Harriet Martineau was an English writer and social theorist widely regarded as one of the first sociologists and among the earliest to bring systematic method to the observation of society. She translated and condensed Auguste Comte's Cours de philosophie positive into English as The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, a version that became more widely read than the French original and helped introduce positivist sociology to English-speaking readers. In Society in America (1837), based on her own extensive travels, she analyzed American institutions and social life, and in How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838) she set out an early systematic methodology for the comparative, empirical study of societies.
Facts
Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionAdvocated a systematic, holistic sociological method for studying society, including the home and domestic life alongside political, religious and social institutions, and translated Auguste Comte's positivist philosophy into English. 1 Notable WorkSociety in America (1837) 1 Connections
Informed By
Martineau condensed English translation of Comte Cours de philosophie positive introduced positivism to the English-speaking world and shaped her own sociological method.
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Harriet Martineau (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead sentence, opening line (birth date)
12 June 1802
Lead sentence, opening line (birth year)
12 June 1802
Early life section, opening line (birthplace)
Born in Norwich, England, Harriet Martineau was the sixth of the eight children
Death section (death date)
Harriet Martineau died of bronchitis at "The Knoll" on 27 June 1876, aged 74.
Death section (death year)
Harriet Martineau died of bronchitis at "The Knoll" on 27 June 1876, aged 74.
Ambleside section (death place)
Martineau left Tynemouth for Ambleside in the Lake District, where she designed herself and oversaw the construction of the house called "The Knoll"
Lead sentence (nationality)
was an English social theorist
American visit section (notable work)
publication, soon after her return, of Society in America (1837) and How to Observe Morals and Manners (1838)
Lead paragraph (defining contribution)
She wrote from a sociological, holistic, religious and feminine angle, translated works by Auguste Comte, and, rare for a woman writer at the time, earned enough to support herself.
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