Final answer:
John Stuart Mill proposed a separate science for the study of society, which laid the foundation for the development of sociology, enabling it to become a discipline that informs governmental and institutional policies.
Step-by-step explanation:
John Stuart Mill, a prominent 19th-century philosopher and economist, proposed a separate science for the study of society. He appreciated the established empiricism of the natural sciences like physics, biology, and chemistry.
However, he recognized the profound changes occurring in the social order during the industrial and democratic revolutions of the 19th century.
Mill, in the tradition of positivism as advocated by Auguste Comte, saw the need for a science that specifically addressed the phenomena and complexities of society, which subsequently led to the development of sociology as a separate discipline.
This recognition paved the way for sociology to evolve into a practical field that could guide government policies and institutional programs, with notable contributions from scholars such as W. E. B. Du Bois.