Auguste Comte:Auguste Comte (1798–1857) is the founder of positivism, a philosophical and

political movement which enjoyed a very wide diffusion in the second half of the

nineteenth century. It sank into an almost complete oblivion during the twentieth,

when it was eclipsed by neo-positivism. However, Comte’s decision to develop

successively a philosophy of mathematics, a philosophy of physics, a philosophy

of chemistry and a philosophy of biology, makes him the first philosopher of

science in the modern sense, and his constant attention to the social dimension of

science resonates in many respects with current points of view. His political

philosophy, on the other hand, is even less known, because it differs substantially

from the classical political philosophy we have inherited.

Comte’s most important works are (1) the Course on Positive Philosophy (1830–

1842, six volumes, translated and condensed by Harriet Martineau as The Positive

Philosophy of Auguste Comte); (2) the System of Positive Polity, or Treatise on

Sociology, Instituting the Religion of Humanity, (1851–1854, four volumes); and

(3) the Early Writings (1820–1829), where one can see the influence of Saint-

Simon, for whom Comte served as secretary from 1817 to 1824. The Early

Writings are still the best introduction to Comte’s thought. In the Course, Comte

said, science was transformed into philosophy; in the System, philosophy was

transformed into religion. The second transformation met with strong opposition;

as a result, it has become customary to distinguish, with Mill, between a “good

Comte” (the author of the Course) and a “bad Comte” (the author of the System).

Today’s common conception of positivism corresponds mainly to what can be

found in the Course.

As said in its first lesson, the Course pursues two goals. The first, a specific one, is

a foundation for sociology, then called ‘social physics’. The second, a general goal,

is the coordination of the whole of positive knowledge. The structure of the work

reflects this duality: the first three volumes examine the five fundamental sciences

then in existence (mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology), and the

final three volumes deal with the social sciences. Executing the two parts did not

require the same amount of work. In the first case, the sciences had already been

formed and it was just a matter of summarizing their main doctrinal and

methodological points. In the other case, however, all was still to be done, and

Comte was well aware that he was founding a new science.

Law of Three StagesThe law of three stages is an idea developed by Auguste Comte in his work The Course in Positive Philosophy. It states that society as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1) the theological stage, (2) the metaphysical stage, and (3) the positive stage.

The Law of three stages is the corner stone of Auguste Comte’s approach. Comte’s

ideas relating to the law of three stages reveal that man is becoming more and more

rational and scientific in his approach by gradually giving up speculations,

imagination etc. He has shown that there is a close association between intellectual

evolution and social progress. The law of three stages is the three stages of mental

and social development. It is the co-ordination of feeling, thought and action in

individuals and society. There are three important aspects of our nature. Such as

our feelings, our thought and our actions.

Our feelings:

The emotions and impulses which prompt us.

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Our thought:

Which are undertaken in the service of our feelings but also helps to govern them.

Our actions:

Which are undertaken in the service of our feelings and thought. For the continuity

and existence of society there must be some order of institutions, values, beliefs

and knowledge which can successfully co-relate the feelings, thought and activity

of its members. In the history of mankind—during which the social order bringing

these elements into relation with each other has been worked out—three types of

solution, three stages of development can be distinguished.

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According to Comte, each of our leading conceptions-each branch of our

knowledge passes successively through different theoretical conditions:

1. The Theological or fictitious,

2. The Metaphysical or abstract,

3. The Scientific or positive.

Comte considered his law of Three stages based upon belief in social evolution to

be the most important. There has been an evolution in the human thinking, so that

each succeeding stage is superior to and more evolved than the preceding stage. It

can hardly be questioned that Comte’s law of three stages has a strong mentalist or

idealistic bias. He co-related each mental age of mankind with its characteristic

accompanying social organisation and type of political dominance. This law

appeared in, the year 1822 in his book Positive Philosophy.

The Theological or Fictitious stage:

The theological stage is the first and it characterised the world prior to 1300. Here

all theoretical conceptions, whether general or special bear a supernatural impress.

At this level of thinking there is a marked lack of logical and orderly thinking.

Overall the theological thinking implies belief in super natural power.

This type of thinking is found among the primitive races. In theological stage, all

natural phenomena and social events were explained in terms of super natural

forces and deities, which ultimately explaining everything as the product of God’s

will. This stage is dominated by priests and ruled by military men.

Human mind is dominated by sentiments, feelings and emotions. Every

phenomenon was believed to be the result of immediate actions of super-natural

beings. Explanations take the form of myths concerning spirits and super natural

beings.

Man seeks the essential nature of all beings, first and final causes, origins and

purposes of all effects and the overriding belief that all things are caused by super

natural beings. Theology means discourse in religion. Religion dominates in this

state of development. This state is characterised by conquest. The theological—

military society was basically dying. Priests were endowed with intellectual and

spiritual power, while military exercised temporal authority.

It has three sub-stages:

(i) Fetishism:

‘Fetish’ means inanimate and ‘ism’ means philosophy. This is a philosophy which

believes that super natural power dwells in inanimate object. Fetishism as a form

of religion started which admitted of no priesthood. When everything in nature is

thought to be imbued with life analogous to our own, pieces of wood, stone, skull

etc. are believed to be the dwelling place of super natural powers, as these objects

are believed to possess divine power. But too many fetishes created confusion for

people. Hence they started believing in several gods. Thus arose polytheism.

(ii) Polytheism:

‘Poly’ means many. So the belief in many Gods is called polytheism. Human being

received variety or diversity of natural phenomena. Each phenomenon was kept

under the disposal of one God. One God was believed to be in charge of one

particular natural phenomenon. In polytheism, there is an unrestrained imagination

person the world with innumerable Gods and spirits. People created the class of

priests to get the goodwill and the blessings of these gods. The presence of too

many gods also created for them mental contradictions. Finally they developed the

idea of one God, i.e. monotheism.

(iii) Monotheism:

It means belief in one single God. He is all in all. He controls everything in this

world. He is the maker of human destiny. Monotheism is the climax of the

theological stage of thinking. The monotheistic thinking symbolizes the victory of

human intellect and reason over non-intellectual and irrational thinking. Slowly

feelings and imaginations started giving place to thinking and rationality. In

monotheism a simplification of many gods into one God takes place, largely in the

service of awakening reason, which qualifies and exercises constraint upon the

imagination.

In theological stage, soldiers, kings, priests etc. were given respect in the society.

Everything was considered in terms of family welfare. Love and affection bonded

the members of a family together. In this stage social organisation is predominantly

of a military nature. It is the military power which provides the basis of social

stability and conquest which enlarges the bounds of social life.

(a) Progress is observable in all aspects of society: physical, moral, intellectual and

political.

(b) The intellectual is the most important. History is dominated by the development

of ideas leading to changes in other areas.

(c) Auguste Comte says on the “Co-relations” between basic intellectual stages and

stages of material development, types of social units, types of social order and

sentiments.

Metaphysical or Abstract Stage:

The metaphysical stage started about 1300 A.D. and was short lived roughly till

1800. It forms a link and is mongrel and transitional. It is almost an extension of

theological thinking. It corresponds very roughly to the middle Ages and

Renaissance.

It was under the sway of churchmen and lawyers. This stage was characterised by

Defence. Here mind pre-supposes abstract forces. ‘Meta’ means beyond and

physical means material world. Supernatural being is replaced by supernatural

force. This is in form of essences, ideas and forms. Rationalism started growing

instead of imagination.

Rationalism states that God does not stand directly behind every phenomenon.

Pure reasoning insists that God is an Abstract being. Under metaphysical thinking

it is believed that an abstract power or force guides and determines the events in

the world. Metaphysical thinking discards belief in concrete God. It is

characterised by the dominance of “ratiocination.”

In metaphysical stage speculative thought is unchecked by any other principle.

Human body was considered to be the spark of divinity. This kind of thinking

corresponded with the legal type of society; and law, lawyers and churchmen

dominated the society. Law remained under the control of the state.

The Positive or Scientific stage:

Finally in 1800 the world entered the positivistic stage. The positive stage

represents the scientific way of thinking. Positive thought ushers in an industrial

age. The positive or scientific knowledge is based upon facts and these facts are

gathered by observation and experience. All phenomena are seen as subject to

natural laws that can be investigated by observations and experimentation.

The dawn of the 19th Century marked the beginning of the positive stage in which

observation predominates over imagination. All theoretical concepts have become

positive. The concept of God is totally vanished from human mind. Human mind

tries to establish cause and affect relationship. Mind is actually in search of final

and ultimate cause.

The scientific thinking is thoroughly rational and there is no place for any belief or

superstition in it. This stage is governed by industrial administrators and scientific

moral guides. At this stage of thought, men reject all supposed explanations in

terms either of Gods or essences as useless.

They cease to seek ‘original causes’ or ‘final ends’. This stage is dominated by the

entrepreneurs, technologists etc. Unit of society was confined to the mankind as a

whole, vision of mind was broad and there is no parochial feeling. Kindness,

sympathy etc. to the cause of humanity prevailed.

This is the ultimate stage in a series of successive transformations. The new system

is built upon the destruction of the old; with evolution, come progress and

emancipation of human mind. Human history is the history of a single man,

Comte, because the progress of the man mind gives unity to the entire history of

society. For Comte, all knowledge is inescapably human knowledge; a systematic

ordering of propositions concerning our human experience of the world.

Corresponding to the three stages of mental progress; Comte identified two major

types of societies. The theological-military society which was dying, the scientific-

industrial society which was being born during his life time. Here the main stress is

on the transformation of the material resources of the earth for human benefit and

the production of material inventions. In this positive or scientific stage the great

thought blends itself with great power.

Criticisms:

Comte’s law of three stages have been criticized by different philosophers and

sociologists.

(i) According to Bogardus, Comte failed to postulate a fourth mode of thinking, i.e.

socialized thinking, a system of thought which would emphasize the purpose of

building the constructive, just and harmonious societies. Bogardus also says,

Comte however, should be credited with opening the way for rise of socialized

thinking.

(ii) According to Prof. N.S. Timasheff, Comte’s law of three stages could not stand

the test of facts. He opines, “Neither the later approaches (metaphysical and

scientific) wholly supersedes the religious approach; rather there has been

accumulation and often admixture of the three”.

(iii) C.E. Vaughan has said, “But its foundation is purely negative and destructive.

It is powerless to construct and when credited with the ability to do so, it brings

forth nothing but anarchy and bloodshed.”

The structure of the Course explains why the law of the three stages (which is

often the only thing known about Comte) is stated twice. Properly speaking, the

law belongs to dynamic sociology or theory of social progress, and this is why it

serves as an introduction to the long history lessons in the fifth and sixth volumes.

But it equally serves as an introduction to the work as a whole, to the extent that its

author considers this law the best way to explain what positive philosophy is.

The law states that, in its development, humanity passes through three successive

stages: the theological, the metaphysical, and the positive. The first is the necessary

starting point for the human mind; the last, its normal state; the second is but a

transitory stage that makes possible the passage from the first to the last. In the

theological stage, 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 second stage is only a simple modification of the first: the

questions remain the same, but in the answers supernatural agents are replaced by

abstract entities. In the positive state, the mind stops looking for causes of

phenomena, and limits itself strictly to laws governing them; likewise, absolute

notions are replaced by relative ones. Moreover, if one considers material

development, the theological stage may also be called military, and the positive

stage industrial; the metaphysical stage corresponds to a supremacy of the lawyers

and jurists.

This relativism of the third stage is the most characteristic property of positivism.

It is often mistakenly identified with scepticism, but our earlier remark about

dogmatism prevents us from doing so.

For Comte, science is a “connaissance approchée”: it comes closer and closer to

truth, without reaching it. There is no place for absolute truth, but neither are there

higher standards for the fixation of belief. Comte is here quite close to Peirce in his

famous 1877 paper.

The law of the three stages belongs to those grand philosophies of history

elaborated in the 19th century, which now seem quite alien to us (for a different

opinion, see Schmaus (1982)). The idea of progress of Humanity appears to us as

the expression of an optimism that the events of the 20th century have done much

to reduce (Bourdeau 2006). More generally, the notion of a law of history is

problematic (even though it did not seem so to Mill (1842, bk. VI, chap. X)).

Already Durkheim felt forced to exclude social dynamics from sociology, in order

to give it a truly scientific status.

These difficulties, however, are far from fatal to this aspect of Comte’s thought.

Putting aside the fact that the idea of moral progress is slowly regaining some

support, it is possible to interpret the three stages as forms of the mind that co-exist

whose relative importance varies in time. This interpretation seems to be offered

by Comte himself, who gives several examples of it in his history lessons. The

germs of positivity were present from the beginning of the theological stage; with

Descartes, the whole of natural philosophy reaches the positive stage, while moral

philosophy remains in the metaphysical stage (1830 (58), v. 2, 714–715).

Positivism

Positivism, in Western philosophy, generally, any system that confines itself to the

data of experience and excludes a priori or metaphysicalspeculations. More

narrowly, the term designates the thought of the French philosopher Auguste

Comte (1798–1857).

Auguste Comte was the first to develop the concept of "sociology." He

definedsociology as a positive science. Positivism is the search for "invariant laws

of the natural and social world." Comte identified three basic methods for

discovering these invariant laws, observation, experimentation, and comparison.

As a philosophical ideology and movement, positivism first assumed its distinctive

features in the work of Comte, who also named and systematized

the science of sociology. It then developed through several stages known by

various names, such as empiriocriticism, logical positivism, and

logical empiricism, finally merging, in the mid-20th century, into the already

existing tradition known as analytic philosophy.

The basic affirmations of positivism are (1) that all knowledge regarding matters of

fact is based on the “positive” data of experience and (2) that beyond the realm of

fact is that of pure logic and pure mathematics. Those two disciplines were already

recognized by the 18th-century Scottish empiricist and skeptic David Hume as

concerned merely with the “relations of ideas,” and, in a later phase of positivism,

they were classified as purely formal sciences. On the negative and critical side,

the positivists became noted for their repudiation of metaphysics—i.e., of

speculation regarding the nature of reality that radically goes beyond any

possible evidence that could either support or refute such “transcendent”

knowledge claims. In its basic ideological posture, positivism is thus

worldly, secular, antitheological, and antimetaphysical. Strict adherenceto the

testimony of observation and experience is the all-important imperative of

positivism. That imperative was reflected also in the contributions by positivists

to ethics and moral philosophy, which were generally utilitarian to the extent that

something like “the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people” was

their ethical maxim. It is notable, in this connection, that Comte was the founder of

a short-lived religion, in which the object of worship was not the deity of the

monotheistic faiths but humanity.

There are distinct anticipations of positivism in ancient philosophy. Although the

relationship of Protagoras—a 5th-century-BCE Sophist—for example, to later

positivistic thought was only a distant one, there was a much more pronounced

similarity in the classical skeptic Sextus Empiricus, who lived at the turn of the 3rd

century CE, and in Pierre Bayle, his 17th-century reviver. Moreover,

the medieval nominalistWilliam of Ockham had clear affinities with modern

positivism. An 18th-century forerunner who had much in common with the

positivistic anti-metaphysics of the following century was the German

thinker Georg Lichtenberg.

The proximate roots of positivism, however, clearly lie in the

French Enlightenment, which stressed the clear light of reason, and in 18th-century

British empiricism, particularly that of Hume and of Bishop George Berkeley,

which stressed the role of sense experience. Comte was influenced specifically by

the Enlightenment Encyclopaedists (such as Denis Diderot, Jean d’Alembert, and

others) and, especially in his social thinking, was decisively influenced by the

founder of French socialism, Claude-Henri, comte de Saint-Simon,

whose disciple he had been in his early years and from whom the

very designation positivism stems.

Comte’s positivism was posited on the assertion of a so-called law of the three

phases (or stages) of intellectual development. There is a parallel, as Comte saw it,

between the evolution of thought patterns in the entire history of humankind, on

the one hand, and in the history of an individual’s development from infancy to

adulthood, on the other. In the first, or so-called theological, stage, natural

phenomena are explained as the results of supernatural or divine powers. It matters

not whether the religion is polytheistic or monotheistic; in either case, miraculous

powers or wills are believed to produce the observed events. This stage was

criticized by Comte as anthropomorphic—i.e., as resting on all-too-

human analogies. Generally, animistic explanations—made in terms of the

volitions of soul-like beings operating behind the appearances—are rejected as

primitive projections of unverifiable entities.

The second phase, called metaphysical, is in some cases merely a depersonalized

theology: the observable processes of nature are assumed to arise from impersonal

powers, occult qualities, vital forces, or entelechies (internal perfecting principles).

In other instances, the realm of observable facts is considered as an imperfect copy

or imitation of eternal ideas, as in Plato’s metaphysics of pure forms. Again,

Comte charged that no genuine explanations result; questions concerning ultimate

reality, first causes, or absolute beginnings are thus declared to be absolutely

unanswerable. The metaphysical quest can lead only to the conclusion expressed

by the German biologist and physiologist Emil du Bois-Reymond: “Ignoramus et

ignorabimus” (Latin: “We are and shall be ignorant”). It is a deception through

verbal devices and the fruitless rendering of concepts as real things.

The sort of fruitfulness that it lacks can be achieved only in the third phase,

the scientific, or “positive,” phase—hence the title of Comte’s magnum

opus: Cours de philosophie positive (1830–42)—because it claims to be concerned

only with positive facts. The task of the sciences, and of knowledge in general, is

to study the facts and regularities of nature and society and to formulate the

regularities as (descriptive) laws; explanations of phenomena can consist in no

more than the subsuming of special cases under general laws. Humankind reached

full maturity of thought only after abandoning the pseudoexplanations of the

theological and metaphysical phases and substituting an unrestricted adherence

to scientific method.

In his three stages Comte combined what he considered to be an account of the

historical order of development with a logical analysis of the leveled structure of

the sciences. By arranging the six basic and pure sciences one upon the other in a

pyramid, Comte prepared the way for logical positivism to “reduce” each level to

the one below it. He placed at the fundamental level the science that does not

presuppose any other sciences—viz., mathematics—and then ordered the levels

above it in such a way that each science depends upon, and makes use of, the

sciences below it on the scale: thus, arithmetic and the theory of numbers are

declared to be presuppositions

for geometry and mechanics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology (including ph

ysiology), and sociology. Each higher-level science, in turn, adds to the knowledge

content of the science or sciences on the levels below, thus enriching this content

by successive specialization. Psychology, which was not founded as a

formal discipline until the late 19th century, was not included in Comte’s system of

the sciences. Anticipating some ideas of 20th-

century behaviourism and physicalism, Comte assumed that psychology, such as it

was in his day, should become a branch of biology (especially

of brain neurophysiology), on the one hand, and of sociology, on the other. As the

“father” of sociology, Comte maintained that the social sciences should proceed

from observations to general laws, very much as (in his view) physics and

chemistry do. He was skeptical of introspection in psychology, being convinced

that in attending to one’s own mental states, these states would be irretrievably

altered and distorted. In thus insisting on the necessity of objective observation, he

was close to the basic principle of the methodology of 20th-century behaviourism.

Among Comte’s disciples or sympathizers were Cesare Lombroso, an

Italian psychiatrist and criminologist, and Paul-Emile Littré, J.-E. Renan, and

Louis Weber.

Despite some basic disagreements with Comte, the 19th-century English

philosopher John Stuart Mill, also a logician and economist, must be regarded as

one of the outstanding positivists of his century. In his System of Logic (1843), he

developed a thoroughly empiricist theory of knowledge and of scientific reasoning,

going even so far as to regard logic and mathematics as empirical (though very

general) sciences. The broadly synthetic philosopher Herbert Spencer, author of a

doctrine of the “unknowable” and of a general evolutionary philosophy, was, next

to Mill, an outstanding exponent of a positivistic orientation.