To sum up, these numerous definitions are mainly divided into three categories: the first category takes the whole society as the research object. The main representatives of this view are Comte, Spencer,&; Eacute Durkheim and others, among them, Comte and Spencer emphasized the general social phenomenon when studying the whole society, while Durkheim emphasized the special social phenomenon, that is, "social facts", which formed the positivism line in sociology. The second category focuses on individuals and their social behaviors. The main representative of this view is M weber and others, which formed the anti-positivism line in sociology. These two viewpoints have far-reaching influence on later generations, and many viewpoints in later generations are mostly the deformation or mixture of these two viewpoints. Among Marxist sociologists, there are both those who advocate the first view and those who agree with the second view. However, all of them are guided by the unity of society and individuals, and all agree with Marx's following views: individuals are social people, and we should avoid taking "society" as an abstract thing to oppose individuals; On the contrary, society is the product of interpersonal communication and the sum total of social relations on which everyone depends. As for other sociological definitions that do not belong to these two categories, they can be regarded as the third category, some of which have great influence, but they have not become the mainstream of sociological development.

China sociologist's point of view

Sociology is a comprehensive and concrete social science about the conditions and mechanisms for the benign operation and coordinated development of society.

Sociologists in China have the following views on the definition of sociology.

1, focusing on the society itself as an organic whole (the society here includes both the whole society and the local society, that is, a certain aspect, a certain field and a certain level of society). Its representative views are as follows: Sociology is a science that studies the causes of social governance and chaos, prosperity and decline with scientific methods, and reveals the methods and laws of social governance. This was first put forward by Yan Fu. He explained in the preface to the Preface of Group Learning: "What about group learning? Using the laws of science, we can observe the changes of the people, draw lessons from the past and measure the future. What is the rumor? The purpose of sending experts is to study the application of functions, but to show it as a way of treatment. " "A group of scholars will focus on the Meiji Restoration, the rise and fall, and the three things (righteousness, virtue, and generosity-author's note)." Yan Fu's definition of sociology not only accords with Comte's and Spencer's sociological viewpoints, but also has China characteristics. In 1980s, among sociologists in China, it was suggested that sociology is a comprehensive and concrete social science to study the laws of modern social operation and development, especially the laws of benign social operation and coordinated development. This definition can be said to have developed along Yan Fu's train of thought.

Sociology, like historical materialism, studies the universal laws of social development. Before 1949, China's Marxist sociologists Li Dazhao, Qu Qiubai, Li Da, Xu Deheng, Chen Hansheng and others liked Russian γ. β. plekhanov. Bukharin and others insist on this view. Their definition of sociology is similar: "Sociology is a kind of science, which studies various phenomena and their principles in society and all the knowledge of social systems, investigates what society is by scientific methods, and invents a law to govern human actions" (Li Dazhao: the value of historical materialism in modern sociology,1920); "Sociologists, one of the social sciences, whose purpose is to explore the principles of social evolution; The research method is to trace back to the past to explain the present, and also to predict the future from the present (Collected Works of Li Da, p. 237, People's Publishing House, 1 980); Sociology is "a kind of knowledge that studies the structure of human society and its existence, development, changes and their interrelations, analyzes the elements that constitute human social life and their nature and interaction, and explores the causal relationship and laws of social changes, so as to infer the methods of social progress and predict the future" (Xu Deheng: Social Science and Sociology, 1936).

Sociology studies the whole society and its regularity. The first book "Introduction to Sociology (Trial)", which was hosted and directed by Fei Xiaotong and published after the reconstruction of sociology in China, defined from the perspective of society as a whole: "Sociology is a comprehensive social science that studies the structure, function, occurrence and development of society through people's social relations and social behaviors." Some sociologists in Taiwan Province Province also hold a similar view: "Sociology is to study human society with a scientific method and a scientific attitude; Mainly discusses the structural elements, origin, development, maturity and change of society; Discuss social events such as social system, social system, social activities, social relations, social operation procedures and social groups. And want to seek or establish universal public laws, principles, principles and other sciences in various social events. " 4. Pay attention to individuals as social subjects and their social behaviors as research objects. People who advocated this view before the founding of the People's Republic of China were mainly represented by Sun Benwen. He was deeply influenced by the psychology and behavior theory of Chicago Interactive School, and thought that although there was nothing wrong with various definitions of sociology, "they are abstract, broad, vague or narrow, and it seems that they cannot be considered as appropriate definitions. Comparison can be considered as an appropriate definition at present, that is, the science of studying social behavior with sociology (sociological principles). Long Guan Hai's definition of sociological objects also belongs to this category, and holds that the main purpose of sociology is "people in social communication or social relations, social systems, social groups, social organizations and their relationships".