Bibliographical Notes #1
Sociology 2KK3
Dr. Sarath Chandrasekere
Mateusz (Matthew) Mroz
400034524
May 7th, 2018
Introduction
Auguste Comte was a prominent French philosopher during the 1800s and greatly advanced the field of Social Science, giving it the popular name of “Sociology”.
What is Auguste Comte’s family/cultural background?
August Comte was born in Montepellier, a city in southern France on January 20th, 1798 (Bourdeau, 2015). Comte’s father Louis, was a government tax official and his mother Rosalie Comte, were both monarchists and devout Roman Catholics. Comte was married to Caroline Massin for several months. In 1814, he began his studies at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and proved his intellectual capabilities becoming ranked the fourth on the admissions list (Bourdeau, 2015). Exactly two years later, the bourbons closed the institution and students were released. During this time Auguste Comte met Henri de Saint-Simon who made Comte his secretary. Saint-Simon was a social theorist interested in Utopian reform and early founder of European socialism, which greatly influenced him. With the influence of Saint-Simon, he began into politics and was able to publish many articles, which at the time placed him in the view of the public eye. In April 1824, during the fall out between himself and Saint-Simon between authorship between the writing of each other (Bourdeau, 2015). Shortly after the writing of “Course of Positive Philosophy”, he was interrupted because of a ‘cerebral crisis’ due to overwork and depression in marriage (Bourdeau, 2015). Comte was hospitalized and classified as “not cured”, but thanks to the devotion and patience of his wife, Comte recovered gradually (Bourdeau, 2015).
During what period of the world history that he was living and functional?
Comte was born in the dawn of the French Revolution and as modern science and technology started to give way of the industrial revolution where the emergence of sociology and social science began. During the French Revolution, France’s class system changed dramatically. Aristocrats suddenly lost their money and status while peasants that were at the bottom rose to more powerful positions. Leading into this came the Industrial Revolution where people abandoned agricultural life and moved to cities to find factory jobs. Comte looked towards social science as ...
