Towards a reassessment of Auguste Comte’s place in the History of sociology

Abstract

Comte’s main contribution to sociology is the notion of consensus, which he took from biology. Even if he did not pay enough attention to the distinction between the empirical level and the normative one, his theory helps to understand what is wrong with the utilitarian tradition. Furthermore, although he did not succeed in specifying the mechanisms that account for consensus, many valuable insights into what could be called its ingredients can be found in his works, as shown by the way he deals with division of labour or the central place he gives to intellectual order in his general theory of order. The second part deals with the changes introduced in theSystem of Positive Policy. The last part draws a parallel between Comte’s conception of progress, as stated in the law of the three stages, and Weber’s account of the process of rationalization.