Auguste Comte Th e French philosopher
Auguste Comte (1798–1857) coined the term sociology
from the Latin socius (“social, being with
others”) and the Greek logos (“study of ”) to describe
a new science that would engage in the study of
society. Even though he never actually conducted
sociological research, Comte is considered by some
to be the “founder of sociology.” Comte’s theory that
societies contain social statics (forces for social order
and stability) and social dynamics (forces for confl ict
and change) continues to be used, although not in
these exact terms, in contemporary sociology.
Comte stressed that the methods of the natural
sciences should be applied to the objective study of
society. He sought to unlock the secrets of society
so that intellectuals like him could become the new
secular (as contrasted with religious) “high priests”
of society (Nisbet, 1979). For Comte, the best policies
involved order and authority. He envisioned
that a new consensus would emerge on social issues
and that the new science of sociology would play
a signifi cant part in the reorganization of society
(Lenzer, 1998).