Answer: There are five men who are usually associated with classical sociology and several others who were instrumental in the emergence and development of sociology.
Explanation: sociology is the study of the science of society. Although sociology has a long past, it's history is quite short and it's emergence as a discipline can be linked to the myriad of changes that occured in the nineteenth century. The term sociology was coined in 1838 by Auguste Comte.
Social theorists in classical sociology;
1. Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
2. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
3. Karl Max (1818-1883)
4. Max Weber (1864-1920)
5. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Those important to development of sociology;
1. Plato
2. Aristotle
3. Thomas Hobbes
4. Confucius
5. Machiavelli
6. Vico
7. Baron de Montesquieu
8. Rosseau
9. Ma Tuan Lin