Auguste Comte, sociological figure known as the father of positivism. Comte was born in Montpellier, France in 1798, when the French Revolution period had just ended. Comte’s parents were devout Catholics and loyal to the monarchy. But since adolescence, Comte has rejected the obedience and loyalty of his parents. Auguste Comte began his education at The Ecole Polytechnique, a well-known engineering school in Paris. Auguste Comte is a genius mathematical student. However, his undisciplined behavior got him expelled from school. In 1817, Comte worked as a writer for ‘The Social Reformer’ founded by Henry de Saint-Simon.
In 1830-1842 Auguste Comte’s greatest work entitled ‘ Cours de Philosophie Positive ‘ appeared in 6 volumes. The work contains a synthesis of all knowledge based on scholarship. The positive method is officially claimed to be the scientific method. In the philosophy of positivism, Comte lists the development of science which has achieved the status of scientific knowledge. The first sciences are mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and finally sociology. Comte traces every field of science to its historical side. Sociology is the ultimate scientific science. The method in studying society, according to Comte, can use the methods of natural sciences.
Read also Ferdinand de Saussure Sociology basically studies two things, namely social statistics and social dynamics. Social statistics deals with the foundations of social order and moral values. Meanwhile, social dynamics studies social changes in society. In social dynamics, the main law of sociology, as explained by Comte, takes place at three stages, which are also known as ‘the stage of the history of human thought’. The three-stage law explains that every history of knowledge, social and political structure, undergoes development from the stage of theology, metaphysics, to the positive.
The stage of theology is identical with the relationship between all things connected with the supernatural aspect. In other words, the investigation of everything is connected with God. The metaphysical stage is an abstract stage. Investigation is linked through abstraction. In this case reason and nature take over the role of God. The last stage is positive. Society no longer connects God or nature to explain all phenomena, including social phenomena in this life, but with the scientific method. The first cause of anything can be investigated scientifically with descriptive explanations.
Through the declaration of the positive stage, Auguste Comte has developed the laws of humanities or the science of society. For the birth of the positive method, Auguste Comte earned the title ‘Father of Positivism’. Positive laws also result in the assumption that Comte has created a new religion, namely a new belief to regulate social life. This new religion is known as humanity or humanity. Comte believes that reason cannot satisfy all human needs. Humanity is a non-metaphysical entity that must be placed at the center of all social life activities. Humanity, for Comte can bring human life to happiness. Auguste Comte explicitly introduced ‘altruism’, namely the attitude of prioritizing all actions towards humanitarian goals.
