How did Auguste Comte use the term sociology?

Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, is credited with coining the term sociology to describe a new, unifying social science intended to explain social organizations and guide future social planning.12

Comte envisioned sociology as the final and most complex discipline in his classification of the sciences, following mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology. He believed that by applying scientific methods, social phenomena could be reduced to laws similar to those governing the physical universe.2

He systematically organized the field into two primary branches:
* Social statics: The study of the forces that maintain social cohesion and hold society together.2
* Social dynamics: The study of the causes and processes of social change.2

Ultimately, Comte viewed sociology as an ameliorative tool. He proposed that a secular "priesthood" of sociologists should use this scientific understanding to guide public morality, education, and the reconstruction of society within a new, positivist framework.2