Unit 1: Auguste Comte
Methodology
Law of Three Stages
The “Law of Three Stages” is an idea developed by Auguste Comte. It constitutes one of the
main contributions of Comte to the field of sociological thought.
Comte’s famed “law of the three stages” is an example of his search for invariant laws
governing the social world. Comte argued that the human mind, individual human beings, all
knowledge, and world history develop through three successive stages
According to Comte, each branch of our knowledge passes successively through the different
theoretical conditions. This is known as law of three stages. The main aim of this principle is
to provide the basis of sociological thinking.
According to Comte, the evolution of the human mind has paralleled the evolution of the
individual mind. Just as an individual tends to be a staunch believer in childhood, a critical
metaphysician in adolescence and a natural philosopher in manhood, so mankind in its
growth has followed three major stages. Comte believed that each field of knowledge passes
through three periods of growth pattern.
Comte felt that one of the most basic laws of human organization is the “law of the three
stages,” a notion clearly influenced by the philosophical concepts of Turgot, Condorcet, and
Saint-Simon. He termed these stages the theological–military , metaphysical–judicial , and
scientific–industrial or “positivistic.” Each stage is typified by a particular “spirit”—a notion
that first appeared with Montesquieu and was expanded by Condorcet—and by temporal or
structural conditions. Thus, the theological–military stage is dominated by ideas that refer to
the supernatural while being structured around slavery and the military. The metaphysical–
judicial stage, which follows from the theological and represents a transition to the Scientific
is typified by ideas that refer to the fundamental essences of phenomena and by elaborate
political and legal forms. The scientific–industrial stage is dominated by the “positive
philosophy of science” and industrial patterns of social organization.
In this context, Comte formulated the details of his law of the three stages, in which idea
systems, and their corresponding social structural arrangements, pass through three phases:
The Theological/ Fictitious Stage
In this stage human beings rely on supernatural agencies to explain what they can’t explain
otherwise.
The Theological, which is the original and spontaneous form of thought, regards the facts of
the universe as governed not by invariable laws of sequence, but by single and direct
volitions of beings, real or imaginary, possessed of life and intelligence. In the infantile state
of reason and experience, individual objects are looked upon as animated. The next step is the
conception of invisible beings, each of whom superintends and governs an entire class of
objects or events. The last merges this multitude of divinities in a single God, who made the
whole universe in the beginning, and guides and carries on its phenomena by his continued
action, or, as others think, only modifies them from time to time by special interferences.
[Mill's summary]
The theological stage is dominated by a search for the essential nature of things, and people
come to believe that all phenomena are created and influenced by gods and supernatural
forces. Monotheism is the ultimate belief of the theological stage.
According to Comte in this stage, “all theoretical conceptions, whether general or special
bear a supernatural impress”. Unable to discover the natural causes of the various
happenings, the primitive men attributed them to imaginary or divine forces.
This stage is also divided into three sub-stages as (a) Fetishism (b) Polytheism (c)
Monotheism..
(a) Fetishism -The primitive persons everywhere tend to think in supernatural terms. They
believe that all phenomena are “produced by the immediate action of supernatural beings.”
They believe in all kinds of fetishes in which spirits or supernatural beings live. Hence, “New
ideas and structural arrangements are added to, and build on, the old” as a form of religion
started and it admitted of no priesthood, because its gods are individuals, each residing in
fixed objects. During this sub-stage, man accepts the existence of the spirit or the soul. It did
not admit priesthood
(b) Polytheism- When the mind of primitive man became better organized, fetishism became
cumbersome. Too many fetishes created confusion. Hence, they started believing in several
gods. Thus arose polytheism. They created the class of priests to get the goodwill and the
blessings of these gods. The presence of too many gods also created for them mental
contradictions.
During this sub-stage, man begins to believe in magic and allied activities. He then
transplants or imposes special god in every object. Thus they believed in several gods and
created the class of priests to get the goodwill and the blessings of these gods
(c) Monotheism- Finally, they developed the idea of one god, or of monotheism. They
started believing in the superhuman power of only one god. Slowly feelings and imaginations
started giving place to thinking and rationality During this sub-stage of the theological stage
man believes that there is only one center of power which guides and controls all the
activities of the world. Thus man believed in the superhuman power of only one god
The Metaphysical/Abstract Stage
Comte said that this stage started around the middle Ages in Europe, or somewhere around
the 1300s. In the metaphysical stage of society, people viewed the world and events as
natural reflections of human tendencies. People in this stage still believed in divine powers or
gods, but they believed that these beings are more abstract and less directly involved in what
happens on a daily basis. Instead, problems in the world are due to defects in humanity.
The metaphysical thinking is almost an extension of the theological thinking. Rationalism
started growing instead of imagination. Rationalism states that God does not stand directly
behind every phenomenon. Pure reasoning insists that God is an Abstract Being. Reasoning
helped man to find out some order in the natural world. This stage being an improvement
upon the earlier stage, it was believed that the abstract power or force guides and determines
the events in the world. Metaphysical thinking discards belief in concrete god . The
metaphysical stage is a transitional stage in which mysterious, abstract forces (e.g., nature)
replace supernatural forces as the powers that explain the workings of the world.
The continuity, regularity and infallibility found in the natural order were attributed to some
“Principles” or “Power”. Thus, principles and theories gained ascendency over feelings and
speculations. Even these metaphysical explanations were unsatisfactory to the mind. Still this
kind of thinking corresponded with the legal type of society
The Positive/Scientific Stage
The positivist stage is the last and highest stage in Comte’s work. In this stage, people search
for invariant laws that govern all of the phenomena of the world. Comte’s final stage for
society is called the. positive stage Just like the name implies, here people view the world and
events as explained by scientific principles. In modern society, most people agree that the
planets are physical objects made up of gas or rock. People believe that sickness is caused by
germs and that medicine is the appropriate cure. If an earthquake happens, most people
believe that’s because of movement in the tectonic plates, not because a god is upset.
While it’s easy for us, people who live in the modern scientific stage, to look back on people
in the first two stages and think some of their beliefs are silly, keep two things in mind. First,
lots of modern people still believe that one or more gods are active in what happens to our
lives, and many people in modern society still believe in astrology. Second, keep in mind that
in five hundred or one thousand years from now, people in the future might look back at us
and think that our beliefs are silly.
The positive stage represents the scientific way of thinking. As Comte stated, “In the final,
the positive stage, the mind has given over the vain search after Absolute notions, the origin
and destination of the universe, and the causes phenomena, and applies itself to the study of
their laws – that is, their invariable relations of succession and resemblance.”
The observation and classification of facts are the beginning of the scientific stage, where
there is no place for any belief or superstition. Everything concludes rationally.
Comte developed his concept of positivism, which is a purely intellectual way of looking at
the world. He stressed the need for observation and classification of phenomena. He even
said that it is futile to try to determine causes. “We can observe uniformities, or laws, but it is
mere speculation to assign cause to these uniformities” he stated. Positivism actually
glorified observation and classification of data. The positive thinking suits the needs of the
industrial society.
In short these stages represent different and opposed types of human conception. The most
primitive type is theological thinking, which rests on the “empathetic fallacy” of reading
subjective experience into the operations of nature. The theological perspective develops
dialectically through fetishism, polytheism, and monotheism as events are understood as
animated by their own will, that of several deities, or the decree of one supreme being.
Politically the theological state provides stability under kings imbued with divine rights and
supported by military power. As civilization progresses, the metaphysical stage begins as a
criticism of these conceptions in the name of a new order. Supernatural entities are gradually
transformed into abstract forces just as political rights are codified into systems of law. In the
final stage of positive science the search for absolute knowledge is abandoned in favor of a
modest but precise inquiry into the relative laws of nature. The absolutist and feudal social
orders are replaced gradually by increasing social progress achieved through the application
of scientific knowledge.
In presenting this analysis, Comte felt that he had uncovered several laws of social statics
because he believed that differentiation, centralization of power, and development of a
common morality were fundamentally related to the maintenance of the social order.
Although he did not carry his analysis far, he presented both Herbert Spencer and Durkheim
with one of the basic theoretical questions in sociology and the broad contours of the answer.
The basic cultural and structural features of these stages can be summarized in a tabular form
as shown below:
The above referred Table ignores many details that have little relevance to theory, but the
table communicates, in a rough fashion, Comte’s view of the laws of succession. Several
points should be noted:
First, each stage sets the conditions for the next. For example, without efforts to explain
references to the supernatural, subsequent efforts at more refined explanations would not
have been possible; or without kinship systems, subsequent political, legal, and military
development would not have occurred, and the modern division of labor would not have been
possible.
Second, the course of Integration through, mutual interdependence, centralization of
authority, and common culture.
The Social differentiation Increased potential for social pathology problems of integration,
coordination, and control
Comte saw all idea systems as passing through the theological and metaphysical stages and
then moving into the final, positivistic, stage. Ideas about all phenomena must pass through
these phases, with each stage setting the conditions for the next and with considerable
intellectual turmoil occurring during the transition from one stage to the next. Ideas about
various phenomena, however, do not pass through these stages at the same rate, and, in fact, a
positivistic stage in thought about one realm of the universe must often be reached before
ideas about other realms can progress to the positivistic stage. The opening pages of Positive
Philosophy emphasize, we must bear in mind that the different kinds of our knowledge have
passed through the three stages of progress at different rates, and have not therefore arrived at
the same time. The rate of advance depends upon the nature of knowledge in question, so
distinctly that, as we shall see hereafter, this consideration constitutes an accessory to the
fundamental law of progress. Any kind of knowledge reaches the positive stage in proportion
to its generality, simplicity, and independence of other departments.
Thus, thought about the physical universe reaches the positive stage before conceptions of the
organic world do because the inorganic world is simpler and organic phenomena are built
from inorganic phenomena.
Comte’s “Law of the Three Stages evolution is additive.
They are first supplemented with new ideas and structural arrangements which are added to,
and build on, the old, and Secondly dominated, by new social and cultural arrangements.
Third, during the transition from one stage to the next, elements of the preceding stage
conflict with elements of the emerging stage, creating a period of anarchy and turmoil.
Fourth, the metaphysical stage is a transitional stage, operating as a bridge between
theological speculation and positivistic philosophy.
Fifth, the nature of cultural ideas determines the nature of social structural (temporal)
arrangements and circumscribe what social arrangements are possible.
And sixth, with the advent of the positivistic stage, true understanding of how society
operates is possible, allowing the manipulation of society in accordance with the laws of
statics and dynamics.
Although societies must eventually pass through these three stages, they do so at different
rates. Probably the most important of the variable empirical conditions influencing the rate of
societal succession is population size and density, an idea taken from Montesquieu and later
refined by Durkheim. Thus, Comte felt that he had discovered the basic law of social
dynamics in his analysis of the three stages, and coupled with the laws of statics, a positivistic
science of society—that is, social physics or sociology—would allow for the reorganization
of the tumultuous, transitional, and conflict dominated world of the early nineteenth century
philosophy.
Several points in this law were given greater emphasis in Comte’s later work. It states that
society as a whole, and each particular science, develops through these mentally conceived
stages. in which idea systems, and their corresponding social structural arrangements, pass
through these phases:
First, the social world reveals both cultural and structural dimensions, with the nature of
culture or idea systems being dominant— an idea probably taken from Condorcet
Second, idea systems, and the corresponding structural arrangements that they produce, must
reach their full development before the next stage of human evolution can occur. Thus, one
stage of development creates the necessary conditions for the next.
Third, there is always a period of crisis and conflict as systems move from one stage to the
next because elements of the previous stage conflict with the emerging elements of the next
stage.
Fourth, movement is always a kind of oscillation, for society “does not, properly speaking,
advance in a straight line.”
These aspects of the law of three stages convinced Comte that cultural ideas about the world
were subject to the dictates of this law. All ideas about the nature of the universe must move
from a theological to a scientific, or positivistic, stage. Yet some ideas about different aspects
of the universe move more rapidly through the three stages than others do. Indeed, only when
all the other sciences—first astronomy, then physics, later chemistry, and finally physiology
have successively reached the positive stage will the conditions necessary for social physics
have been met. With the development of this last great science, it will become possible to
reorganize society by scientific principles rather than by theological or metaphysical
speculations.
According to Prof. N.S. Timasheff, “Comte’s law of the three stages in the meaning ascribed
to it by its inventor is clearly invalid. “As he opines, “neither of the later approaches wholly
supersedes the religious approach; rather, there has been accumulation and often admixture of
the three.” He further writes, “Comte’s law of the three stages could not stand the test of facts
known today.”
E.S. Bogardus comments, “Comte failed to postulate a fourth mode of thinking, namely,
socialized thinking, or a system of thought which would emphasize. The purpose of building
the constructive, just, and harmonious societies…” He adds, “Comte, however, should be
credited with opening the way for rise of socialized thinking.”
It is evident that Comte’s Law of Three Stages has a strongly materialistic or idealistic bias.
Comte has made it abundantly clear that the intellectual evolution is the most important
aspect in human progress. Still, he was aware of the importance of factors such as increase in
population, division of labor, etc. in determining the rate of social progress.
Hierarchy of the Sciences
Comte’s second best known theory, that of the hierarchy of the sciences or classification of
sciences is intimately connected with the law of three stages. Just as mankind progresses only
through determinant stages, each successive stage building on the accomplishments of its
predecessors; so scientific knowledge passes through similar stages of development. But
different sciences progress at different rates. “Any kind of knowledge reaches the positive
stage early in proportion to its generality, simplicity and independence of other departments.”
Since time immemorial thinkers have tried to classify knowledge on one or the other basis.
Early Greek thinkers had made a tripartite classification of knowledge. These were Physics,
Ethics and Politics. Bacon made the classification on the basis of the faculties of man namely
memory, imagination and reason. The Science which was based upon memory is called
History, imagination is poetry and reason is Physics, Chemistry etc.
Comte classified knowledge on the basis of observation of scientific or positive level of
human thinking. The main aim of the classification of science by Comte is to prepare the
background and basis for the study of society, Sociology, a science invented by him. On this
also he determined the methodology of sociology. Comte thought that each Science came into
being not arbitrarily. It has come to seek the “Laws” of a particular kind or level of facts
which man had encountered in his experience of the world. Each Science is concerned with
some definite event or subject matter and these constitute the subject of its study.
Comte spoke of sociology is the “crowning edifice” of the hierarchy of sciences. He did not
mean that it is in any sense superior to any other science; but only that it serves to bring all
other sciences into relationship with each other, in the overall intellectual history of man.
Comte says, Astronomy, the most general and simple of all natural sciences develops first. It
is followed by physics, chemistry, biology and finally sociology. Each science in this series
depends for its emergence on the prior developments of its predecessors in a hierarchy
marked by the law of increasing complexity and decreasing generality.
According to Comte behind and before all these sciences however lies the great science of
mathematics—the most powerful instrument the mind can employ in the investigation of
natural law. The Science of mathematics must be divided into abstract mathematics or the
calculus, and concrete mathematics embracing general geometry and rational mathematics.
So we have thus really six great sciences.
The classification of sciences follows the order of development of the sciences. It indicates
their social relation and relative perfection. In order to reach effective knowledge the sciences
must be studied in the order named. Sociology cannot be understood without knowledge of
the anterior sciences.
Comte arranged the sciences so that each category may be grounded on the principal laws of
the preceding category and serve as a basis for the next ensuing category. The order hence, is
one of increasing complexity and decreasing generality. The most simple phenomena must be
the most general – general in the sense of being everywhere present. In the hierarchy, Comte
places mathematics on the lowest rung and the topmost rung is occupied by Sociology.
It was possible to arrange the Sciences systematically in a way which coincided with:
1. The order of their historical emergence and development. Sciences have developed in
course of history.
2. The order of their dependence upon each other. A science cannot develop without
dependence upon each other.
3. Their decreasing degree of generality and the increasing degree of complexity of their
subject matter.
4. The increasing degree of modifiability of the facts which they study.
The modifiable facts are one which can be modified. Sociology deals with social
phenomenon which undergoes constant modification.
In establishing the hierarchy of sciences, Comte also distinguished the methodological
characteristics of the various disciplines.
Mathematics:
Mathematics may be defined briefly as the indirect measurement of magnitudes and the
determination of magnitudes by each other. It is the business of concrete mathematics to
discover the equations of phenomena; it is the business of abstract mathematics to reduce
results from the equations. Thus concrete mathematics discovers by actual experiment the
acceleration which takes place per second in a falling body and abstract mathematics educes
results from the equations so discovered and obtains unknown quantities from known.
Astronomy:
Astronomy may be defined as the science by which we discover the laws of the geometrical
and mechanical phenomena presented by heavenly bodies. To discover these laws we can use
only our sense of sight and our reasoning power, the reasoning bears a great proportion to
observation here than in any other science.
Sight alone would never teach us the figure of the earth or the path of a planet, and only by
the measurement of angles and computations of times can we discover astronomical laws?
The observation of these invariable laws frees man from servitude to the theological and
metaphysical conceptions of the universe.
Physics:
Physics may be defined briefly as the study of the laws which regulate the general properties
of bodies regarded en masse, their molecules remaining unaltered and usually in a state of
aggregation. In the observations of physics all the senses are employed and mathematical
analysis and experiment assist observation. In the phenomena of astronomy human
intervention was impossible. In the phenomena of physics man begins to modify natural
phenomena. Physics includes the sub-divisions: statics, dynamics, thermo-logy, optics and
electro logy. Physics is still handicapped by metaphysical conceptions of the primary courses
of phenomena.
Chemistry:
Chemistry may be briefly defined as the study of the laws of the phenomena of composition
and decomposition which result from the molecular and specific mutual action of different
substances, natural or artificial. In the observations of chemistry the senses are still more
employed, and experiment is still more utility. Even in chemistry metaphysical conceptions
linger.
Biology:
The physiology of plants and animals is studied under Biology. Physiology may be defined as
the study of the laws of organic dynamics in relation to structure and environment. Placed in
a given environment, a definite organism must always act in a definite way, and physiology
investigates the reciprocal relations, between organism, environment and function.
In physiology observation and experiment are of the greatest value, and apparatus of all kinds
is used to assist both observation and experiment. Physiology is most closely connected with
chemistry, since all the phenomena of life are associated with compositions and
decompositions of a chemical character.
Sociology:
In the series of classification of Sciences, each science depends for its emergence on the prior
developments of its predecessors in a hierarchy marked by the law of increasing complexity
and decreasing generality. The Social Sciences, the most complex and the most dependent for
their emergence on the development of all the others, are the “highest” in the hierarchy.
“Social Science offers the attributes of a completion of the positive method. All others…. are
preparatory to it.”
Although sociology has special methodological characteristics that distinguish it from its
predecessors in the hierarchy; it is also dependent upon them. It is especially dependent on
biology, the science that stands nearest to it in the hierarchy. What distinguishes biology from
all other natural sciences is its holistic character.
Unlike physics and chemistry, which proceed by isolating elements, biology proceeds from
the study of organic wholes. And it is this emphasis on organic or organism unity that
sociology has in common with biology. “There can be no scientific study of society either in
its conditions or its movements, if it is separated into portions and its divisions are studied
apart.” The only proper approach in Sociology consists in “viewing each element in the light
of the whole system.”
Comte invented the specific hybrid term sociology which rests in turn upon biological,
chemical, physical and astronomical knowledge and uses Mathematics as its tool.
The positive method which has triumphed in all abstract sciences must essentially prevail in
history and politics and culminate in the founding of a positive science of society, namely
sociology, which is the root of all sciences. Sciences are no longer analytic but necessarily
synthetic. In the inorganic sciences, the elements are much better known to us than the whole
which they constitute, so that we can proceed from simple to compound.
Man and society as a whole is being better known to us, than the parts which constitute them.
Just as biology cannot explain an organ or a function apart from the organism as a whole,
sociology cannot explain social phenomena without reference to the total social context.
Comte developed social physics or what in 1839 he called sociology. The use of the term
Social physics made it clear that Comte sought to model sociology after the hard sciences.
This new science which in his view would ultimately become the dominant science was to be
concerned with both social statics (existing social structure) and Social Dynamics (Social
change). Although both involved the search for laws of social life.
According to Comte, the social organic science is sociology. It is relatively new science.
Being young it has not yet attended the status of a full-fledged science. Sociology is still a
growing and developing science. However; it is quite clear that sociology is gradually
moving towards the goal of a definite science.
Comte spoke of sociology is the ‘crowning edifice’ of the hierarchy of sciences. He did not
mean that it is in any sense superior to any other science; but only that is serves to bring all
other sciences into relationship with each other, in the overall intellectual history of man.
Scientific Theory of Morality & Religion of Humanity
Positivism
