Transcript Comte Saint-Simon (1760

Ideology, History, & Classical
Social Theory
►
What is a theorist?
►
Observes
►Seeks
order
Why are theories created?
 Need

Impose order

Prediction & control
Theories Vary & Change
 Same
experiences can be
theorized in different ways
 Examples:
Greek understanding of
human body & personality
 Earth as center of universe
 Other examples?
The Universe
During the first few centuries B.C.
 Greeks described the first realistic
model of the universe:

Earth in the center (sphere)
 Concentric spheres with the sun,
moon, Mars, and Venus
 On the outer sphere, were the stars

Earth at the Center
What is a Social Theory?
Definition: A body of organized, verifiable
ideas developed to explain various aspects
of society & social behavior.
 Explains how & why specific facts are
related
 Creates order
 Make sense of the world & our place in the
world.

The Development of Social Theory
 Historical
 French
Context
Revolution (1789) to WWI 1919
 Dramatic Changes
 Economic
 Social
 Political
The Development of Social Theory
 Change
 How
in Ideas
people saw & made sense of the
world
 Change after decades of little change
 Cause of social change
 Importance of religion
Ways of thinking about Change
 God’s
will
 Linear
(progress)
 Cyclical
Linear Change
Cyclical Change
Thrive
Rise
Decline
8/28 Social theory to deal with:
 Change
after stability
 Widespread change
 Uncertainty about the future

Examples:
 Class conflict
 Loneliness in cities
 Social disorganization
Enlightenment 17th & 18th c.
 Reason
can create a better
world by eliminating:
 Ignorance
 Superstition
 Tyranny
The Enlightenment
 Principal
 Religion
targets:
(Catholic Church)
 Hereditary
aristocracy
The Enlightenment
 Ways
of knowing
Ideology
Reason
Science
Ideology
 Justifies
existing social arrangements
 Value-laden
 Examples:
 “Divine
 Racism
 Sexism
right of kings”
Reason
 All
knowledge discovered through
rational processes
 Universe operates on “laws”
 Humans have:
Free will
Intelligence
Control destiny & environment
Science
 Scientific
methods
 Guidelines for gathering &
interpreting information
 Value
free
Saint-Simon (1760-1825)
Social Environment
French social philosopher
 American Revolution



Served on side of colonists
French Revolution

Made a fortune in land speculation
Increasing industrialization
 The Enlightenment

Ideas
 Promoted
 Nature
study of nature
& society governed by laws
 Reorganization
 Organized
of society
by wise men
 Based on scientific division of labor
 Spontaneous social harmony
Ideas
 State’s
3 responsibilities
1.Public works
2.Free education
3.Uplifting recreation
Ideas
 “Industrial
army”
 Construction
of roads, bridges,
canals, planting forests
 Organism as metaphor for society
 Science-> replace religion
“Saint-Simonianism”
After Saint-Simon’s death
 Small group of follower’s organized
calling for:

Abolition of inheritance rights
 Public control of means of production
 Gradual emancipation of women


Became a moral-religious cult
 Sociologists as high priests*
August Comte (1798-1857)
Social Environment
Social Upheaval
 Series of governments:

Democratic
 Oligarchy of middle-class elites
 Dictatorship of Napoleon (1799-1814)
 Return to Bourbon monarchy


His parents liked the monarchy
Economic problems
 Religious turmoil

Goals for Sociology
 Create
order
 Unified
spiritual order
 Social & political stability to France
View of society=Organic
 Society’s basic unit is the family

Not

the individual
Family is emotional & moral union
Goals for Sociology

Social & political problems improved
by science


Natural laws


Diagnosed & cured like human diseases
Explain stability & change
Sociology
Replace Roman Catholic Church as source
 Truth, Understanding, and Order *

Herbert Spencer
29
Herbert Spencer
 Religious
/ political / philosophical
background
 Laissez-faire
economics
30
Herbert Spencer
His book Social Statics:

Human happiness
 Achieved only when individuals
 Can satisfy their needs and desires
 Without infringing on the rights of
others
 To do the same.
31
Herbert Spencer
 “Society
is akin to a special
organism obeying its own laws of
progress.”
 The
natural order of all societies is
one of hierarchy.
32
Herbert Spencer
Almost a decade before Darwin
published On the Origin of
Species,
Spencer coined the phrase “survival
of the fittest.” *
33