Final answer:
The French philosopher Auguste Comte reinvented the term 'sociology' in 1838, and is widely recognized as one of its earliest theorists, playing a significant role in establishing sociology as a formal academic discipline.
Step-by-step explanation:
The person who coined the term sociology and was one of the earliest theorists of sociology is the French philosopher Auguste Comte. Although the term was first mentioned in 1780 by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, it was Comte who reinvented the term in 1838 and is often credited with being the father of sociology. Comte was a student of engineering who later shifted to study society using scientific methods under the mentorship of Claude Henri de Rouvroy Comte de Saint-Simon. He believed that by understanding the laws governing society, social scientists could address societal issues. His work led to the establishment of sociology as a formal academic discipline, and he proposed the law of three stages for the development of societies, which culminated in the stage of positivism, shifting focus from supernatural explanations to evidence-based scientific approaches.
Comte's influence was profound, with his ideas becoming a core part of the positivist philosophy and shaping the course of social science. Alongside thinkers like Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, Comte's contributions significantly defined the early canon of sociology. This philosophical foundation provided the bedrock for the further development of the discipline, leading to the establishment of sociology as an academic field with dedicated departments and formal methods of study as seen by Durkheim's achievements.