Do you agree with the statement that an individual’s personality is influenced by his / her environment? Auguste Comte’s intellectual life provides a concrete example. He was born in Montepllir, France on January 9, 1798. Since 1814, Comte studied exact sciences at a polytechnic in Paris. In order to study at a polytechnic and to gain a strong encyclopedia background, he studied biology and history.
Comte’s contact with social problems began when he worked as secretary to the French aristocrat, Henri de Saint Simon. This happened because the aristocrat was very concerned about social problems arising from the industry that was developing at that time. Comte’s thinking on social issues was influenced by Henri de Saint Simon.
However, that does not mean that Comte has left the exact science studies he has been doing. Instead, he tries to understand social problems by using the positivism approach commonly used in exact science. Comte introduced the term sociology in his book entitled Course de Philosophy Positive , so that he was nicknamed The Father of Sociology .
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Comte’s thought in the form of Law of Human Progress states that the evolution of society will be accompanied by progress that embodies intellectual development. In the book Course de Philosophy Positive which consists of six volumes, Comte describes three stages of the development of the human mind.
■ First, the theological stage , in which human knowledge is based on the belief in a supernatural authority who regulates and drives natural phenomena.
■ Second, the metaphysical stage , in which human knowledge is based on abstract concepts and principles which take the place of supernatural powers. Metaphysics is the peak knowledge of the metaphysical stage.
■ Third, the positive stage , namely human knowledge based on facts. Using observations and ratios, humans can determine the relationship or sequence between facts and facts. Positive knowledge is the highest knowledge of truth that humans can attain.
According to Comte, human rationality is the key to uncovering all the secrets of life. But at the end of his life, Comte attempted to build a new religion on the basis of his positivist philosophy with a motto: love as principle, order as basis, progress as goal. Comte wrote down the idea of a new religion in his book Politique Positive ou Traite de Sociologie , Instituant la Religion de l ‘ Humanite . Auguste Comte died on September 5, 1857.
