Law of three stages: Difference between revisions
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The '''Law of Three Stages''' is an idea developed by [[Auguste Comte]]. It states that [[society]] as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1) the [[ |
The '''Law of Three Stages''' is an idea developed by [[Auguste Comte]]. It states that [[society]] as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1) the [[theology|theological]] stage, (2) the [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] stage, and (3) the [[positivism|positive]] stage. |
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==The progression of the three stages== |
==The progression of the three stages== |
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Revision as of 23:28, 7 May 2011
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The Law of Three Stages is an idea developed by Auguste Comte. It states that society as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1) the theological stage, (2) the metaphysical stage, and (3) the positive stage.
The progression of the three stages
(1) The Theological stage refers to explanation by personified deities. Comte broke this stage into 3 sub-stages:
- 1A. Animism- Turning everyday objects into items of extreme religious purpose and worship, perhaps with godlike qualities.
- 1B. Polytheism - Explanation of things through the use of many gods.
- 1C. Monotheism - Attributing all to a single, supreme deity.
(2) The Metaphysical stage refers to explanation by impersonal abstract explanation. Often those who developed metaphysical systems believed they were engaging in scientific activity, but they were not.
(3) The Positivity stage refers to scientific explanation based on observation, experiment, and comparison. Positive explanations rely upon a distinct method, the scientific method, for its justification.
Comte proposed a hierarchy of the sciences based on historical sequence, with areas of knowledge passing through these stages in order of complexity. The simplest and most remote areas of knowledge - mechanical or physical - become scientific first. These are followed by the more complex sciences, those considered closest to us.
The sciences, then, according to Comte's "law", developed in this order: Mathematics; Astronomy; Physics; Chemistry; Biology; Psychology; Sociology. A science of society is thus the "Queen science" in Comte's hierarchy as it would be the most fundamentally complex. Through social science, Comte believed all human social ills could be remedied.
Critiques of the law
William Whewell wrote "Mr. Comte's arrangement of the progress of science as successively metaphysical and positive, is contrary to history in fact, and contrary to sound philosophy in principle." [1] The historian of science H. Floris Cohen has made a significant effort to draw the modern eye towards this first debate on the foundations of positivism. [2]
In contrast, within an entry dated early October 1838 Charles Darwin wrote in one of his then private notebooks that "M. Comte's idea of a theological state of science [is a] grand idea." [3]
See also
Notes
- ^ p.233 of On the Philosophy of Discovery: Chapters Historical and Critical (Including completion of the third edition of the philosophy of the inductive sciences), William Whewell, New York: Burt Franklin, 1860
- ^ H. Floris Cohen, The Scientific Revolution: A Historiographical Inquiry, University of Chicago Press 1994, p.35-39
- ^ Notebook N (Metaphysics and Expression). Charles Darwin. Journal's timespan: fall 1838—summer 1839. page[leaf] 12.
External links
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