SOC 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1.7: John Stuart Mill, Religion Of Humanity
Document Summary
Generally, this sort of individualism was seen to be at the root of social chaos. He argued that his contemporaries people in this newly modern society were suffering from intellectual anarchy because they no longer shared any beliefs about the way things ought to be. Comte suggested that the history of people"s understanding of things (including the social world) followed what he called the law of three stages. In the first stage, which comte called the theological stage, religious leaders were the major sources of knowledge and intellectual authority. In the second stage, which comte called the metaphysical, people turned to philosophers for guidance. In the final stage, which comte called the positive or scientific, knowledge would be based on scientific principles. Comte believed that social chaos would be overcome when people accepted that it was time to move on to the third stage of knowledge. Then, through the science of sociology especially, social harmony would be restored.
