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| Auguste Comte |
- Born in 1798 and died in 1857
- French
- concerened with two basic problems:
- Order. What forces bring order to a society
- Change. What forces bring change
- attempted to introduce a cohesive "religion of humanity"
- though largely unsuccessful, was influential in the development of various Secular Humanist organizations in the 19th century
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| Herbert Spencer |
- Born in 1820 and died in 1903
- believed the evolution of any species is a natural process
- strongly believed in this concept of "survival of the fittest"
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| Emile Durkheim |
- from 1858-1917
- professor at University of Bordeaux
- Much like Comte and Spencer
- had interest in questions like "what forces keep a society together?" and "What influences pull society apart?"
- thought the best way to analyze society was by examining the functions of different institutions
- very interested in the function of reliegion in society