Positivism, Marx, and Durkheim: Core Sociology Concepts for Exams

Positivism and the Scientific Method in Sociology

The finals start soon, so it is important to review sociology and the reasons behind positivism. Scientific knowledge and techniques are central to this approach. Positivism is part of the philosophy of science. Mario Bunge described the characteristics of scientific knowledge as follows:

• 1 - Scientific knowledge is true and not merely an alternative to other methods of contrasting ideas.
• 2 - It is empirical.
• 3 - It discovers its own laws.
• 4 - It is scientific because its methods of application are clearly defined: 1) it formulates well-structured questions, 2) it poses hypotheses that contrast with experience, 3) it draws logical consequences from hypotheses, 4) it interprets results, and 5) it determines the domains where its methods are used.

Stages of Sociological Research

Sociological investigation has several phases:

1. Formulating the problem and planning the investigation.
2. Designing the investigation in all its phases: delimiting objectives, study universe, sample size and type, selecting relevant indicators, and choosing data collection methods.
3. Collecting data.
4. Analyzing data.

Auguste Comte and the Positive Society

Auguste Comte held that sociology is the science that explains the positive social world. Empirical investigation is not valid if it is not guided by theory. Comte proposed three stages of human intellectual development:

1. Theological stage: The starting point is necessary. Human nature and social life, the origin and purpose of things, and the search for absolute knowledge are explained through supernatural beings, gods, and spirits that govern and determine purposes (monotheism).
2. Metaphysical stage: Transitory, abstract forces replace supernatural beings to explain the causes and purposes of the world.
3. Positive stage: The search for origins and causes ends. People recognize that they cannot know the essence of things, nor the nature of relations among phenomena. Knowledge is based on empirical investigation, and the laws that govern phenomena are invariable.

Marx and Alienation

Karl Marx argued that capitalism causes distortions in human nature through the domination of workers by capital owners. His analysis focuses on the oppressive structure of capitalism, which prevents the development of human potential. Alienation in work has four dimensions:

1. Workers are alienated from the production activity itself, which does not belong to them.
2. They are alienated from the product, which belongs to capitalists.
3. They are alienated from other people, since competition replaces cooperation.
4. They are alienated from their own human potential, becoming like animals or inhuman machines.

Durkheim and Social Facts

Emile Durkheim developed a positivist and constructive critique to counter the negative socialist philosophy. For him, society is more than the sum of its individuals. Social facts are organized ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that exist independently of individuals and exert external and coercive force on them. Social facts are of two types:

• Material: structures, institutions, and so on.
• Immaterial: sociocultural values and rules.

Durkheim based his analysis on the social division of labor. He identified two types of society:

• Mechanical solidarity: The social structure is little differentiated, with strong collective conscience and little individuality. Social bonds are based on shared beliefs and similarity.
• Organic solidarity: The division of labor is refined and differentiated. Specialization creates interdependence, individuality is strengthened, and cooperation and collective conscience are high.

Durkheim argued that the division of labor in society must be monitored, since an excessive or unhealthy degree of specialization can weaken social bonds.