Considering that
Sociology involves the systematic study and explanation of
human social life, groups and societies, sociologists aim to investigate and understand the social world and human behaviour within it. Nevertheless, the definition of what sociology really is can be ambiguous since that different theories and sociologists diverge in opinions according to their perceptions and own personal views. Sociology, due to disagreement over its status as a science, can be roughly divided into those who treat it as a science, with scientists, and those who assume it is socially rather than objectively defined and take a more philosophical stance in the debate.The purpose of
science is to acquire information and obtain knowledge about the subject being studied. Knowledge can be defined as a set of verified statements about a phenomenon. The implication for the
scientific nature of sociology relies on its systematic identification, observation, description, classification, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation. This leads to the next point which is the fact that everything that can be studied can be divided into two sections,
natural and social phenomena. A natural phenomenon is something that exists without the intervention of people whereas social phenomena exist only as a result of human interaction. For natural science, its object, nature, is independent from the observer. Here the observer forms a simplified conceptual nature corresponding to its object nature. No matter whether his conceptual nature may change or not, nature is the same. On the other hand, the object of social science, society is exactly about the observer himself. In this case, any formed conceptual society will influence society itself. However, both natural science and social science make efforts to try to make their conceptualized objects close each to the original objects. In order to understand the nature of the question as to whether or not sociology can be considered ‘scientific’, it would be useful as an initial starting point, to briefly outline some of Comte's ideas concerning the nature of sociology. In addition the concept of ‘science’ (in the sense it is being used here) is an ‘ideal’ concept which represents the achievement of reliable, valid and verifiable knowledge about the world.
August Comte (1798-1857), the
French philosopher regarded as the founder of sociology, sought to establish sociology as an intellectual discipline, using a scientific approach ('positivism') as the basis of a new science of social order and social development. Comte believed that there was a hierarchy of scientific subjects, with sociology at the pinnacle of that hierarchy. He was confident that scientific knowledge about society could be accumulated so that society could be run rationally without religion or superstition affecting progress. Comte also argued that human thought and social development evolve through three stages: the theological, the metaphysical, and the positive or scientific. In those different stages the understanding of the world and its interpretation passed through a evolutionary process until it reached the stage at which scientific laws formed the bases of explanation. He argued that sociologists should not be concerned with the internal meanings, motives, feelings and emotions of individuals. Since these mental states exist only in the person’s consciousness, they cannot be observed and so they cannot be measured in any objective way. Moreover, whilst looking at the earliest developments in sociological methodology, it is interesting to note that the origin of the word "sociology" derives from the work of August Comte. Therefore, one of our earliest conceptions of the nature of the sociological enterprise regarded Sociology as the Science of Society.
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