FOUNDING FATHERS OF SOCIOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
Several persons by their great contributions to the origin and development of Sociology became its founding fathers. It is noteworthy that each of these great Sociologists contributed by adopting a central theme, phrase or concept which became a focal point at the birth of Sociology. From the adoption of the name ‘Sociology’ through it peculiar imagination to theoretical formulation, forerunners and founding fathers has emerged. This unit examines the renounced founding fathers of Sociology.
Auguste Comte and Positivism
The idea of applying the scientific method to the social world is known as “positivism”, apparently was first proposed by Auguste Comte (1798- 1857). With the French Revolution still fresh in his mind, Comte left the small town in which he had grown up and moved to Paris. The change he experienced, combined with those France underwent in the revolution, led Comte to become interested in what holds society together. What creates social order, he wondered, instead of anarchy or chaos? And then, once society does become set on a particular course, what causes it to change? As he considered these questions, Comte concluded that the right way to answer them was to apply the scientific method to social life. Just as this method had revealed the law of gravity, so too, it would uncover the laws that underlie society. Comte called this new science “sociology” – the study of society. From the Greek “logos” (study of) and the Latin “socius” (comparison or being with others). Comte stressed that this new science (Sociology) not only would discover social principles but also would apply them to social reforms, to making society a better place to live.  To Comte, however, applying the scientific method to social life meant practicing what might be called “armchair philosophy” – drawing conclusions from informal observation of social life.
Since Comte insists that we must observe and classify human activities in order to uncover society’s fundamental laws, and because he developed this idea and coined the term ‘Sociology’, Comte is often credited as being the founder of Sociology.

Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), a native of England, is sometimes called the second founder of sociology. Unlike Comte, Spencer stood firmly against social reform. In fact, he was convinced that no one should intervene in the evolution of society. Spencer was convinced that societies evolve from lower (‘barbarian’) to higher (‘civilized’) forms. As generation pass, he said, the most capable and intelligent (“the fittest”) members of the society survive, while the less capable die out.
Thus overtime, societies steadily improve. Helping the lower classes interfere this natural process is discouraged. The fittest members will produce a more advanced society unless misguided people get in the way and let the less fit survive. Spencer called this principle “the survival of the fittest”. Although Spencer coined this phrase; it usually is attributed to his contemporary, Charles Darwin, who proposed that organisms evolve over time as they adapt to their environment. Because they were so similar to Darwin ideas, Spencer’s view of the evolution of societies became known as “social Darwinism”. Like Comte, Spencer was more of a social philosopher than a sociologist. Also like Comte, Spencer did not conduct scientific studies, but simply developed ideas about society.
Karl Marx and Class Conflict
The influence of Karl Marx (1818-1883) on world history has been so great. Marx, who came to England after being exiled from his native Germany for proposing revolution, believed that the engine of human history is “class conflict”. He said that the bourgeoisie (the controlling class of capitalists, those who own the means to produce wealth – capital, land, factories and machines) are locked in conflict with the proletariat (the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production). This bitter struggle can end only when members of the working class unite in revolution and throw off their chain of bondage. The result will be a classless society, one free of exploitation, in which everyone will work according to their abilities and receive according to their needs.
Marxism is not the same as communism. Although Marx supported revolution as the only way that the workers could gain control of society, he did not develop the political system called communism.


          Emile Durkheim and Social Integration
The primary professional goal of Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), who grew up in France, was to get sociology recognized as a separate academic discipline. Up to this time, sociology was viewed as part of history and economics. Durkheim achieved this goal when he received the first academic appointment in sociology, at the University of Bordeaux in 1887.
            Durkheim had another goal to show how social forces affect people’s behaviour. To accomplish this, he conducted rigorous research. Comparing the suicide rate of several European countries, Durkehim (1897/1966) found that each country’s suicide rate was different and that each remained remarkably stable year after year. He also found that different groups within a country had different suicide rates and that these, too, remained stable from year to year. From this, Durkheim drew the insightful conclusion that suicide is not simply a matter of individuals here and deciding to take their lives for personal reasons. Rather, social factors underlie suicide and this is what keeps those rates fairly constant year after year. Durkheim identified social integration, the degree to which people are tied to their social group, as a key social factor in suicide. He concluded that people with weaker social ties are more likely to commit suicide.
         From Durkheim’s study of suicide, there is the principle that was central in all of his research. Human behaviour cannot be understood simply in individualistic terms; always, we must examine the social forces that affect people’s lives. If we look at human behaviour (such as suicide) only in individualistic terms, we miss its social basis. Like Comte, Durkheim also proposed that sociologists intervene in society. He suggested that new social groups be created. The family and these groups would meet people’s need for a sense of belonging.
Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic
Max Weber (1864-1920), a German sociologist and a contemporary of Durkheim, also held professorship in the new academic discipline of sociology. With Durkheim and Max, Weber is one of the most influential Sociologists. Weber disagreed with Marx’s claim that economics is the central force in social change. According to Weber, that role belongs to religion. Weber (1904) theorized that Roman Catholic belief system encouraged Roman Catholics to hold on to traditional ways of life, while the Protestant belief system encouraged its members to embrace change. Protestantism, he said, undermined people’s spiritual security. Roman Catholics believed that because they were church members, they were on their road to heaven. But Protestants who did not share this belief, turned to outside “signs” that they were in God’s will Financial success became the major sign that God was on their side. Consequently, Protestants began to live frugal lives, saving their money and investing the surplus in order to make even more. This said Weber brought about the birth of capitalism. Weber called this self-denying approach to life the “Protestant ethic”. He termed the readiness to invest capital in order to make more money “the spirit of capitalism”. To test his theory, Weber compared the extent of capitalism in Roman Catholic and Protestant countries. In line with this theory, he found that capitalism was more likely to flourish in Protestant countries.
Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills: Theory Versus Reform
During the 1940s, the emphasis shifted from social reforms to social theory. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979), for example, developed abstract models of society that greatly influenced a generation of sociologists. Parsons’s detailed models of how the parts of society harmoniously work together did nothing to stimulate social activism.
C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) developed the theoretical abstractions of this period and in 1956, he urged sociologists to get back to social reform. He saw the coalescing of interests on the part of a group he called “the power elite” – the top leaders of business, politics, and the military – as an imminent threat to freedom. Shortly after Mills’s death, fueled by the Vietnam War, the United States entered a turbulent era of the 1960s and 1970s. Interest in social activism was sparked, and Mills’s idea became popular among a new generation of sociologists.
The apparent contradiction of these two aims – analyzing society versus working toward its reform – creates a tension in sociology that still is evident today. Some sociologists believe that their proper role is to analyze some aspects of society and publish their findings in sociology journals. Others say this is not enough – sociologists have an obligation to use their expertise to try to make society a better place in which to live.

CONCLUSION
          From its inception, Sociology has developed approaches to the scientific and/or systematic study of the society. It contributions to the understanding of the social forces within the society as contained in the works of the founding fathers cannot be over-emphasized. The development within the discipline of Sociology in contemporary time is a product of the effort of the founding fathers.

SUMMARY
         In this unit, the roles founding fathers in the origin and development of Sociology have been emphasized. Specific references were made to their contributions to the development of a unique approach to the study of society. Through their efforts and those of contemporary Sociologists, the discipline has developed a tradition that had impact on other disciplines that showed interest in the study of man in society.