ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY

Sociology emerged as a separate discipline in the mid 1800s in western Europe, during the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Industrialization affected all aspects of human existence – where people lived, the nature of thier work, how they viewed life, and their interpersonal relationships. Early sociologists who focused on these social changes include Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Harriet Martineau, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

The Birth of Sociology Auguste Comte ( )

The term sociology was coined by French philosopher Auguste Comte in 1838, who for this reason is known as the “Father of Sociology.” Comte felt that science could be used to study the social world. Just as there are testable facts regarding gravity and other natural laws, Comte thought that scientific analyses could also discover the laws governing our social lives. It was in this context that Comte introduced the concept of positivism to sociology—a way to understand the social world based on scientific facts. He believed that, with this new understanding, people could build a better future. He envisioned a process of social change in which sociologists played crucial roles in guiding society.

Herbert Spencer He grew up in England, and is sometimes called the second founder of sociology. Spencer disagreed with what Comte believed. He believed that societies evolve from lower (barbarian) to higher (civilized) forms, and that the most capable and intelligent members of a society survive, while the less capable die out. Spencer had the idea that charity and helping poor people were wrong and they offended many specially the fittest.

Herbert Spencer ( )

Karl Marx & Class Conflict » Karl Marx not only influenced sociology but also left his mark on world history. He was called one of the three greatest modern thinkers. Marx was exiled from Germany for proposing revolution. »Marx thought that people should try to change society, but he also believed that the engine of human history is class conflict. He said that the bourgeoisie are locked in a conflict with the proletariat.

Emile Durkheim and Social Integration The prime proffesional goal of Emile was to get sociology recognized as a separate academic discipline, because up to 1977 it had been viewed as part of history and economics. His other goal was to show how social forces affect people´s behavior. Emile believed that social factors underlie suicide, and this is what keeps a group´s rate fairly constant year after year. Durkheim identified that protestants, males, and the unmarried are more likely to commit suicide.

“ Human behavior cannot be understood only in individualistic terms; we must always examine the social forces that affect people´s lives.” Emile Durkheim

Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic Weber believed that religion was the central force of social change. He theorized that the Roman Catholic belief system encouraged followers to hold on to traditional ways of life, while the Protestant belief system encouraged its members to embrace change.

Important terms: Class conflict: struggle between capitalists and workers. Bourgeoisie: those who own the mean of production Proletariat: the mass of workers who do not own the means of production. Social integration: the degree to which members of a group or a society feel united by shared values and other social bonds.

Values: the standards by which people define what is desirable or undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly.