Famous Sociologist-Auguste Comet
Auguste Comte
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857), better known as Auguste Comte, was a French philosopher. He was a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism. He is sometimes regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term.
Comte’s father, Louis, a government tax official, and his mother, Rosalie (Boyer) Comte, were both monarchists and devout Roman Catholics. While attending the University of Montpellier, Comte abandoned these attitudes in favor of republicanism inspired by the French Revolution, which would influence his later work.
In 1814, he entered École Polytechnique and proved to be a brilliant mathematician and scientist. He left school before graduating and settled in Paris with no viable way to support himself. He earned a meager living teaching mathematics and journalism while deep in the study of economics, history and philosophy.
At 19, Comte met Henri de Saint-Simon, a social theorist interested in utopian reform and an early founder of European socialism. Deeply influenced by Saint-Simon, Comte became his secretary and collaborator. In 1824, the partnership ended over disputed authorship of the pair’s writings, but Saint-Simon’s influence remained throughout Comte’s life.
Free on his own, Comte developed a social doctrine based on scientific principles. In 1826, he began presenting a series of lectures to a group of distinguished French intellectuals. However, about one-third of the way through the lecture series, he suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite periodic hospitalization over the next 15 years, he produced his major work, the six-volume Course of Positive Philosophy. In this work, Comte argued that, like the physical world, society operated under its own set of laws.
Comte’s efforts furthered the study of society and the development of sociology. During this time, he supported himself with a post at École Polytechnique, but
Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte (19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857), better known as Auguste Comte, was a French philosopher. He was a founder of the discipline of sociology and of the doctrine of positivism. He is sometimes regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term.
Comte’s father, Louis, a government tax official, and his mother, Rosalie (Boyer) Comte, were both monarchists and devout Roman Catholics. While attending the University of Montpellier, Comte abandoned these attitudes in favor of republicanism inspired by the French Revolution, which would influence his later work.
In 1814, he entered École Polytechnique and proved to be a brilliant mathematician and scientist. He left school before graduating and settled in Paris with no viable way to support himself. He earned a meager living teaching mathematics and journalism while deep in the study of economics, history and philosophy.
At 19, Comte met Henri de Saint-Simon, a social theorist interested in utopian reform and an early founder of European socialism. Deeply influenced by Saint-Simon, Comte became his secretary and collaborator. In 1824, the partnership ended over disputed authorship of the pair’s writings, but Saint-Simon’s influence remained throughout Comte’s life.
Free on his own, Comte developed a social doctrine based on scientific principles. In 1826, he began presenting a series of lectures to a group of distinguished French intellectuals. However, about one-third of the way through the lecture series, he suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite periodic hospitalization over the next 15 years, he produced his major work, the six-volume Course of Positive Philosophy. In this work, Comte argued that, like the physical world, society operated under its own set of laws.
Comte’s efforts furthered the study of society and the development of sociology. During this time, he supported himself with a post at École Polytechnique, but