Who originally propounded the theory of three stages of social development ?

The correct answer is D) Auguste Comte. His Law of Three Stages, set out in his Cours de Philosophie Positive (1830-42), says every society and every branch of knowledge passes through three stages: the theological, where phenomena are explained by supernatural agents; the metaphysical, where abstract forces and essences replace gods; and the positive or scientific, where explanation rests on observation and natural laws. Comte also coined the term sociology, so he is rightly called its founder.

• Karl Marx is wrong. His scheme is historical materialism, with stages defined by modes of production (primitive communism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism, and so on) and driven by class struggle, not by a three-stage mental progression.
• Talcott Parsons is wrong. He is the structural-functionalist who gave us the AGIL schema and pattern variables. He did not propose a theory of social stages.
• Herbert Spencer is wrong. He used an organic analogy for social evolution and contrasted militant and industrial societies. That is a two-type classification, not three intellectual stages.

For Mains, Comte's positivism is the root of the scientific study of society and links to debates on value-neutral social science.

Trap: aspirants mix up Marx's or Spencer's evolutionary schemes with Comte's three stages because all of them talk about social progress.