-
Birth
“The sacred formula of positivism: love as a principle, the order as a foundation, and progress as a goal.”
—Auguste Comte -
Period: to
Early Writings
His early writings come from his friendship with Saint-Simon, a social theorist who believed in utopian reform. His works were influenced by the ending of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the conflict going on in Europe and his philosophy searched for meanings in the chaos to determine social order and how society could be studied as a science (sociology). 1998, Early Political Writings, H. S. Jones (ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. -
Positivism and the Three Stages
The states are Theological, Metaphysical, and Positive. He stated that humanity passes through all through. In the first, humanity looks for supernatural explanations to anomalies. In the second abstract entities replace the supernatural. In the third, those are replaced by absolute notions.
Auguste Comte: Positivism and the Three Stages -
Period: to
The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte
This six-volume publication is his most known work and where his law of three stages is reviewed and he classifies the sciences. In this, he argued that society operated under its own set of laws just like the physical world. This developed the subject of Sociology. He does not believe in absolute truth but rather science and society coming closer and closer to the truth without reaching it. Auguste Comte, Cours de philosophie positive, leçons 46–51, Paris: Hermann, 2012. -
Period: to
the System of Positive Polity, or Treatise on Sociology, Instituting the Religion of Humanity
In these works, he delves into the philosophy of Positivism where he believed we are searching for the "Invariant laws of the natural and social world'. He is known as one of the first philosophers of science. Positivism is the belief that any assertion can be verified and based on empiricism. He also believed that spiritual power in society should be with scientists. His philosophies greatly influenced many others and delved into how religion and government affect society. -
Death
“To understand a science it is necessary to know its history.”
—Auguste Comte
