Key figures in Sociology Auguste Comte Inspired to

Key figures in Sociology

Auguste Comte • Inspired to study what he would call Sociology by events surrounding the French Revolution (1789). • Observed the rise and fall of Napolean. • Wanted to use the discipline of Sociology for the common good.

Comte: Order and Change • Believed Sociology should concern itself with two basic problems: Order and Change Order- What forces bring order to a Society Change- What forces bring change?

Harriet Martineau Early sociologist who promoted active involvement in solutions to social issues, differing from other sociologists. She believed scholars and intellectuals should advocate change.

Herbert Spencer After studying the nature of social change and trying to figure out who will become rich and who will become poor, Spencer felt that Darwin’s theory of natural selection applied. He believed society would be “survival of the fittest” and that the individual’s least suited to their environments are weak and will die out. (Social Darwinism)

Karl Marx • Developed the idea of Communist Marxism. • Wrote the Communist Manifesto • Felt in capitalism the workers suffered and forces businesses to pay workers as little as possible. • Advocated that capitalism will die out and inequalities among all members of society would be removed.

Max Weber • Focused interest on the interactions of society and the individual. • Developed the concept of Ideal Type which is a model that can be used to measure reality.