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 god’s 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.
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 Darwin’s 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.
David Emile Durkheim
(April 15, 1858 – 1917)
 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.
 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 group’s 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).
Karl Marx
(May 5, 1818 – 1883)
 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)
 Emphasized how human ideas shape society.
Ideas—especially beliefs and values—are 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.
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