Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte known better as Auguste Comte (1798–1857) was a French philosopher and considered the founder of sociology. Comte advocated for positivism and coined the term sociology (though he originally called it social physics) in the 1830s, establishing sociology as a systematic field of study. Comte divided the study of society into social dynamics and social statics. Comte’s influence on sociology continues today.
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- Erbschloe, Michael. 1978. Comte and Confucius: A Comparative Study of Family Systems.
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Works Consulted
Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.
Encyclopædia Britannica. (N.d.) Britannica Digital Learning. (https://britannicalearn.com/).
Bruce, Steve, and Steven Yearley. 2006. The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).
Cite the Definition of Auguste Comte
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “Auguste Comte (1798–1857).” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/auguste-comte/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
Auguste Comte (1798–1857). (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/auguste-comte/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “Auguste Comte (1798–1857).” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/auguste-comte/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“Auguste Comte (1798–1857).” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/auguste-comte/>.