The Development of

Sociology
1. Early Thinker (19th Century)
2. Modern Developments (20th
Century)
3. Feminist View
1. Early Thinker (19th Century)

1. August Comte (1798 1857)

French Revolution
theoretical science of society and systematic investigation of
behavior were needed to improve society
Positivism is a philosophical theory stating that positive
knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties
and relations. So, information derived from sensory experience,
interpreted through reason and logic, forms the exclusive
source of all authoritative knowledge.
Verified data (positive facts) received from the senses are
known as empirical evidence; so positivism is based on
empiricism.
 August Comte (1798 1857)
Cont . . .

Comte argued that, much as the physical world operates

according to gravity and other absolute laws, so does society,
and further developed positivism into a Religion of Humanity.
Comte, through his "Law of Three Stages" clearly established
the close association between intellectual evolution and
social progress.
Comte divided the study of sociology into two broad areas:
"social statics" and "social dynamics". Present day
sociologists have retained them in the form of 'social
structure and function' and 'social change and progress'.
Comte's famous books (i) 'Positive Philosophy' and, (ii)
"Positive Polity" are a memorable contributions to the
development of sociological literature.
 1. Early Thinker (19th
Century)

2. Harriet Martineau (1802 1876)

She was 1st feminist sociologist
She was inspired by Comte and Translated his work
in English
Examined religion, politics, child rearing and
immigration in her book Society in America (1837)
Spoke out for the rights of women, liberation of
slaves and religious tolerance (class distinction such
as race and class)
1. Early Thinker (19th Century)
Continue . . .

3. Herbert Spencer (1802 1902)

Applied the concept of Darwin (Origin of Species)
to Societies
His approach was popular in his own time
4. Emile Durkheim (1858 1917)
Pioneer contribution to discipline & work on suicide
Worked on religion and group solidarity
 1. Early Thinker (19th Century)
Continue . . .

5. Max Weber (1864 1920)

Studied the social hierarchy
Ideal Type and Characteristics of Bureaucracy
Weber was a key proponent of methodological antipositivism,
arguing for the study of social action through interpretive (rather
than purely empiricist) means, based on understanding the
purpose and meaning that individuals attach to their own
actions.
Weber's main intellectual concern was understanding the
processes of rationalization, that he associated with the rise of
capitalism and modernity, and which he saw as the result of a
new way of thinking about the world.
 Weber three-component
theory of stratification

Class is a person's economic position, based

on birth and individual achievement.
Status is one's social prestige or honor,
which may or may not be influenced by
class.
Power is one's ability to get one's way
despite the resistance of others.
 Weber Theory of Social Action

Social action theory began with the work of Max Weber where he defines
action that is social. Actions to which the 'acting individual attaches a
subjective meaning to his behavior be it overt or covert.
1. Rational action: individuals have expectations about the behaviour of
others and act to take account of these expectations in order to attain
their own rationally chosen outcomes.
2. Evaluative action: individuals take account of absolute values (beliefs,
ethics, aesthetics or other form of behaviour) entirely for their own sake
and independently of any prospects of external benefit or success.
3. Emotional actions: action based on feelings and emotions of the
individual and other actors.
4. Traditional actions: actions that are based on long-established and
habitually practiced traditional expectations.
 Max Weber Theory of Power and
Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and rational way in which one can
organize human activity, and that systematic processes and organized
hierarchies were necessary to maintain order, maximize efficiency and eliminate
favoritism.
Three Types of Authorities
1. Traditional authority is legitimated by the sanctity of tradition. The ability
and right to rule is passed down, often through heredity. It does not change
overtime, does not facilitate social change
2. Charismatic authority is found in a leader whose mission and vision inspire
others. It is based upon the perceived extraordinary characteristics of an
individual.
3. Legal-rational authority is empowered by a formalistic belief in the content
of the law (legal) or natural law (rationality). Obedience is not given to a specific
individual leader - whether traditional or charismatic - but a set of uniform
principles.
 Max Weber Theory of Power and
Bureaucracy

Weber listed several preconditions for the emergence of

bureaucracy: the growth in size of the population being
administered, the growth in complexity of the administrative
tasks being carried out, and the existence of a monetary
economy requiring a more efficient administrative system.
Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in
which legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order and the
laws enacted within it. This is contrasted with traditional
forms of authority, which arose from phenomena like kinship.
Rationalization describes a transition in society, wherein
traditional motivators of behavior, like values, beliefs, and
emotions, are replaced with rational calculations.
 1. Early Thinker (19th
Century)

6. Karl Marx (1818 1883)

Analysis of Society and division of classes
that have clash
 2. Modern Developments
(20th Century)

1. Charles Horton Cooley (1864 1929)

He extended the idea of Durkheim, Weber and
Marx to learn more about the societies
Preferred to use the sociological perspective to
look at smaller units i.e. face to face groups,
families, gangs and etc.,
2. Jane Addams (1860 1935)
Worked on Social Service Work and political
activism
Worked on social reforms and social change
 2. Modern Developments
(20th Century)

3. Robert Merton (1910 2003)

Theory of Deviant Behavior
Different ways to achieve success negative or
positive
 3. Feminist View

Wave emerged in 1970

Call for the consideration of females in the
development of the societies
 Conflict Perspective

Social Behavior is best understood in terms

of conflict between competing groups
 Major Theories

1. Evolutionism
2. Historical Particularism
3. Functionalism
4. Structure Functionalism
5. Diffusionism
6. Marx Capatilism
7. Emile Durkheim Suicide
 1. Evolutionism

1. August Comte (1798 1857) (Social Physics) Three Stages

1. Theological (Fictitious) Stage (Super Natural)
People in the theological stage explained all natural events as the work of supernatural
powers
2. Metaphysical Stage (Abstract) (Belief in Center Power)
In this stage, the scientific and religious worldview co-exist in order to
make sense of the world
2. Positive (Scientific) Stage
The positive stage is a stage of purely scientific stage
1. Fetishism (Spirit/Soul Supernatural powers)
Spirits are embodied in nature
2. Polytheism (Magic & More than one god)
Different gods to control different phenomenon
2. Monotheism (one god)
 1. Evolutionism

2. Herbert Spencer (1802 1902) Three Stages

Charles Darwin five points of natural selection
1. Members of a population have a heritable variation
2. In a population, more individuals are produced by each
generation that can survive to produce
3. Some individuals have adaptive characteristics that enable
them to survive and reproduce better then other individuals
4. An increasing proportion of individuals in succeeding
generations have the adaptive characteristics, due to the
genetic inheritance of traits
5. Result of natural selection is a population is adapted to it
 Evolutionism Herbert
Spencer

Spencer (Social Evolution)

Three Stages
1. Savagery (Division of Labor)
acquire specialized capabilities - include equipment
or natural resources
2. Barbarianism (Political Organization)
The concept of hierarchy to lead a small society
3. Civilization (Law and Order)
 The Organic Analysis

1. Both society and organism grow during

most of their existence; baby to adult,
town to city.
2. As they grow, they become increasingly
complex.
3. The progressive differentiation of structure
is also accompanied by progressive
differentiation of function.
 Differences in Society and
Organism

1. The parts of an organism form a concrete

whole, whereas different areas of society
are free and relatively dispersed.
2. Parts of the organism invariably exist to
benefit the whole (tautological), whereas
in society, the whole exists merely for the
benefit of the individual.
 The Nature of Social
Evolution

Societies move from simple structures to

various levels of compound structures.
Simple: consists of separate families.
Compound: consists of families organized
into clans.
Doubly Compound: Clans are organized
into tribes.
Trebly Compound: Tribes are further
organized into nations.
 Thus

An increase in size of the society results in

increase in structure, which in return
produces differences in power and roles of
the members. Different members or
groups of members also start to play
different, specialized roles.
 Evolution of Conflict

BETWEEN GROUPS, CLASSES, AND

SOCIETIES THERE IS AN EQUILIBRATION OF
ENERGY;
THIS TAKES THE FORM OF STRUGGLE FOR
EXISTENCE;
AND CONFLICT BECOMES A HABITUAL
ACTIVITY
 The Nature of Conflict and
Militarism

CONFLICT GIVES RISE TO TWO FEARS:

1. A. FEAR OF THE LIVING - LEADING TO
POLITICAL CONTROL
2. B. FEAR OF THE DEAD - LEADING TO
RELIGIOUS CONTROL
AS A RESULT OF THESE CONTROLS,
CONFLICT BECOMES MILITARISM
 Final Ideas

Spencer claimed that knowledge was of two

kinds:
(1) knowledge gained by the individual, and
(2) knowledge gained by the race. He said that
intuition, or knowledge learned unconsciously,
was the inherited knowledge or experience of
the race.
He also believed that there is a basic and final
reality beyond our knowledge, which he called
the Unknowable.
 1. Evolutionism

3. Lewis Henry Morgan

Seven stages of social evolution
1. Lower Savagery (fruits & nuts, speech)
2. Middle savagery (Fire/Fish for Subsistence)
3. Upper savagery (Invention of Bow and Arrow)
4. Lower Barbarianism (Pottery)
 1. Evolutionism
Morgan Continue . . .

5. Middle Barbarianism (Domestication of Plants

and Animals)
6. Upper Barbarianism (use of iron)
7. Civilization (phonetic alphabet/Script)
 1. Evolutionism
4. Edward B. Tylor

Evolution of Religion Social Evolution

EXT=C
1. Animism (Totamism)
E = Consumption of
2. Polytheism
energy
3. Monotheism
T = Use of Technology
C = Status of Culture
 Criticism and Discussion

The criticism on evolutionism school of thought

Which theory of evolution is more appropriate to

you?