INST 2500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Auguste Comte, Antipositivism, Social Fact
8 May 2019
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Document Summary
Body of knowledge about social order, social change, and social disorder. Broad field of inquiry at every level of analysis, from micro to structural interactions. Auguste comte- theories of positivism, father of sociology. Karl marx- theories affect the economic sphere, thinks of society through class struggle. Herbert spencer- survival of the fittest, the strong usually survive (idea from darwin) Positivism: social science can be conducted like natural science. Objectivity is possible- tests conducted to find data. Anti positivism: focus on culture, norms, and ideas from a subjective perspective. Durkheim, what is a social fact? individual, which are invested with a coercive power by virtue of which they exercise control over him. Consists of manners of acting, thinking and feeling external to the. Values, cultural norms, and social structures that transcend the individual. Are gernal over the whole society, but have individual manifestations. Vs psychical facts exists only in the individual.
