Practice question · Multiple choice
For Comte, social conflict is a curable pathology, whereas for Marx, it is the fundamental driver of progress. What practical political consequence follows from this division?
Hints
- Does treating conflict as a functional disease suggest a cure within the existing order or its complete destruction?
- Who holds legitimate agency to reform society in each system: specialised experts or an exploited collective class?
Show the answer
B. Comte seeks expert technocratic management, whilst Marx urges revolutionary overthrow
Why
Confusing Comte's scientific reformism with socialist transformation misses how their diagnostics shape their remedies. Viewing conflict as systemic contradiction leads Marx to revolutionary rupture, whereas diagnosing friction as functional disharmony directs positivism towards top-down administrative guidance.
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