observations

of the historical movement of societies.

In sum, then, Comte saw these four basic methods as appropriate to

sociological analysis. His formulation of the methods is quite deficient

by modern standards, but we should recognize that before Comte,

little attention had been paid to how social facts were to be collected.

Thus, although the specifics of Comte’s methodological proposals are

not always useful, their spirit and intent are important. Social physics

was, in his vision, to be a theoretical science capable of formulating

and testing the laws of social organization and change. His formulation

of sociology’s methods added increased credibility to this claim.

Hope this helps u.

pls note: IF U R NOT SATISFIED BY THIS ANS FEEL FREE TO REPORT IT PLS SO THAT THIS ANS WILL BE DELETED BY SOME MODERATORS.

TYSM.

Similar questions