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Auguste Comte (January 17, 1798 - September 5, 1857) was a French thinker known as the "father of sociology." He developed a philosophy he called "Positivism," in which he described human society as having developed through three stages, the third of which he called the "positive" stage, dominated by scientific thought. He was the first to apply the scientific method to the social world, and coined the term sociology to describe the scientific study of human society. He also coined the term "altruism," advocating that people should live for the sake of others.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (January 15, 1809 – January 19, 1865) was a French mutualist political philosopher who was the first individual to call himself an "anarchist" and is considered among the first anarchist thinkers. He was a working man, a printer, who taught himself Greek and Latin and wrote numerous books and newspaper articles, as well as founding several anarchist newspapers. His first major work, What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and Government (Qu'est-ce que la propriété? Recherche sur le principe du droit et du gouvernement), published in 1840, is famous for the slogan, "Property is theft!"