Auguste comte

Mathematical Analysis is... the true rational basis of the whole system of our positive knowledge.

Every attempt to employ mathematical methods in the study of chemical questions must be considered profoundly irrational and contrary to the spirit of chemistry.... if mathematical analysis should ever hold a prominent place in chemistry -- an aberration which is happily almost impossible -- it would occasion a rapid and widespread degeneration of that science.

The law is this: that each of our leading conceptions-each branch of our knowledge-passes successively through three different theoretical conditions: the Theological, or fictitious: the Metaphysical, or abstract; and the Scientific, or positive.

The mathematical thermology created by Fourier may tempt us to hope that, as he has estimated the temperature of the space in which we move, me may in time ascertain the mean temperature of the heavenly bodies: but I regard this order of facts as for ever excluded from our recognition. We can never learn their internal constitution, nor, in regard to some of them, how heat is absorbed by their atmosphere. We may therefore define Astronomy as the science by which we discover the laws of the geometrical and mechanical phenomena presented by the heavenly bodies.

Language forms a kind of wealth, which all can make use of at once without causing any diminution of the store, and which thus admits a complete community of enjoyment; for all, freely participating in the general treasure, unconsciously aid in its preservation.

If we do not allow free thinking in chemistry or biology, why should we allow it in morals or politics?

nd now that man's history has been for the first time systematically considered as a whole, and has been found to be, like all other phenomena, subject to invariable laws, the preparatory labours of modern Science are ended.

The universe displays no proof of an all-directing mind.

But now, I, August Comte, have discovered the truth. Therefore, there is no longer any need for freedom of thought or freedom of the press. I want to rule and to organize the whole country.

The word right should be excluded from political language, as the word cause from the language of philosophy.

Foreknowledge is power.

Know yourself to improve yourself.

Everything is relative; and only that is absolute.

Humanity is always made up of more dead than living.

Monotheism occupies so large a space in the view of modern minds, that it is scarcely possible to form a just estimate of the preceding phases of the theological philosophy.

In mathematics we find the primitive source of rationality; and to mathematics must the biologists resort for means to carry out their researches.

Men are not allowed to think freely about chemistry and biology: why should they be allowed to think freely about political philosophy?

Nothing is destroyed until it is replaced.

The heavens declare the glory of Kepler and Newton.

C'este donc par l'étude des mathématiques, et seulement par elle, que l'on peut se faire une idée juste et approfondie de ce que c'est qu'une science.

Positivism is a theory of knowledge according to which the only kind of sound knowledge available to human kind is that if science grounded in observation.

The only real life is the collective life of the race; individual life has no existence except as an abstraction.

In the final, the positive, state, the mind has given over the vain search after absolute notions, the origin and destination of the universe, and the causes of phenomena, and applies itself to the study of their laws - that is, their invariable relations of succession and resemblance. Reasoning and observation, duly combined, are the means of this knowledge. What is now understood when we speak of an explanation of facts is simply the establishment of a connection between single phenomena and some general facts.

Every science consists in the coordination of facts; if the different observations were entirely isolated, there would be no science.

After Montesquieu, the next great addition to Sociology (which is the term I may be allowed to invent to designate Social Physics) was made by Condorcet, proceeding on the views suggested by his illustrious friend Turgot.

All good intellects have repeated, since Bacon's time, that there can be no real knowledge but which is based on observed facts.

The dead govern the living.

Each department of knowledge passes through three stages. The theoretic stage; the theological stage and the metaphysical or abstract stage.

All good intellects have repeated, since Bacon's time, that there can be no real knowledge but that which is based on observed facts. This is incontestable, in our present advanced stage; but, if we look back to the primitive stage of human knowledge, we shall see that it must have been otherwise then. If it is true that every theory must be based upon observed facts; it is equally true that facts can not be observed without the guidance of some theory. Without such guidance, our facts would be desultory and fruitless; we could not retain them: for the most part we could not even perceive them.

Religion is an illusion of childhood, outgrown under proper education.

Ideas govern the world, or throw it into chaos.

To understand a science it is necessary to know its history.

To reorganize society without God or King, by the systematic culture of Humanity.

The sacred formula of positivism: love as a principle, the order as a foundation, and progress as a goal.

Induction for deduction, with a view to construction.

Woman is the most moral element in all humanity.

Author details

Auguste Comte: Biography and Life Work

Auguste Comte was a notable French philosopher. The story of Auguste Comte began on 19 January 1798 in Montpellier, French First Republic. The legacy of Auguste Comte continues today, following their passing on 5 September 1857 in Paris, Second French Empire.

Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte kɔ̃t] ⓘ ; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism . He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term. Comte's ideas were fundamental to the development of sociology , with him inventing the very term and treating the discipline as the crowning achievement of the sciences.

Legacy and Personal Influence

Academic foundations were established at University of Montpellier, École Polytechnique. Personally, Auguste Comte was married to Caroline Massin (divorced).

Philosophical Views and Reflections

The first stage, the theological stage, relies on supernatural or religious explanations of the phenomena of human behavior because "the human mind, in its search for the primary and final causes of phenomena, explains the apparent anomalies in the universe as interventions of supernatural agents". The Theological Stage is the "necessary starting point of human intelligence" when humans turn to supernatural agents as the cause of all phenomena. In this stage, humans focus on discovering absolute knowledge. Comte disapproved of this stage because it turned to simple explanation humans created in their minds that all phenomena were caused by supernatural agents, rather than human reason and experience. Comte refers to Bacon's philosophy that "there can be no real knowledge except that which rests upon observed facts", but he observes that the primitive mind could not have thought that way because it would have only created a vicious circle between observations and theories. "For if, on the one hand, every positive theory must necessarily be founded upon observations, it is, on the other hand, no less true that, in order to observe, our mind has need of some theory or other". Because the human mind could not have thought in that way in the origin of human knowledge, Comte claims that humans would have been "incapable of remembering facts", and would not have escaped the circle if it were not for theological conceptions, which were less complicated explanations to human life. Although Comte disliked this stage, he explains that theology was necessary at the beginning of the developing primitive mind.

In his earlier works, Comte criticized Islam (then often referred to as “Mohammedanism”) as a less rational or progressive religion compared to Western monotheistic traditions. However — especially in his later texts such as System of Positive Polity — Comte reassessed his position. He came to view Islam and Islamic civilization more favorably, praising what he regarded as the religion’s doctrinal simplicity, communal rituals, and civilizational history — factors he believed made Islam especially suited to transition toward the “positive religion” he envisioned. Comte even proposed borrowing certain symbolic and ritual-organizational elements from Islam (for example, a fixed direction for worship, akin to the qibla) for the global “religion of humanity.” His confidant Pierre Laffitte even named Comte's apartment "our Kaaba." He acknowledged that his earlier judgments reflected the prejudices of his time and admitted to having been mistaken, especially in his System of Positive Polity . This evolution influenced later positivist thinkers and helped explain why certain Muslim intellectuals and movements — especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — found positivism compatible with Islamic identity.

Auguste Comte
Auguste comte

Auguste Comte: Biography and Life Work

Auguste Comte was a notable French philosopher. The story of Auguste Comte began on 19 January 1798 in Montpellier, French First Republic. The legacy of Auguste Comte continues today, following their passing on 5 September 1857 in Paris, Second French Empire.

Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier Comte kɔ̃t] ⓘ ; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher, mathematician and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism . He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense of the term. Comte's ideas were fundamental to the development of sociology , with him inventing the very term and treating the discipline as the crowning achievement of the sciences.

Legacy and Personal Influence

Academic foundations were established at University of Montpellier, École Polytechnique. Personally, Auguste Comte was married to Caroline Massin (divorced).

Philosophical Views and Reflections

The first stage, the theological stage, relies on supernatural or religious explanations of the phenomena of human behavior because "the human mind, in its search for the primary and final causes of phenomena, explains the apparent anomalies in the universe as interventions of supernatural agents". The Theological Stage is the "necessary starting point of human intelligence" when humans turn to supernatural agents as the cause of all phenomena. In this stage, humans focus on discovering absolute knowledge. Comte disapproved of this stage because it turned to simple explanation humans created in their minds that all phenomena were caused by supernatural agents, rather than human reason and experience. Comte refers to Bacon's philosophy that "there can be no real knowledge except that which rests upon observed facts", but he observes that the primitive mind could not have thought that way because it would have only created a vicious circle between observations and theories. "For if, on the one hand, every positive theory must necessarily be founded upon observations, it is, on the other hand, no less true that, in order to observe, our mind has need of some theory or other". Because the human mind could not have thought in that way in the origin of human knowledge, Comte claims that humans would have been "incapable of remembering facts", and would not have escaped the circle if it were not for theological conceptions, which were less complicated explanations to human life. Although Comte disliked this stage, he explains that theology was necessary at the beginning of the developing primitive mind.

In his earlier works, Comte criticized Islam (then often referred to as “Mohammedanism”) as a less rational or progressive religion compared to Western monotheistic traditions. However — especially in his later texts such as System of Positive Polity — Comte reassessed his position. He came to view Islam and Islamic civilization more favorably, praising what he regarded as the religion’s doctrinal simplicity, communal rituals, and civilizational history — factors he believed made Islam especially suited to transition toward the “positive religion” he envisioned. Comte even proposed borrowing certain symbolic and ritual-organizational elements from Islam (for example, a fixed direction for worship, akin to the qibla) for the global “religion of humanity.” His confidant Pierre Laffitte even named Comte's apartment "our Kaaba." He acknowledged that his earlier judgments reflected the prejudices of his time and admitted to having been mistaken, especially in his System of Positive Polity . This evolution influenced later positivist thinkers and helped explain why certain Muslim intellectuals and movements — especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — found positivism compatible with Islamic identity.

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