Origins of sociology: the history of the discipline

What are the origins of sociology, and its historical precedents? Let's take a look.

Although some may think that sociology is a recent science, the truth is that its origins go back a long way.

In order to understand in detail how sociology began to be forgedIn order to know in detail how sociology began to be forged, we will take a journey into the past that will allow us to discover the context in which we began to speak of this discipline, although logically the very term that gives it its name was not yet in use.

What are the origins of sociology?

When talking about the origins of sociology, many people tend to affirm that this science was established during the Enlightenment, that is to say, at the beginning of the 19th century. Technically this is true, since was after the French Revolution when it was consolidated as an academic discipline..

However, its roots go back much further in time. In fact, the first signs of a protosociology seem to come from ancient Greece.

It is the time of the great thinkers, some philosophers, such as Plato, but also historians, such as Thucydides, Polybius or Herodotus. All of them, as well as other authors, already made observations in their works that today could have been classified as within the parameters of sociology. That is why the origins of sociology are, therefore, to be found in ancient Greece.. But that was only the first approach to this science.

To continue to observe clues about the origins of sociology it is necessary to go forward several centuries and reach the Middle Ages. At this time, other theological thinkers, such as Marsilius of Padua, Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo, also make observations in their studies that would have a place in a future science of sociology.

Even modern methodologies commonly used today, such as the survey, could have been observed many centuries ago, specifically in the so-called "Domesday" book, a work commissioned by the monarch of the monastery of St. Augustine.a work commissioned by the English monarch, William the Conqueror (William I) as a sort of census or record of the population of England, in the year 1086 no less. This would be another of the pieces that would make up the origins of sociology.

The Islamic roots of sociology

Another major breakthrough for the crystallization of a future sociology took place thanks to Islamic culture in the Middle Ages, specifically in the 14th century. It was Ibn Khaldun, an Arab intellectual born in present-day Tunisia, who created his work "Muqaddimah", translated into Latin as Prolegomena.translated into Latin as Prolegomena. It is a compilation of seven volumes in which Ibn Khaldun compiled the universal history known so far.

But why is this work considered part of the origins of sociology? Because it not only limits itself to exposing the events of the world, but also makes a profound analysis of the causes that have generated conflicts on the one hand or cohesion on the other between different peoples, races or cultures, or what is the same, it makes a sociological analysis. This is why he is considered one of the fathers and pioneers of this discipline, even though it did not yet have that name.

One of the phenomena that Ibn Khaldun explores in the Muqaddimah is the underlying differences between nomadic and sedentary cultures, comparing the very different lifestyles involved in both typologies. It is just one of the examples we can find in this work and thus makes it one of the first complex sociological studies ever conducted in history, in the year 1377 no less, undoubtedly one of the origins of sociology.

The part of the Muqaddimah devoted to topics that we would consider sociological is entitled asabiyyaan Arabic term used to refer to concepts associated with the tribe or clan, in that they are a community with certain characteristics. In fact, today this term is associated with nationalism. The interesting thing about Ibn Khaldun's study is that it delves into the causes that generate the birth of new cultures or dominant civilizations.

In this sense, he maintains that when a new empire arises, it already harbors in itself the embryo of the causes that in the future will cause it to be destroyed and replaced by another culture, generating a new cycle that is constantly repeated. He speaks of peoples that originate on the periphery of the great empires and that over time grow to surpass them in power. A profound analysis that serves as an example to understand the origins of sociology.

The Age of Enlightenment

We anticipated at the beginning of the article that the origins of sociology, already as a consolidated discipline, could indeed be found in the Enlightenment. The first to name it was the Abbe Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès.He was an intellectual who laid the foundations for the ideas that would later underlie the French Revolution. He coined the term by combining the Latin word socius with the ending -ology, resulting in a new word meaning "the study of one's peers.

Although Abbe Sieyès coined the term in 1780, it would not be until 1838, almost 50 years later, when Auguste Comte proposed an exact definition, the one he maintains today, namely, the study of the behavior of human societies.. Comte was another French intellectual, in this case a philosopher and also the creator of the positivist current, in addition to the merit of having definitively established the origins of sociology, giving name and form to this science.

Other great French thinkers of the 19th century collaborated with the first sociological studies, nourishing this nascent field of knowledge. Such was the case of Henri de Saint-Simon, positivist philosopher, creator of the work "Social Physiology".. Not only did he use that concept, but he also referred to the new studies as social physics and the science of society. In fact, Saint-Simon was a fervent advocate of giving sociology a status similar to the existing natural sciences.

Another of the brilliant minds driving the origins of sociology was Harriet Martineau, a British author who is considered the first woman sociologist in history. In addition to publishing a huge number of works, she was an important collaborator of the aforementioned Auguste Comte and in fact it was thanks to her that many of her volumes were translated into English, thus enhancing the international scope of sociology as a new science.

The origins of sociology in the rest of Europe

We have already explored the great impact of the Enlightenment and a whole generation of French thinkers on the origins of sociology. Let us now learn how other European countries contributed to the further development of this new science. One of the pillars on which sociology rested was the progressive secularization that the entire continent was experiencing, and in that movement, Karl Marx, a follower of Hegel, had a great influence on this movement..

Marx further deepened the depth of the studies that sociology encompassed, studying moral and historical issues in a way that had not been done before. That is why authors such as Isaiah Berlin consider Karl Marx as one of the fathers of sociology, at least of the most modern version of this science. In any case, founder or not, he is a major contributor to the origins of sociology.

Another important author contemporary to Marx was Herbert Spencer, an English scientist who mastered several fields of knowledge including sociology.an English scientist who mastered several fields of knowledge, among which was sociology. Although he was a defender of Lamarck, his sociological theories were more in line with Darwin's postulates, adapted to society as a whole and not to the individual. In that sense, Spencer asserted that in nature those groups that were fittest survived.

But it was Émile Durkheim, the French philosopher, who brought sociology to the universities in a definitive way, consolidating it as a science independent of the social sciences.to the universities, consolidating it as a science independent of all others. He achieved this task by creating a department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux and at the same time creating a manual, the rules of sociological method, which from then on would govern all the studies created around this field of knowledge.

Thus, Émile Durkheim was the last great mover in a long line of authors who helped shape the origins of sociology, ultimately creating the science as we know it today. Although there would be room for more authors, in this article we have been able to meet some of the most prominent ones.

Bibliographical references:

• Aron, R., Trevijano, C.G. (2004). Las etapas del pensamiento sociológico: Montesquieu, Comte, Marx, Tocqueville, Durkheim, Pareto, Weber. Tecnos.
• Bottomore, T., Nisbet, R. (2001). History of sociological analysis. Amorrortu Editores España SL.
• Halsey, A.H. (2004). A history of sociology in Britain: science, literature, and society. Oxford University Press.
• Jones, R.A. (1983). The new history of sociology. Annual Review of Sociology.