Main REPRESENTATIVES of sociological POSITIVISM

Do you know what the sociological positivism? Well, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR, we will talk to you about the main representatives of this philosophical, sociological and policy that bets on the scientific method as a means of knowledge in day-to-day events, against the abstractions of the metaphysics. Positivism was born from the hand of A. Comte, French philosopher of the nineteenth century, stating that the only true knowledge is scientific.

This current is above all materialistic, as opposed to the spiritualism of metaphysics. Through the scientific method, it is possible to get to know, not only the physical world, but it can also be applied to society and specifically to ethics. The main representatives of sociological positivism They are Saint-Simon, by Auguste Comte and John Stuart Milly Francis Bacon (16th-17th century) is considered a precursor of this current. If you want to know more, continue reading this article. Start the class!

Henri from Saint simon (1760 - 1825) is one of the main representatives of the

positivism sociological. He was a French philosopher and one of the most prominent thinkers of the 19th century, he was greatly influenced by the enlightenment philosophy, pretended, with his theories about the equality and natural rights, rebuild society. The new society that Saint-Simon proposes would be run by a scientific and spiritual elite and an industrial or temporal elite.

“We say clearly what will be, ultimately, the political destiny of the industrialists? The industrialists will be constituted in the first class of the society; The most important of the industrialists will be in charge, free of charge, of directing the administration of the public wealth: they will be the ones who make the law and who will mark the rank that the other classes will occupy among they; they will give each one of them an importance proportional to the services that each one does to the industry. Such will inevitably be the final result of the present revolution; and when this result is made, tranquility will be completely assured, public prosperity will advance with all the quickly as possible, and society will enjoy every individual and collective happiness at which human nature can Aspire".

This thinker will defend the existence of 3 states in the history of humanity:

• 1st stage: slavery and polytheism
• 2nd stage: feudalism and theism
• 3rd stage: industrialism and positivism

Most important works of Sant-Simon

The most important works of Saint-Simon are the following:

• On property and legislation (1814).
• Industry (1816-1818).
• The Catechism of Industrialists (1823-1824)
• The New Christianity (1825).

But if we talk about the main representatives of sociological positivism, we must mention Augusto Comte, a French philosopher and sociologist, set out to reform society by giving it an organization based on the science and positive philosophy.

This French philosopher is considered the father of sociological positivism And like Saint-Simon, he criticized the revolution for its consequences, betting on the education of all social classes to guarantee progress. Progress and order are inseparable for Comte.

Comte formulates his popular 3 state law, to explain the different phases through which the history of mankind has passed:

Law 1: Theoretical or Theological State

In this first stage the human being finds that the cause of the phenomena is due to supernatural forces. His political power is based on divine law and society is theocratic. An example we have in Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages

Law 2: Metaphysical State

In a second stage it is considered that the cause of the phenomena is not due to a divine and supernatural force, but to an abstract force, and political power, which was based on rational principles, emanates from the will popular. Examples of this state: from the Protestant Reformation to the French Revolution.

Law 3: Positive status

This last stage is the positive stage, the one that defeats any type of metaphysical explanation, since they tend to be confusing. The phenomena and the relationships between them are explained from the scientific method: observation, experimentation, comparison, prediction. In addition, it is only possible to know those things that come to us through the senses, science does not understand essences. All knowledge that cannot be scientifically proven remains outside the realm of knowledge.

“Thus, the true positive spirit consists, first of all, in seeing in order to foresee, in studying what is, in order to conclude from it what will be, according to the general dogma of the invariability of the laws natural”.

Stuart mill(1806-1873), departs from the characteristic dogmatism of English positivism, and its mathematical method of knowledge, to bet on the empiricist model typical of modernity. Thus, the philosopher tries to make the ethics and morals, a science, thanks to which, could change society, and that all human beings were happy.

His most important works are: Principles of Political Economy (1848) and On Freedom and Religion(1859).

“There is no better proof of the progress of civilization than the progress of the power of cooperation.”

And we finish this lesson on the main representatives of sociological positivism to talk about Francis Bacon. Philosopher, politician, lawyer, writer, and father of philosophical and scientific empiricism, which he develops in his best-known work, On the dignity and progress of science, a whole theory of knowledge.Novum organum establishes the rules of the experimental scientific method which makes him one of the founders of modern scientific thought.

In Book I of Aphorisms, this criticism is collected in reference to Aristotle:

“The logic in use is more appropriate to preserve and perpetuate the errors that occur in vulgar notions than to discover the truth: so it is more harmful than useful ”.