Prominent Sociologists PDF

Sociologists and their theories Auguste Comte: He is considered the “ ”. Theories: 1. Positivism: A way of understanding society based on SCIENCE. Society operates in its own laws, much like the physical world· Knowledge is what we ca...

Sociologists and their theories Auguste Comte: He is considered the “ ”. Theories: 1. Positivism: A way of understanding society based on SCIENCE. Society operates in its own laws, much like the physical world· Knowledge is what we can know for sure, or of which we can be "positive“. 2. Social Dynamics/Statics: Study of how society changes and stays the same. Herbert Spencer: Society is like the human body-parts. Just as heart and eyes help body function, social institutions (religion, education, etc.) help society function. Applied Darwin's theory of natural selection to society (SOCIAL DARWINISM). "Survival of the fittest"- The "strongest" members of a society should not help the "weaker“ members· Rich deserve to be rich, poor deserve to be poor-creates a stronger society. Karl Marx: Social Conflict: Struggle between segments of society overvalued resources. Society is constantly in a state of struggle (wars, fights, rivalries, etc.). Class Conflict: Struggle between the "proletariat" (workers selling their labor for wages) and the "bourgeoisie" (owners of the means of production). Believed that the proletariat would eventually rise up and over throw the bourgeoisie. Max Weber: Verstehen: Understand why people do things rather than simply observe what they do-EMPATHY!. "Put yourself in someone else's shoes“ Emile Durkheim: Suicide Theory: How social factors influence suicide rates.