Abstract

I submit that, in order to fulfill its fundamental aspiration to be a science, sociology must reconnect – beyond classical sociologists – with the authors of prior generations who prepared its emergence. They are Condorcet, Laplace, Poisson, Arago, Quetelet and Verhulst, all of whom predate the creation of the word “sociology” by Auguste Comte. I show that these authors had a scientific project for sociology, and that in its embryonic stage this science has been silenced by the official sociology established by Auguste Comte and his successors. This chapter reviews the ideas of these authors, revisits the aversion of the founder of sociology to his predecessors, and tries to draw consequences for the pursuit and further development of scientific sociology.