Answer to Question 1
c
Answer to Question 2
French philosopher Auguste Comte coined the term sociology to describe a
new science that would engage in the study of society. Comte's theory stated
that societies contain social statics (forces for social order and stability) and
social dynamics (forces for conflict and change). Comte's philosophy became
known as positivisma belief that the world can best be understood through
scientific inquiry. He believed that objective, bias-free knowledge was
attainable only through the use of science rather than religion. However,
scientific knowledge was relative knowledge, not absolute and final. Comte's
positivism had two dimensions: (1) methodologicalthe application of
scientific knowledge to both physical and social phenomena, and (2) social
and politicalthe use of such knowledge to predict the likely results of
different policies so that the best one could be chosen. British social theorist
Herbert Spencer's major contribution to sociology was an evolutionary
perspective on social order and social change. According to Spencer's
Theory of General Evolution, society has various interdependent parts (such
as the family, the economy, and the government) that work to ensure the
stability and survival of the entire society. Spencer believed that societies
developed through a process of struggle (for existence) and fitness (for
survival), which he referred to as the survival of the fittest. Spencer's view of
society is known as social Darwinismthe belief that those species of
animals, including human beings, best adapted to their environment survive
and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out. Spencer equated this
process of natural selection with progress, because only the fittest
members of society would survive the competition, and the unfit would be
filtered out of society.
