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~ The Study of Threes ~
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Let me momentarily digress from the previous page's commentary to make a reference to the two-word phrase "Social Physics" from which later came the words Sociology and Political Science. The sequence plays out as such: According to this Social physics account, the idea of social physics came from Saint-Simon followed by Auguste Comte's use of the word "sociology," though in the A particular flavour of social physics account, credit for the "Social Physics" phrase is given to Comte. Jean Bodin (1529/30–1596) is credited with coining the word "Political Science" but Aristotle is credited with being the Father of the field. However, it must be understood that in reading materials from the past in which ideas read from the perspective of a present day vantage point; it is sometimes easy to superimpose an impression on a former generality and apply a present day inclination towards specificity on it, without the former actually having explicitly described a later adopted label. In other words, Aristotle did not use the phrase "Political Science" since the word "Science" did not originate until the middle of the 14th century, and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) lived appreciably wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy before the Middle ages era. He belongs to the time-scape of the three historically noted philosophers known as Socrates- Plato- Aristotle (SPA). However, the word "politics" has a history further back in time:
Origin:— The term "politics", is derived from the Greek word "Polis", which means the city state According to Greek Philosophers. Politics was a subject which dealt with all the activities and affairs of the city state. Their City States were known as "Polis." City state was an all inclusive term, as the ancient Greeks made no distinction between the state and the Government on one hand, and State and Society on the other. They never differentiated between personal life and social life. Hence according to them Politics was a total study of man, society, state, morality and so on.
The antecedents of Western politics can trace their roots back to Greek thinkers Socrates, Plato (427–347 BC) and Aristotle (384–322 BC). The studies were philosophy oriented. Plato wrote The Republic and Aristotle wrote the Politics. Aristotle is known as the Father of Political Science. He is famous for his statement "Man is a political animal". The word "politics" is derived from the Greek word "polis", which means a city-state. Meaning, Nature & Definition of Political Science
H.O.B note: later we get such words as citizen, citadel... and such a synonym as "crazy human political animals".
But to the point of the digression: The "social physics" idea, according to my present eyesight, can be transmuted into a three-part historical sequencing of development:
- A physics of social systems.
- A social physics ideology redirected to alternative applications of human interest such as the dynamics of other interpreted "systems" such as atoms, molecules, genetics, physiology, medicine, archeology, anthropology, music theory, fluid mechanics, architecture, literary analysis, technology, commerce, etc., (to include the stationary and episodic occurrences as well as mutagenic formulas of mix and matching, deletion, substitution, etc...).
- A physics of cognition, in which a tripartite ensemble orientation of ideas is subjected to analysis and related to the ongoing incremental deterioration of the Universe, Galaxy, Solar system, planet, and biology. (The latter which is presently being viewed in the context of the triplet code which some claim is stable, but has no redundancy other than its multiplicity of occurrence in multiple life forms. In other words, it is a singular formula cast into existence apparently by the structure of the Earth's environment which is not stable... suggesting to some that the triplet code may have come from outside the Earth and is therefore somehow more resilient and that only a complete annihilation of Earth will result in the cessation of the triple code, on Earth, but not elsewhere. As a biological entity, the triplet code appears not able to evolve into some other code, as a sort of back-up system that is more responsive to environmental conditions... thus providing humanity with a different type of brain and thus consciousness and thought processing aptitude.)
Now to begin again where I had left off on the previous page:
In addition to the two-patterned mindset of "manifest and latent" which might be viewed in terms of a "bilateral form of positivism", we find the incorporation of a 3rd orientation called "dysfunction", which might otherwise be viewed as a "mono-negativism", thus signaling the presence of a one/two orientation:
Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society are called dysfunctions. In education, examples of dysfunction include getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment. |
As an historical review there is nothing wrong with the foregoing ideas except that in being offered, students are not taught to distinguish the presence of tripartite and dichotomous formulas being regurgitated by human thinking processes in different contexts with different labels. Human cognition, that is, human thinking— has not been given enough weight in the analysis of Sociology nor most subjects in order to assist in the acknowledgment of repetitious mental patterns which have an effect on how society functions; particularly when the repetition is aligned with the presence of what appears to be an overall limitation in human cognitive processing and exhibition tied to an ongoing environmental deterioration and I am not speaking solely about the human preoccupation with human-made trashing of the planetary environment. While many have an intuitive appreciation that such a limitation exists, they do not know where the appreciation comes from and nor do they have a model to which they can refer to nor provide as an illustration for nay-sayers.
Often times people do not recognize the recurrence of cognitive patterns taking place with humanity because they are focused on one or a very few subjects. Some decide to effect a two-pattern, others a three-pattern, and others may chose some pattern which they think has a large appeal such as the number 7 or other plurality, which may or may not include a Fibonacci-like seriation or some other to-be-suggested-as a revelation or creative inspiration relative to a proposed new disposition that others have not considered before. A few become rather dogmatic about a given pattern such as those using some formula of dichotomy, or Trichotomy, while those insisting upon the usage of a plurality (4,5,6,7,8,9,10, etc.,) which may include the usage of the "one" as an expressed plural collective assembled into a singularity; are thus performing a third functionality, overall representing a case of "two, three, plurality".
Historically, many readers may be aware of Hegelian Dialectics expressed in a tripartite formula, thus revealing an unrecognized exercise of an embellished dichotomy, where opposition supposedly produces a third "higher" result. Note he uses the word "moment" which, upon reflection, reminds me of the three "moments" of the Sun (dawn- noon- dusk), thus suggesting to me that Hegel is expressing some unrecognized attribution to a displaced formula of "solar orientation or referencing" that need not be a conscious one, but could be an impression created by the life-history of events of an individual, family, or other influence, to be distinguished from the notions of solar worship and solar mythology, that latter being used to describe non-god references. Whereas both the Christian Trinity and Hindu Trimurti are no doubt ideas originating from a "pagan" past of anthropomorphizing the Sun, that intellectuals like Hegel disclose their unacknowledged link to its effects within the vernacular of the subject matter to which they are most familiar with; analogically comparable to the "speech" of a flower that uses phototropism and animals which use an internal clock called circadian rhythm by which they orient themselves to the three phases of the Sun; without having any other form of speaking about their behavior.
The "Three Moments" of Hegelian Dialectics, or as I see it, an embellished dichotomization:
- The first moment—the moment of the understanding—is the moment of fixity, in which concepts or forms have a seemingly stable definition or determination.
- Analogically, a person and other life forms are fixated on the rising dawn and its attributes.
- The second moment—the "dialectical" or "negatively rational" moment—is the moment of instability.
- Comparatively, a person and other life forms are unstable during this period, often seeking some source of external or internalized shelter (such as melanin) or eating lunch... as is the custom for many people.
- The third moment—the "speculative" or "positively rational" moment—grasps the unity of the opposition between the first two determinations,
or is the positive result of the dissolution or transition of those determinations.
- Similarly, the reflexively anticipated night/darkness is dichotomously viewed either as a portent of speculative musings, or as something one looks forward to if they prefer the night, such as working at night, playing at night...; making bon fires, sitting around campfires telling ghost stories, fearful of the dark, noises in the attic, something beneath the dark staircase, dark basement, dark cave, etc...; of which the darkness not only helps to conceal the perceptibility of focusing on particularities, (i.e. "love is blind", "can't see the trees for the darkened forest", "blinders on horses are typically black", etc...), but is used as a cover for many surreptitious activities which the light of day acts as a cover for as well.
But let us now take a look at another brand of tripartition as seen in Marx's brand of Communism. There are said to be three "phases", which is another word attributable to the Sun's three distinguished characters "or persons", that we can alternatively describe synonymously as "Morning- Midday- Night time", which is a phrase that expresses a sort of growth from a 1-word "Morning" to an almost two-words "Midday", into a full two-words: "Night time", unless one writes them as "Morning, Mid Day, Nighttime"; in which case we have a one, two, almost two representation.
In any case, we can use a rather abbreviated shorthand in describing Marx's usage (which will be seen later in the discussion) of what I perceive to be an embellished dichotomization of an idea which clearly references a projection of his own reflected-on psychological state of mind (and thus admits of his 3-phase idea as a type of personification), and perhaps that exhibited by his contemporaries, just as we can witness it today in many socially conscious youth. (Note, I am making an analogy not only with the Sun's three "phases", but a reference to Marx' projection of his reflected on personal psychology development, and those perspectives which are aligned with an application to overall society... or human civilization):
- Marx's 1st phase of Communism speaks of revolution. (i.e. 1) The dawn in terms of the Sun, 2) The rebelliousness of youth, 3) The supposed primivity
of humanity in a life that was "poor, nasty, brutish and short" (according to Thomas Hobbs 1588-1679) after which began the transition into a civilization.
Breaking free of primivity or privacy, such as in the case of a loner or drifter, clan or tribe, is a type of revolution— rebelliousness when joining a
larger collective that breaks with one's roots, one's traditions, one's former culture. One has to rebel against inclinations for self-orientation, for
retreating to the previous, like an athlete who may join a team or an individual joining a group to compete, though they retain individual talents and
an individual ability to compete as an individual.)
- Not only can we see the rising Sun as a Euphoric emotionally warming moment of expressed freedom from the darkness, but feel oneself enlightened by relinquishing and even refusing parental and presumed societal/government control by asserting recognized faults that may or may not be accompanied by alternative ideas thought to be an improvement.
- Marx's 2nd phase speaks of control.
- The body seeks to control external environmental effects through such items as melanin and hair covering to protect it from a blazing Sun, but on the social level one seeks to control the behavior of others by way of a collective such as sports team, organizer, social leader; if not an internalized effort such as is expressed by dieting, exercising, controlled breathing, yoga, routinization, focused energy to produce greater strength/speed, etc...
- Marx's 3rd phase speaks of an achieved Utopia.
- The coming twilight is sometimes interpreted in a very positive way and may be used as an analogy for the coming end of one's life to enter into Heaven, or "the long sleep" called death, however one conceives of it from their cultural/religious, non-religious perspective. The 'positive perspective' views the former history of events as stepping stones to some cumulative rewarding gain, albeit overlooking the negative effects an incrementally deteriorating planetary system produces; and is continually disregarded so that a rational viewpoint of reality as an accumulation of adaptations to deterioration can rightly be recognized.
While some view death as a Way Station to some as yet uncleanly defined realm of post-life existence, others view it as a forth-coming nothingness to finally be able to rid themselves of the burdens which they are subjected to by the present ongoing incremental decaying galaxy, solar system, planet... and even universe is headed along. Though the many of the hardships are created by phony systems of business, government and religion, run by singular, dual or pluralized forms of autocracy, such as those in Britain, the U.S., Russian, China, all of South America, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungry, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, the entire Middle East, etc... in fact, every singly nation on the planet has its own variation.
It is unfortunate that when the idea of "solar mythology" is brought up, ideas routinely, but wrongly align this specifically with solar deities, or a worship of the Sun in some form and manner; though let us include the idea that the words "personification" or person- identified reference is sometimes made, or some quality about a person, animal or object. Nor should the word "mythology" be automatically defined in terms of a fable, fantasy, folklore or fairytale. While the Sun can play a part in influencing the design of such, we should appreciate that all of life is made possible because of the Sun... at least as far as we know it. It is very much a part of human Biology, Psychology, and Sociology. While the links may not be fully appreciated, others clearly are... at least to some observers. Take for example the biological activity known as photosynthesis. The link between the Sun and this biological activity is not easily seen by the naked eye and that in fact millions of humans through different time periods overlooked its existence... and still do to some extent, the claim of such today is well accepted though to have said this in the past might will have caused a person to be looked at strangely because the idea of an unseen power would either have to say that flowers (plants) were a god, or that some god "spoke" to them in a very ancient tongue. Indeed, it is the language of communication understood by the plants and the Sun, which we call Photosynthesis, but for which we do not directly speak this language.
Another rather profound misunderstanding or let us say... oversight by those studying the effects of the sun on the psychology and sociological application of the Sun's effects on human physiology that is then translated into some larger psychological and thus sociological activity but goes unrecognized as a point of origination, because this inter-linking is not appreciably thought of nor understood. (Though animals, insects, plants could be studied too with such an intent so long as "society" is looked at in terms of "clustering" which is found in many biological activities from atoms, to molecules, to cells, to organs, to behavior...). While songs may explicitly reference the dawn, the noon, the night or dusk or midday or some particularized hour of the day or night (such as the waking at "3 AM" reference by many); other ideas which likewise unknowingly pay tribute to the phases of the Sun and or Moon, may not be easily identified. We can suggest them are giving us the impression of such, but no experimentally based reference is available. We are left with but analogical correlations that some readers may not take to heart and simply find the illustration rather amusing, because they prefer to take a person's expressions as nothing more than what the person has said... and thus can not read between the lines because they do not have a practiced sensibility which enables them to view circumstances from a variety of subject matter. Instead of being tone deaf, they are what may be described as alternative idea deaf. They have no muse, they have no soul, just the automation of the animal which they believe themselves to be in terms of instinct, behaviorism or familial/cultural impositions which advances a simple nature/nurture dichotomy, but do not really appreciate either one of the terms.
Another effect and language is that which we describe as phototropism, which is exhibited ("spoken") by many different plants within their cultural settings. Even humans speak a variation of it when they decide to take a suntan, and different attire and mannerisms when the Sun "goes down", though it doesn't actually go anywhere... it is the Earth's rotation which causes us to use such an expression based on a simplistic observation. Let me provide a reference to a study of the Sun, taken out of its original context not to reframe it to mean something else, but to set it into the light of the present discussion concerning Sociology, that I must emphasize that the effects of the Sun most often does not result in the construction of a solar deity, it occurs sometimes in some places, but most effects of the Sun are subtle... with accumulative effects becoming more manifest, or other accumulative effects having a faster rate of deterioration, thus leaving behind solar effects to become more prominent:
...Indeed it might almost be said that all the great steps in the onward march of the human race could be found recorded in the various and multiple personifications of the sun.
Our ideas concerning natural phenomena are but the result of past ages of research in the fields of science; but when we come to a consideration of the phenomena that day and night present, in their ever-changing phases, we find it extremely difficult to clearly understand the mental viewpoint of primitive man regarding this continual change, for the uninterrupted sequence and constant repetition of this phenomena has dulled our faculties and it escapes our attention.
In ancient times, however, this continual daily process was closely observed and seriously considered, and the sun in all its aspects became at an early date in certain countries a personified godhead.
The expression "swallowed up by night" is now a mere metaphor, but the idea it conveys, that of the setting sun, was a matter of great importance to the ancients. However, the daily aspects of the sun were not alone matters of concern, the seasonable changes were closely observed, and the spring-tide sun, returning with youthful vigour after the long sleep in the night of winter, had a different name from the summer and autumnal sun. There are consequently, a multiplicity of names for the sun to be found in a study of primitive history and mythology, and an enormous mass of sun myths depicting the adventures of a primitive sun hero in terms of the varying aspects which the sun assumes during the day and year.
There was simply no limit to the images suggested by these aspects, as Sir George Cox puts it:
In the thought of these early ages the sun was the child of night or darkness, the dawn came before he was born, and died as he rose in the heavens. He strangled the serpents of the night, he went forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber, and like a giant to run his course. He had to do battle with clouds and storms, sometimes his light grew dim under their gloomy veil, and the children of men shuddered at the wrath of the hidden sun. His course might be brilliant and beneficent, or gloomy, sullen, and capricious. He might be a warrior, a friend, or a destroyer. The rays of the sun were changed into golden hair, into spears and lances, and robes of light."From this play of the imagination the great fundamental solar myths sprang, and these furnished the theme for whole epics, and elaborate allegories. Out of this enduring thread there came to be woven the cloth of golden legend, and the wondrous tapestry of myth that illuminates the pages of man's history.
It is a variegated tapestry where the people of all ages have stored the richest gift of their imagination, the solar myth.
Solar Mythology, Chapter III
The Three phases of Marx's Communist idea has three aspects Historians of Sociology and Political Science overlook:
- They reflect the three phases of the Sun.
- They reflect a projection of his own developmental psychology.
- They reflect the vernacular of his primary interest which was politics.
The three phases abbreviated as 1) Revolution/Rebelliousness 2) Control (externalized/internalized), 3) Utopia/Euphoria, Culmination, result, etc...; can be seen in the foregoing three references if one takes into consideration the views of 1) Metaphor 2) Psychological projection 3) Educationally developed cultural biases transmitted within the confines of a routinely used vocabulary.
The presence of an observable and quantifiable limitation (such as the three branches of government used by the U.S.) has been used to construct government after government, into primitive organisms which are readily seen as insufficient instruments to deal effectively with social problems becoming exacerbated by increasing populations and the consequences which are seen in the presence of different pollutions (water, crime, air, abuse, neglect, hostility, Nationalism, etc...). Hence, those constructing or simply using a political position to maintain a government as they find it, are... in a sense, louse geneticists. They do not know how to design a better organism, a better creature, a more viable life form that we at present refer to as a government.
Thousands of Sociologists, Political Scientists, and the interested public who may or may not become influential Journalists, civic leaders, politicians, Corporate CEOs, or entertainment celebrities who have a large audience whom they influence; are not quantifying the limitations of human thinking processes but are instead adding to the literature of metaphorical interpretation because this is what is being sought for by those giving an academic grade, political grade, corporate grade, military grade, etc., which becomes engrained as the standard operation procedure of right-mindedness sometime called political correctness, but advances far beyond this defined territory of philosophical consideration which has been used as a type of catch-all phrase incorporating every dimension of social practicality but actually represents a prejudice promoted by journalists and would-be social philosophers.
When a student is confronted with the above dichotomies and the others which are presented in different subject contexts such as the Persistent Dichotomies (Pg 1) found in psychology or the usage of a zeros/ones binary system in computer language based on the on/off duality of electronic switching; there is an impulsive orientation taught to them to accept these as a defined Natural Law to be learned and reiterated so as to pass an academic course, yet they are not likewise being taught to think alternatively as suggested by a reference to a trichotomous orientation. Those that refuse to even try to think creatively are quick to adopt a dichotomous point of view as support for retaining a primacy of interest in the usage of dichotomies, while a few students are not fearful of venturing a supposition, even if they are not socially vocal about such considerations.
While students learn alternative dichotomies in different subjects and may come away with the notion that dichotomization is a fact of life, they do not also ask why this may be so and whether or not such an idea is an imposition of the social environment which retains a conservatism as opposed to a radicalism or some measured position of orientation in between. The fact that such patterns reoccur in different subjects does not stir the question of why this is so and why are there a limited number of patterns being used over and over again... thus implementing the observation that society is subjected to a form of imposition... like a society within a society within a society. The Society the average person thinks they live in such as described by a democracy, communism, socialism or other economic terms; the Society which exists beyond the confines of usual discourse and is discussed by PhDs and scholars; and the society that many people may well see (whether in or out of an academic setting and whether or not they have an advanced College degree or specialized cerebrally-oriented activity), but don't necessarily discuss in terms that are now being presented as a focus.
If it is not one's culture, not one's society creating conditions which makes us repeat a small number of thinking patterns, then perhaps it is the environment which human society is helping to sustain, and preventing the triplet code of DNA to evolve. Indeed, let us ask point blank the reason for the Triple Code of DNA not evolving if Evolution is as important as it is made out to be. What this is sustaining it to remain a triplet code? Is it the same which is causing humanity to remain in an endless cycle of social problems as well?
In one Sociological theory after another, the analysis very often leads to the usage of "chunking" information into what may be called manageable bite-size bits and pieces used to represent what may be a large amount of perceptions and interpretations, except that the chunks from all the different theories are not compiled to represent a tell-tale sign of human cognition being found in every single focus of interest humanity has. In most cases, there is a usage and re usage of a very small set of patterns which can be identified by the usage of enumeration. Patterns which are being repeated... just like the patterns found in genetics (with respect to the Triplet code in DNA and RNA, for example), and physics (with respect to the three fundamental large particles labeled protons- neutrons- electrons, or three smaller particles labeled 3 quarks... for example). Whereas we might want to, and frequently do describe them as Natural laws just as we say there are 3 laws of motion, 3 laws of planetary motion, 3 families of fundamental particles, etc..., we fail to consider them as constraints imposed upon us by the type of environment we permit ourselves to be subjected to— and that this constraint forces us to adopt sociological constructs which adapt, over time, to the adopted behavior of establishing a further retention of some measurable level of equilibrium that is adjusted to fit what appears to be an underlying incremental deterioration of the environment... which society must rationalize into accepting and creating imaginative scenarios for creating a better world if we do this or that and adopt one or another social, political, or educational policy and construct, apply, or practice them in some 1- 2- 3 patterned way and offer some hierarchically arranged 3-patterned reward system for compliance such as the three college degrees of Bachelor's, Master's and PhD, with or without the 3-patterned distinctions of Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude .
Far too many repetitions are defined as being Natural, normal, and even referred alternatively as habit, "it's who I am', "it's what I do", "it's the way things are", etc... yet, things nor people have to be as they are or do what they do. such expressions are all too frequently used by those who have learned how to "work the system" as it is which requires that people continue to be suppressed in order to make them easier to manipulate by those who have learned how to carve a niche' in the system as it is, though this does not mean they are actually talented, only that they are permitted to be enabled to carry out a routine, such as in the case of many of those who get a job in or out of politics which requires someone who can manage a given process as it is structured. Most routines do not call for someone to be innovative, to be a creative thinker, or have any particular attribute except be able to follow rules already laid out, like someone who has learned how to perform the requirements of a board game better than others, and do not like it when the suggestion arises for the adoption of a change, or periodic changes... such as actually implementing the design of a New Government which may require that one or more persons already occupying a given position to be excluded, because their presence and functionality prevent change and prefer things to remain as they are... for their own interests and the interests of those who are like-minded, though multiple millions more than them unduly suffer because of their selfishness.
Clearly an idea to be registered as "our ordinary normative sociological concepts have no relevance to science because they fail the tests of good epistemic practice", instead of its debate as found here: Introduction: The Rational-Social Dichotomy, can be used to define the present state of Sociological inquiry as a "Normative" (normal/natural) process which overlooks the identification of basic cognitive themes because far too many of them rely on what may be termed "soap opera" representations of social activity instead of any attempted measurable analysis. It reminds me of the French staging the Tour de France along different courses every year so that a measurement of athletic ability over a given course can not be tabulated, because the socialization of the overall sport is more important to the mindset of the French, with its many childishly displayed ceremonial gifts. Indeed, it appears that Sociological theory has an over-abundant usage of an underlying French mindset that one might say is a group- oriented obsession, and is in fact a salient point from which so much of Sociology stems as is represented here:
The French Revolution and the Rise of
Sociology in France
Robert A. NisbetAmerican Journal of Sociology
Vol. 49, No. 2 (Sep., 1943)Abstract
The concept of the social group, the nucleus of sociological speculation, is to be associated with the French Revolution rather than with ideas current during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During the Revolution the Church as a separate social organization was demolished and the family underwent modification, while the state triumphed at their expense. Auguste Comte was impressed by the atomizaton of society resulting from the disruption of these primary ties uniting men in nonpolitical society. he sought to reinstate the social group in social thought. The responsibility of sociology in the post-war would will be to rehabilitate and make meaningful these primary ties and other lesser social loyalties.
The influence of the French Revolution upon the foundations of Sociology in France is a fact which has received somewhat less than the attention it deserves. That it is a fact of significance in the history of social theory may perhaps be inferred from the references to the Revolution as the principal source of those difficulties to which his monumental works were addressed. In the works of such earlier men as Bonald and Comte the effects of the Revolution are so manifest as to establish it as a strong influence upon their writings.
To suggest merely that the pioneers of systematic sociology were affected by this event is not, however, to cast any light upon the basic ideas of sociology. The history of any social science is less an affair of biographical facts strung loosely together by the thread of chronology than it is an inquiry into the rise and development of the central concepts of the disciplines. What is important here is to show the relation between the Revolution and the emergence of those concepts which were from the outset the distinctive subject matter of sociology. What we are interested in is how the central core of sociology, in contrast to those elements which are merely peripheral and held in common with all the social sciences, came into existence.
In the case of sociology this central core, the nucleus of all its speculation, is the concept of the social group; and any investigation of the origins of systematic sociology is at bottom an inquiry into the social and intellectual conditions which resulted in the appearance of this concept. A concern with social groups, especially with those groups which are intermediate between the individual and the state, has been from the very beginning the identifying characteristic of sociological thought. From this nucleus have derived such specific interests as those embodied in the study of family, class, community, and association. From it have also derived the basic and distinguishably sociological problems of social control and social disorganization— problems which have been fundamental since Comte. Such interests and problems belong historically to sociology alone of all the social sciences, and their rise in social theory is closely connected with the French Revolution.
The French Revolution and the Rise of Sociology in France
And let us not forget to note the French person who is said to be the Father of Sociology: Auguste Comte (1798–1857) (also: Wikipedia: Auguste Comte and The History of Sociology who created the idea about (Sociology) The law of three stages: (Theological- Metaphysical- Scientific), which undeniably expresses an effort to establish some basic tool for referencing an underlying cognitive pattern related to all ideas, actions and activities. The three laws have alternatively been labeled the three laws of history, development, and human knowledge.
However, while it is general practice to describe Comte as the Father of Sociology, let us make note of this Reference, concerning the Scottish Philosopher Adam Ferguson (1723 - 1816), whose An Essay on the History of Civil Society [1767] is claimed to be a treatise as valuable a description of Sociology as Comte's treatment of "social physics" in his "Positive Philosophy". The language used might lean one to consider that Marx was influenced by such an idea enough to develop a similar line of thinking in his adoption of the term "science" for his Scientific Socialism).
Here is a reference to the above consideration between Ferguson and Comte:
The contributions of the Scotch philosopher Adam Ferguson (1723- 1816) to the history of sociology have not been sufficiently acknowledged. French and German writers, like Comte, Cumplowicz, and Ludwig Stein, have recognized his importance, but English and American students of the subject have generally minimized or entirely overlooked the genuine worth of his work. If anyone before Saint-Simon and Comte has the right to be designated as the "father of sociology," it is not Adam Smith, but Ferguson. Indeed, aside from certain formal distinctions, laws, and terminology originated by Saint-Simon and Comte, Ferguson's History of Civil Society, which appeared in 1765, is quite as much a treatise on sociology as Comte's treatment of "social physics" in his Positive Philosophy.
That Ferguson was moving in the right direction may be seen by the fact that he combined the descriptive and historical method of Montesquieu with the psychological and critical procedure of Hume. His treatment was thus both concrete and analytical. He rejected all a priori methods, as well as the ideas of a state of nature or a social contract. He insisted on studying society as it is,and from such study he found that the primary social fact is the inherent sociability of the human species resulting from instinct supported by convenience.
The dynamic element was very strong in the work of Ferguson, and he ridiculed the ideas of Aristotle and Hobbes that social stability and peace were the chief ends in society, and laid such stress upon the value of competition and conflict in social development that Gumplowicz has claimed him as the first great apostle of the "group-struggle" theory of social development. Ferguson's contribution to sociology is a neglected subject that would amply repay an exhaustive analysis.
Sociology Before Comte: A Summary of Doctrines and an Introduction to the Literature ((pages 234 - 235)
Origination date: Saturday, December 7th, 2019... 4:07 AM
Initial Posting: Thursday, December 26th, 2019... 6:53 AM
Herb O. Buckland
herbobuckland@hotmail.com