من الفيزياء إلى علم الاجتماع: تباين المواضيع وتقارب المناهج

Abstract

This article examines the impact of classical physics on the development of sociology and explores the evolution of their relationship, particularly in the context of post-positivism in sociology and quantum physics. Initially, it highlights how the French founders Auguste Comte and Émile Durkheim were influenced by classical physics in crafting a distinct methodological framework for sociology and establishing its scientific legitimacy. They applied the positivist approach of classical physics to social phenomena, creating tools and methods for measuring, classifying, and controlling these phenomena with the goal of deriving general laws and causal explanations. The article then presents examples of epistemological and methodological convergences between sociology and quantum physics. Although post-positivist theories in sociology did not emerge directly from advances in quantum physics, but rather as an internal development within sociology itself and the evolution of its cognitive models, there are notable similarities between the two fields. The recognition of uncertainty, the interplay between the observer and the observed, and the challenge to absolute objectivity highlight a shared intellectual terrain, linking the disciplines and offering a more nuanced understanding of contemporary scientific and social paradigms.