10. Sociology in Its Relation to Economics and to Politics
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What do you understand was Comte's purpose in demanding for sociology a place among the sciences?
2. Are social phenomena susceptible to scientific prevision? Compare with physical phenomena.
3. What is Comte's order of the sciences? What is your explanation for the late appearance of sociology in the series?
4. What do you understand by the term "positive" when applied to the social sciences?
5. Can sociology become positive without becoming experimental?
6. "Natural science emphasizes the abstract, the historian is interested in the concrete." Discuss.
7. How do you distinguish between the historical method and the method of natural science in dealing with the following phenomena: (a) electricity, (b) plants, (c) cattle, (d) cities?
8. Distinguish between history, natural history, and natural science.