MudaTalk.com_ The three-stage legal theory is a theory that was coined by Auguste Comte, a founder of the positivism school of philosophy who is known as the father of sociology. Comte’s name was famous after publishing a book entitled Course Positive-Philosophy. This book, which was worked on for a period of 12 years and consists of 6 volumes, discusses the method of achieving social order. Comte judged that there were concerns about the disorder of society.
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In addition, Comte was the first person to introduce the term sociology. Through his positivism approach Comte gave a solid scientific foundation on the application of the scientific method in the search for truth in the social sciences . Comte considered that sociology should be formed based on observations or observations of society, not just speculations about society.
Thanks to the book he published, the originator of this positivism philosophy began to surface in academic discourse. The three-stage legal theory that discusses the development of society is a matter of debate because it examines the method of how society should be. Although it was not the only book he published because Comte also published another book entitled System of Positive Politics .
Two of Comte’s books made extensive intellectual contributions. The Course Positive-Philosophy book contains a discussion of science transforming into philosophy while the Course System of Positive Politics book contains a discussion of philosophy which is transformed into religion. Despite the pros and cons, Comte’s great success was to bring the study of sociology firmly on its own as a branch of social science and out of the spheres of philosophy.
Who is Auguste Comte?
Born in the small town of Montpellier in southwestern France in 1798. Little Auguste Comte whose real name was Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte. His father was a tax official named Louis Comte and his mother Rosalie Boyer was a devout woman. Comte died at the age of 59 in 1857.
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In his youth Comte spent time studying at the cole Polytechnique, Montpellier’s medical school and studied with Claude Henri de Rouvroy and the Comte de Saint-Simon. Comte’s intellectual journey was tested from a young age because during his studies he had to experience the processes of republicanism and skepticism.
Republicanism is an ideology born out of the French Revolution. Ideology that teaches about democracy, social justice, and civil equality. The beginning of republicanism was strongly rejected by the Roman Catholic church because the concept of republicanism taught secular ethics. Republicanism tries to separate the church from the state.
This historical social situation in France, which underwent a reorganization, made Comte concentrate on social studies, especially sociology. Comte considered that social understanding cannot be obtained without using a historical or social dynamic approach .
Comte’s Sociological Theory: The Law of Three Stages
In general, Comte divided the study of sociology into two major parts. First , Social statics which discusses the laws of action and reaction that occur in social systems. Second, Social dynamic which discusses the theory of the development and progress of society.
The two divisions above are interrelated because social statics is the most basic part. Although most basic social statics is not the most important part of sociology. The most important part is social dynamics because society continues to develop and change according to external factors that influence it. This means that the division above does not mean separating the discussion from one another.
On the other hand, Comte was of the opinion that society would continue to develop, but that the journey of development did not always run smoothly. There are many external factors that will hinder the development of society such as race, politics, economy and culture. This resulted in social development characteristics must be sought. As a result, Comte proposed a three-stage legal theory of human intelligence to be characteristic.
More specifically Auguste Comte’s three-stage legal theory in the theory of social change is classified into three stages. The first stage is the theological stage, the second stage is metaphysical and the third stage is positive.
Theological Stage
The theological stage is the stage where humans still think that all things in this world have supernatural powers. This thought was used by people before 1300 AD to explain all the phenomena that occurred so that it seemed irrational.
In the theological stage, there are three beliefs held by the community, namely fetishism, dynamism, and animism. Fetishism is the belief in the existence of supernatural powers in certain objects. Dynamism is a belief that considers the universe to have a soul while animism is a belief that believes in the world as the residence of spirits or spirits.
There are also other views on polytheism and monotheism. Polytheism is a form of belief that recognizes the existence of more than one God or worships gods (many gods) while monotheism is the belief that God is one/single and has full power over everything.
As an illustration, when there is a lunar eclipse phenomenon, people at this theological stage assume that the moon has been eaten by Butho (Evil Giant).
Metaphysical stage
The metaphysical stage is the stage where people believe that abstract forces determine events in the world. The metaphysical stage is the result of a shift from the theological stage and occurred around AD 1300-1800.
At this metaphysical stage, abstract concepts or abstract powers other than God, namely nature, begin to emerge. This stage believes that all events on earth are natural laws that cannot be changed and society seeks explanations for the phenomena experienced with abstract impersonal concepts.
As an illustration, one of them is that many people are already highly educated but still believe in fortune-tellers or shamans (in Javanese cosmology).
Positivism Stage
The positivism stage believes that all natural phenomena or phenomena that occur can be explained scientifically based on review, testing and can be proven empirically.
The word positivism was first introduced by Saint Simon, Comte’s friend and teacher. This stage believes that science is the only valid knowledge and historical facts that may be the object of knowledge.
Thus, positivism rejects the existence of all forces or subjects behind facts. Refuse any use of methods other than those used to examine facts.
This stage makes science develop and everything becomes more rational. As a result, a better world is created because people tend to stop searching for absolute causes because of God or nature. People in the age of positivism concentrated more on research on the social world.
At the positive stage where the human mind has reached the pinnacle of developing science and technology, people are no longer looking for absolute knowledge of final causes but questioning the static and dynamic relationship of phenomena.
As an illustration, if you are sick and go to the hospital, the cure is medicine, eating and resting regularly, not because of gods or shamans.
This is Auguste Comte’s three-stage theory