ANP 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Auguste Comte, Public Sociology, Scientific Method
Document Summary
A perspective on any social situation that takes into account the role of social forces in influencing that situation. How people are influenced by their society, people who share a common culture and a common territory. Sociological imagination grasping the connection between history & biography (experiences) Sociology emerged during the 19th century, and grew out of upheavals created by the industrial and the french revolutions. Scientific method: sociology emerged as a means of applying the scientific method to studying and attempting to solve serious social problems. Positivism: proposed idea of applying the scientific method to the social world. Comte called this new science "sociology": the study of society. Comte believed we must observe society in order to uncover its fundamental laws. Once the laws were discovered, they could be used to control social behavior. His aim for sociology was to reform society and make it a better place to live. Disagreed w/ comte that reform should be the goal.
