The history of sociology is the science of sociology as a branch of knowledge, the process of its development and formation. On the way of its development, sociology has undergone quite substantial changes, both in the subject of research and in methods. If we talk about such a subject as the history of sociology, then it is worth dividing it into two periods: pre-scientific and scientific (modern).
The history of sociology - pre-scientific period
Antique period. The problem of society in ancient times was seriously dealt with by Greek philosophers. They framed their thoughts in the form of recipes for an “ideal society”, a portrait of an ideal person. On the issue of determining the essence of society, the main philosophers of that time disagreed. So, for example, Aristotle considered society a natural and natural consequence of human development, and Plato, on the contrary, was an artificial formation.
Middle Ages. The basic idea at that time was that a person is a citizen of the world - a system arranged according to the providence of God. According to this idea, the world is one, all people are brothers, and everyone is equally sinful. For this time, the mood of the original sin of each person and his inability to independently correct without the desire of God is characteristic.
Renaissance. This is a time of discovery not only in the field of geography, but also in the laws of human society. In the 14-16 centuries, the first Utopian thinkers appear (utopia is an idea that is incompatible with real life conditions), the British Thomas More, F. Bacon, the Spaniard T. Campanella and others. In their utopian tales, they painted the prototypes of a “bright future” for all people.
New time. The time of the triumph of scientific progress and the rapid development of the economy and population growth led to the emergence of new theories. Thus, in the 17th century, the representative of enlightenment, Hobbes, came up with the idea of a “social contract”, which justified the conditions for the legitimacy of power and for the first time called for the restriction of the monarch. Locke put forward the theory of universal equality of people, which later became the basis of the modern declaration of human rights.
The history of sociology - from the first scientific concepts to the present day
1842 is the year of the creation of the philosophy of positivism. The author of this theory, O. Comte, is also considered one of the first sociological scientists, since he was one of the first to determine the foundations of this science. So, he suggested using the methods of observation, comparative analysis and experiment in sociological research, defined the subject and purpose of the study. He was the first to generalize the previously collected knowledge, which formed the basis of the science of sociology. One of the most prominent sociologists is also called G. Spencer, who described in detail the idea of the evolution of society as part of wildlife. One of the branches of his teaching was social Darwinism, which subsequently developed into the racial-anthropological school and Sumner's social revolution, according to which the process of development of society is natural and is part of the regular course of development of the human species.
In the mid-19th century, K. Marx developed the theory of class struggle and inequality, the theory of socio-economic formations, according to which the main contradiction in society is private property, the destruction of which will lead to the disappearance of classes. And M. Weber at the same time creates his theory of understanding sociology.
L. Gumplovich at the end of the 19th century put forward the idea that the subject of sociology should be the study of social groups and their interaction. According to his writings, each social group competes with others for the right to survive and absorb most of its common resources. The beginning of the last century was marked by the theory of Pareto elites .
In the 20th century, many new concepts were developed (behaviorism, symbolic interactionism, phenomenological sociology, the theory of integral synthesis) and scientific schools, especially Chicago, Colombian and Frankfurt were especially popular among them.
The history of Russian sociology is largely similar to pan-European. The foundations were laid in pre-revolutionary Russia thanks to the ideas of the Slavophiles and Westerners. Subsequently, after 1917, Russian sociology was under strict ideological observation and developed more in line with the sociology of Marx. Only in the early 90s did Russian sociological science begin to take full advantage of the fruits of Western thinkers and scientists.
Today, the history of sociology continues to be replenished with new concepts and theories.