Question

1. Describe what Auguste Comte meant by positivism. Additionally, describe Comte's three historical epistemological stages of human society. Use appropriate textual evidence to support your claims.

2. Describe Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism. Describe how Marx's theory contributed to the study of sociology. Use appropriate textual evidence to support your claims.

Answer 1

According to Comte, positivism holds that society, like the physical world, operates according to general laws. The source of knowledge for all phenomena should be information derived from sensory experience, interpreted through reason and logic (Cohel & Maldonado, 2007). Comte also believed that the progress of the human mind had followed an historical sequence which he described as the law of three stages; theological, metaphysical and positive (Maheshwari, 2013):

1. The Theological stage involves explanation of events by personified deities. In this stage, people believe that all the phenomena of nature are the creation of the divine or supernatural.
2. The Metaphysical stage is the extension of the theological stage. Although it discards attributing events to a concrete God, it refers to explanation by impersonal abstract concepts.
3. The Positivite stage involves scientific explanation based on observation, experiment, and comparison. Positive explanations rely upon the scientific method for their justification of phenomena.

References:

Cohen, L. and Maldonado, A. (2007). "Research Methods In Education". British Journal of Educational Studies. Routledge. 55 (4): 9. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8527.2007.00388_4.x

Maheshwari, V.K. (2013). "Auguste Comte's "Law of the Three Stages"". Retrieved from: http://www.vkmaheshwari.com/WP/?p=694

Please post the other questions separately as we are supposed to answer just one question or four sub parts of a question.