Academic literature on the topic 'Comte, Auguste, Positivism. Sociology'

Abstrak:Auguste Comte (1798-1857) merupakan seorang filsuf dari Perancis penggagas dari aliran positivisme. Istilah ini mulai digunakan Comte pada karyanya “Cours de Philosophic Positive”. Di samping sebagai seorang filsuf, Auguste Comte juga mendapat sebutan sebagai “Bapak Sosiologi Modern”. Positivisme merupakan aliran pemikiran yang menekankan validitas data secara empirik-verifikatif, sehingga pengetahuan inderawi dijadikan sebagai satu-satunya norma bagi kegiatan ilmiah. Meskipun banyak kritik, tentunya sebagai hasil filsafat, positivisme Auguste Comte ini sangat berperan penting pada perkembangan ilmu-ilmu pengetahuan lain seperti ilmu dakwah. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah berupa sumbangan positivime Auguste Comte terhadap pengembangan ilmu dakwah dari aspek ontologi, epistomologi, dan aksiologi. Abstract:Auguste Comte (1798-1857) was a French philosopher who initiated the flow of positivism. This term began to be used by Comte in his work "Cours de Philosophic Positive". Aside from being a philosopher, Auguste Comte also received the title as "Father of Modern Sociology". Positivism is a school of thought that emphasizes the validity of data empirically-verification, so that sensory knowledge is used as the only norm for scientific activity. Despite many criticisms, of course, as a result of philosophy, Auguste Comte's positivism was very important in the development of other sciences such as da'wah. The results of this study are in the form of the contribution of Auguste Comte's positivime to the development of da'wah from the aspects of ontology, epistomology, and axiology.

The rapid science in the modern era, provides significant changes for humans, both in the fields of economics, politics, culture, environment, society, education, and even religion. The 19th century is a century of science that is growing rapidly, this can be seen from the emergence of various scientists who provide concepts, theories based on philosophy with basic ontology, epistemology, and axiology as a contribution to the development of science. One of them, the scientist known as the father of sociology, was Auguste Comte a scientist from France. Comte is famous for its philosophy of postivism because of the many references by scientists in the contemporary era. This is based on the calculation of the success of designing the social structure of modern humans with three stages of law, but one side of the theory he produced has eliminated the fundamental value in humans, namely eliminating the metaphysical basis. In a three-stage law, more concerned with physical values than metaphysical values, this will result in a society that abandons religion and even eliminates the existence of God. The thoughts produced by Comte are thoughts originating from the west, where the basic West is relativism so if viewed from an Islamic point of view this theory will produce atheists and eliminate the sanctity of religion. In Islam religion and society are inseparable because religion is a guideline that is used as a basis in people's lives based on the values of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Therefore in this paper we will study more deeply the criticisms of Aguste Comte's thinking, using qualitative research types, with descriptive analysis methods and theological philosophical approaches.

The theoretical framework elaborated by Auguste Comte presents a fundamentally pedagogical nature, since it presupposes the “regeneration” of humanity. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to present an analysis of the Comte an understanding of modern society, as well as the postulates that substantiated positivism in the face of a scenario marked by profound transformations and social convulsions. To reach the proposed objectives, an initial approach is contextualized based on the political, social and economic scenario of Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. Subsequently, the author's conservative proposals are presented, which sought a rational and scientific solution to the problems of society. The pedagogical project of Comte was approached, which assigns to women and the family a prominent role in the new order that it advocates, and finally, the Comtean model of education. The methodology adopted is based on a historical research based on historical and dialectical materialism, which comprehend society from the real conditions of human existence, starting from the concrete to the abstract or, in other words, from the reality to the field of ideas. The historical analysis leads us to conclude that, as a whole, the comtean production sought to point out the social need of a systematic positive education, with the purpose to educate the individual as a citizen aware of his role in the society, in order to reach the progress, within the limits of the established social order.ResumoO arcabouço teórico elaborado por Auguste Comte apresenta uma natureza fundamentalmente pedagógica, visto que pressupõe a “regeneração” da humanidade. Assim, este artigo tem como propósito apresentar uma análise acerca da compreensão comteana sobre a sociedade moderna, bem como dos postulados que fundamentaram o positivismo diante de um cenário marcado por profundas transformações e convulsões sociais. Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, faz-se uma abordagem inicial contextualizando sua produção no cenário político, social e econômico da Europa da primeira metade do século XIX. Em seguida, são apresentadas as propostas conservadoras do autor, que buscava uma solução racional e científica para os problemas da sociedade. Foi abordado o projeto pedagógico de Comte, que atribui à mulher e à família um papel de destaque na nova ordem por ele preconizada e, por fim, o modelo de educação comteano. A metodologia adotada está alicerçada numa pesquisa histórica fundamentada no materialismo histórico e dialético, que compreende a sociedade a partir das condições reais da existência humana, partindo do concreto para o abstrato, ou seja, da realidade para o campo das ideias. A análise histórica nos leva a concluir que, a produção comteana, em seu conjunto, buscou apontar para a necessidade social de uma educação positiva sistemática, com o objetivo de formar o indivíduo como cidadão consciente de seu papel na sociedade e, dessa forma, alcançar o progresso, dentro dos limites da ordem social estabelecida.ResumenEl marco teórico elaborado por Auguste Comte presenta una naturaleza fundamentalmente pedagógica. Por lo tanto, presupone la "regeneración" de la humanidad. Así, el objetivo de este artículo es presentar un análisis sobre la comprensión comteana de la sociedad moderna y postulados que fundamentaron el positivismo frente a un escenario marcado por profundas transformaciones y convulsiones sociales. Para lograr los objetivos propuestos, hacemos un acercamiento inicial contextualizando su producción en el escenario político, social y económico en la Europa de la primera mitad del siglo XIX. Por consiguiente, presentamos las propuestas conservadoras del autor, pues buscó una solución racional y científica a los problemas de la sociedad. Discutimos el proyecto pedagógico de Comte que asigna a la mujer y a la familia un papel prominente en el nuevo orden defendido por él y el modelo de educación comteano. La metodología es una investigación histórica basada en el materialismo histórico y dialéctico. Esta metodología comprende la sociedad basada en las condiciones reales de la existencia humana, desde el concreto hasta el abstracto. En otras palabras, de la realidad para el campo de las ideas. El análisis histórico nos lleva a concluir que la producción comteana en su conjunto, trató de apuntar a la necesidad social de una educación positiva sistemática. Esto resultó en la formación del individuo como ciudadano consciente de su papel en la sociedad y en el logro del progreso, dentro de los límites del orden social establecido.Palavras-chave: Auguste Comte, Positivismo, Educação.Keywords: Positivism, Education.Palabras-clave: Educación.ReferencesANDERY, Maria Amália Pie Abib; SÉRIO, Tereza Maria de Azevedo Pires. Há uma ordem imutável na natureza e o conhecimento a reflete: Auguste Comte. In: ANDERY, Maria Amália “et al.”. Para compreender a ciência: uma perspectiva histórica. Rio de Janeiro: Espaço e Tempo: São Paulo: Educ, 1996.BENOIT, Lelita Oliveira. Augusto Comte: fundador da física social. 2 ed. São Paulo: Moderna, 2006. (Coleção Logos)BERGO, Antonio Carlos. O positivismo: caracteres e influência no Brasil. Reflexão, Campinas, ano VIII, n. 25, p. 47-97, jan./abr. 1983.COMTE, Auguste. Curso de filosofia positiva; Discurso sobre o espírito positivo; Discurso preliminar sobre o conjunto do positivismo; Catecismo positivista. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1978. (Os Pensadores).LOPES, Eliane Marta Teixeira. As relações entre os contextos históricos e os discursos pedagógicos. In:____ Origens da educação pública: a instrução na revolução burguesa do século XVIII. Coleção EDUCAÇÃO. São Paulo: Loyola, 1981.LÖWY, Michael. As aventuras de Karl Marx contra o Barão de Münchhausen: marxismo e positivismo na sociologia do conhecimento. São Paulo: Cortez Editora, 1998.MANACORDA, Mario Alighiero. História da Educação: da Antiguidade aos nossos dias. São Paulo: Cortez, 1996.MARTINS, Carlos Benedito. O que é sociologia. São Paulo: Brasilense, 1984.MARX, Karl. O capital. Crítica da Economia Política. Livro Primeiro. VOLUME I. O Processo de Produção do Capital. TOMO 1 (Prefácios e Capítulos I a XII). São Paulo: Editora Nova Cultural, 1996. (Os Economistas).PONCE, Aníbal. Educação e luta de classes. São Paulo: Cortez Editora, 2001.RIBEIRO JR., João. O que é positivismo. São Paulo: Brasilense, 1988.SILVA, João Carlos da. “O amor por princípio, a ordem por base, o progresso por fim”: as propostas do apostolado positivista para a educação brasileira (1870-1930). Cascavel: Unioeste, 2016.SINGER, Paul. Aprender economia. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1983.e3382097

English abstract: It is well known that Durkheim was a major source of influence in most of Boudon’s writings. But his vision of Durkheim has evolved a lot over the years. In the 1960s until the 1990s, he presented Durkheim as a positivist, fairly close to Auguste Comte, and he considered The Rules of the Sociological Method as a mediating work which announced all of the Durkheim’s thought. In his most recent works, Boudon brings an original perspective that Durkheim was an important theorist of rationality.French abstract: Boudon a développé une admiration durable pour Durkheim dont il ne s’est jamais départi. Durkheim n’a jamais cessé en effet d’être pour lui un inspirateur, mais la lecture qu’il en fait a néanmoins évolué au fil du temps. Des années 1960 aux années 1990 il le présente comme un auteur positiviste dont il admire la réflexion sur la scientificité de la sociologie. Après 1990 il le présente comme un précurseur malgré lui de l’individualisme méthodologique, et traduit sa sociologie dans le langage de la théorie de l’action.

Scholars of political thought, sociology, and the arts have yet to fully explore the impact of positivism on modernist design theory and practice. This paper offers an intellectual history of the works of three generations of positivist sociologists who built on each other's works. They are Auguste Comte and Richard Congreve, Frederic Harrison and Charles Booth, and Patrick Geddes and Victor Branford. These actors developed different types of sociological survey, established a network of urban interventions, and proposed a series of planning programs and manifestos. It will be argued that their intention was to systematically reconcile international and domestic issues to realize a modern eutopia. Following this analysis, it will be shown that a similar language and practice appeared in the work of a diverse range of such modernist designers as Patrick Abercrombie, Sybella Gurney Branford, Louis Sullivan, H. P. Berlage, and Le Corbusier, among others.

In the modern era, during the end of 17 century, appears empiric paradigm in the philosophy field. This paradigm emerges due to the critic towards mythical social thought. The next step appears positivism thought by Auguste Comte in 1830, which stated that Sociology based on science analogy that can be learned in the form of empiric data with exact calculation; out of this is rated as not scientific. The education field also trails the modern thought tradition, along with Comte’s positivistic thought. This modern era eventually has been opposed by postmodern philosophers. The frailties in the modern era are criticized by the appearance of the postmodern paradigm. Positivistic thought, in reality, could not reveal study beyond human and society, because this study is strong, and can only reach the ontologic stage, in substance of the object. While this could not be revealed because its level involves human and society’s way of thinking, primordial, tradition, and historical aspects, this study focuses on the weaknesses of positivistic research. Then it will present post-positivistic-postmodern research through Hermeneutika and Foucauldian Genealogy research.

In this article, the author distinguishes between practical sociology, the field of study of which is socio-cultural reality, and theoretical sociology, the subject of study of which is logical analysis of concepts and empirical facts. Positivist sociology, according to his opinion, deals not with the social reality itself, but with its modeling in the researcher’s thinking with the help of methods of various surveys, document analysis, social experiment. Practice-oriented sociology studies the following: socio-historical, socio-symbolic, anthropological and other cultural reality, in the study of which the decisive role belongs not to theory and logical analysis, but to experience of social interaction within a certain social space and time characterized by their inherent values and norms of behavior (historical epoch, national, territorial, settlement, gender and age, professional and other community). To form a realistic picture of crime in society, to reveal the causes of crisis in education, spiritual and moral degradation etc. from the position of their theoretical modeling, is impossible, according to the researcher. Its creation requires an appeal to the analysis of spiritual, symbolic, energy and other foundations of the development and functioning of society. The author traces the development of sociological science from medieval nominalism and realism to positivism of Auguste Conte, and from him to social logic and laws of imitation of Gabriel Tarde and social-cultural sociology of Emile Durkheim, from the religious and philosophical tradition of orthodox energetism and cosmism to social structuralism of Levi-Strauss and Michel Foucault, «habitus» by Pierre Bourdieu, symbolic interactionism of George Mead, theory of stigmatization, noospheric sociology, and a number of other research areas of Western European, American and domestic sociology.

This article addresses the appropriation of positivist thought by Ukrainian intellectuals in the second half of the nineteenth century, in particular in the field of philosophy of history. By discussing elements of positivist thought in the works of Mykhailo Drahomanov, Ivan Franko and Pantaleimon Kulish, the author argues that all three were under direct influence of positivist thought, but none of them was a blind adherent of positivism. Positivism particularly influenced their thinking about history and the issue of determinism. Importantly, it was not the French positivism of Auguste Comte whose ideas were adopted, but rather the English positivism of Henry Thomas Buckle and John Stuart Mill.

Orientador: Oswaldo Giacoia Junior
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciencias Humanas
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Résumé: Ce travail discute la question de la morale chez Auguste Comte à partir de trois hypothèses: la première, celle de l¿existence de la morale en tant que la septième science, ultime et suprême. Dans ce sens, il participa également aux principes de la science morale outre que la science sociale. La deuxième hypothèse soutient la morale comme le noyau qui permet la continuité de la pensée et de l¿oeuvre d¿Auguste Comte; noyeau, parce que le fil conducteur complet, en tant que problème et sollution, est le domaine de la religion, de la morale et de l¿éducation. D¿après lui, la morale est le noyau de la religion et, dans sa partie pratique, c¿est-à-dire, en tant que morale pratique, c¿est l¿éducation. La troisième hypothèse mène à constater que, nonobstant la difficulté théorique, Auguste Comte supposa toujours l¿existence de la liberté humaine, condition indispensable à la morale. Malgré n¿utiliser le mot ¿éthique¿ que deux fois, et exclusivement comme acrostiches dans son dernier ouvragre, et malgré employer l¿expression ¿philosophie morale¿ se rapportant aux sixième et septième ordres de phénomènes de la réalité, les phénomènes sociaux et moraux, l¿éhtique ou la philosophie morale (ou théorie morale), au sens qu¿on les utilise, elle est présente du début à la fin de l¿oeuvre comtienne: c¿est ce qui apparaît dans les cinq mille quatre-vingt-dix références directes à la morale, dans les cinq mille quatre-vingt-dix usages du mot ¿moral¿ ou de ses dérivés tout au long de ses écrits. Enfin, ce travail est lié au besoin plus général et à chaque fois plus urgent de la discussion de la possibilité de consensus moral en termes aussi de science et de philosophie scientifique
Resumo: Este trabalho discute a questão da moral em Augusto Comte, a partir de três hipóteses: primeira, a da existência da moral como 7ª ciência, última e suprema, em Augusto Comte. Neste sentido ele colaborou na fundação também da ciência moral e não apenas da ciência social. A segunda afirma a moral como o núcleo possibilitador da continuidade do pensamento e da obra de Augusto Comte; núcleo, porque o fio condutor completo, enquanto problema e solução, é o âmbito religioso-moral-educacional. Segundo ele, a moral é o núcleo da religião e, na sua parte prática, isto é, enquanto moral prática, é a educação. A terceira leva à constatação de que, apesar da dificuldade teórica, Augusto Comte sempre supôs a existência da liberdade humana, condição indispensável para a moral. Apesar de utilizar o termo ¿ética¿ apenas duas vezes, e unicamente como acrósticos para a sua última obra, e apesar de usar a expressão ¿filosofia moral¿ se referindo à 6ª e 7ª ordens de fenômenos da realidade, os fenômenos sociais e morais, a ética ou filosofia moral (ou teoria moral), no sentido que usamos, comparece do começo ao fim da obra comtiana: é o que aparece nas 5.090 referências diretas à moral, nos 5.090 usos do termo ¿moral¿ ou derivados ao longo de seus escritos. Enfim, este trabalho se liga à necessidade mais geral cada vez mais urgente da discussão da possibilidade de consenso moral em termos também de ciência e de filosofia científica
Doutorado
Filosofia
Doutor em Filosofia

La sociologie francaise a ete creee par auguste comte, auquel a succede emile durkheim qui l'a definitivement fondee. Mais ces deux grands hommes ne se sont pas connus, puisque le second est ne apres la mort du premier. Or la continuite theorique entre ces deux peres fondateurs n'est pas aussi evidente qu'on pourrait le penser. Il nous faut trouver des sociologues inconnus qui comblent le vide entre eux. Nous etudions le developpement de la sociologie apres comte parmi ses disciples. La tendance scientiste a ete representee par emile littre et sa revue philosophie positive, tandis que pierre laffitte et la revue occidentale ont pris fidelement la succession du positivisme religieux et moral. Dans le premier groupe, guarin de vitry a marque un grand essor theorique avec sa notion de 'consensus collective', qui laisse presager l'arrivee de la sociologie de durkheim
The french sociology was created by auguste comte, and inherited and definitely founded by emile durkheim. But the latter was bord after the death of the former, and the theoretical continuity between them is not so obvious. We must therefore find some sociologists that can fill the gap between these two giants. We want to study the development of the post-comtian sociology among his disciples. The tendancy of pure scientific concern is represented by emile littre and his revue philosophie positive, and the religious or moral aspect of comtian positivism is faithfully taken over by pierre laffitte with the revue occidentale. In the first group, guarin de vitry has made great theoretical strides with his notion of consensus collective, which presages the durkheimian sociology

This thesis examines the extent to which Ibn Khaldun can legitimately be considered a founding father of sociology. To pursue this research, Khaldun's theoretical framework will be compared with four Western scholars: Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Giambattista Vico, and Ludwig Gumplowicz. This paper begins with an Introduction (Chapter I), followed by a general overview of Khaldun's work (Chapter II). Next, Khaldun's work is compared to that of Auguste Comte (Chapter III), Emile Durkheim (Chapter IV), Ludwig Gumplowicz (Chapter V) and Giambattista Vico (Chapter VI). In each of these chapters, Khaldun is compared and contrasted to the other social theorist, illustrating their similarities and considering their differences. Finally, in Chapter VII, I put forth conclusions that consider the extent to which Khaldun can validly be considered a founding father of sociology.

Dans la perspective des chercheurs qui développent une science, la réalité de sa fondation se présente comme la solution imaginaire de quatre énigmes relatives à l’unité et aux progrès de leurs travaux : 1- La fondation est la source stable des principes d’une science qui se maintiennent au fil de ses développements. 2 – Elle donne à lire la finalité commune des développements individuels de ses recherches. 3 – Elle opère une rupture avec la pensée antérieure en définissant le projet d’un savoir original et plus désirable que ce que l’on croyait savoir auparavant. 4 – Elle institue l’esprit distinctif d’une recherche qui estime que le savoir qu’elle procure vaut la peine d’être développé. En sociologie, il y a consensus pour affirmer que la discipline est fondée, mais on ne s’entend ni sur la ou les œuvres qui la fondent ni même sur l’époque où elle débute. À partir d’une analyse comparée des sociologies d’Auguste Comte et d’Émile Durkheim avec d’autres œuvres depuis les études de l’homme et de la cité d’Aristote, nous explorons la réalité d’une fondation qui pourrait résoudre ces quatre énigmes ainsi qu’une cinquième qui est particulière à cette science sociale : 5 – La fondation de la sociologie initie un mode d’organisation de la recherche incompatible avec le modèle kuhnien de la science normale qui progresse dans le développement d’un paradigme commun.
In the perspective of researchers developing a science, the foundation is presented as the imaginary solution to four enigmas regarding the unity and progress of their work: 1- Its foundation is the stable source of the principles of a science that remain throughout its development. 2- It provides a common finality of the individual developments of its research. 3- It contrasts from previous schools of thought by defining the project of an original and more desirable one. 4- It introduces the distinctive characteristics of a research, emphasizing that the knowledge it brings is worth it. In sociology, there is general agreement about sociology having a beginning, only no one agrees on the works that make it, nor the time it all started. By comparing the works of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim with other works since Aristotle, we explore those four enigmas and even a fifth one that is specific to sociology: 5- The foundation of sociology initiates an organisation of research that is incompatible with the kuhnian model of normal science.

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Machado de Assis in his writings has approached some aspects of the thought of Auguste Comte. It was searched, through the analysis of the texts of that author, focusing mostly his chronicles; identify how the writer positions himself facing the important ideas for the development of science of his period. It is worth emphasizing that the analyzed texts are contemporary to the spread of positivism in Brazil. In the last phase of his life, Comte created the Religion of Humanity known as religious positivism, whose ideas are expressed in his Positivist Catechism. In the mid-nineteenth century, these ideas became widespread in Brazil. In 1881, in Rio de Janeiro, under the direction by Miguel Lemos, was inaugurated the Positivist Church of Brazil, based on the precepts of the Religion of Humanity, founded by Auguste Comte. The religious temple became the place for meetings and debates of Republican and abolitionist adepts of positivism that is guided by the ideals of the Positivist Church. The Proclamation of the Republic and abolition, events influenced by positivism, were approached often by Machado de Assis
Machado de Assis abordou em seus escritos alguns aspectos do pensamento de Augusto Comte. Buscamos, através da análise dos textos do referido autor, focalizando principalmente suas crônicas, identificar a maneira como o escritor se posicionou frente às ideias importantes para o desenvolvimento da ciência de sua época. Cabe ressaltarmos que os textos analisados são contemporâneos à difusão do positivismo no Brasil. Na última fase de sua vida, Comte criou a Religião da Humanidade conhecida como Positivismo Religioso, cujas ideias se encontram expressas em seu Catecismo Positivista. Em meados do século XIX, essas ideias passaram a ser difundidas no Brasil. No Rio de Janeiro, em 1881, sob a direção de Miguel Lemos, foi inaugurada a Igreja Positivista do Brasil, baseada nos preceitos da Religião da Humanidade, instituída por Augusto Comte. O templo religioso passou a ser o local de encontros e debates dos republicanos e abolicionistas adeptos do positivismo que se guiavam pelos ideais da Igreja Positivista. A Proclamação da República e a abolição, acontecimentos influenciados pelo positivismo, foram abordados com frequência por Machado de Assis

This thesis discusses the philosophy of positivism in nineteenth century France. Based on an empirical vision of society, positivism advocated values of rationality, progress, and secularization. In that way, it stood as one of the defining systems of thought of the modern era. I discuss, however, an undercurrent of anxiety about those same values. Positivism's founder, Auguste Comte, argued that all sciences would become unified and organized under universal principles and empirical standards. He viewed the human mind as becoming more rationalized throughout history. In his later career, however, he argued that rationalism was a destructive force and that a new form of secular religion as necessary to establish morality and order. I argue that this transition from science to religion represents an underlying anxiety of the nineteenth century. Intellectuals from different sides of the political spectrum viewed progress as positive, but also limited. They argued that something beyond science, in the realm of the religious, the metaphysical, or the subjective, was necessary for society. They expressed these concerns through the language of gender. Comte argued that women would be at the center of his religion. They would socialize and moralize men, making them part of a new unified, pacifist and orderly social whole. I also discuss two later intellectuals, social psychologist Gustave Le Bon and pioneering sociologist Emile Durkheim. Le Bon represented the fin-de-siecle rejection of positivism. He began with positivist principles, but later argued that humanity was irrational and violent. He viewed the modern masses as a powerful force which threatened to destroy civilization. The other figure, Durkheim, rejected Le Bon's form of nationalist right-wing thought and formed theories of social harmony, altruism, and a solidarity. He sought to reconcile egalitarian republican principles with positivist science. Despite their diverging theories, however, Le Bon and Durkheim employed similar assumptions about modernity and gender. Le Bon argued that European men were superior, and that all other groups shared an undeveloped mentality. Durkheim argued that men were social while women were simpler and mentally limited. Their views, far from establishing an unproblematic hierarchy of gender and race, in fact expressed anxieties about the state of modernity. They identified women, the lower classes, and other societies with values of simplicity, unity, and tradition. They identified the modern, Western male individual with the problems of modern society: excessive rationalization, instability, and secularization. This sense of ambivalence about modernity reveals the central importance of positivism to understanding nineteenth century thought. Positivism sought to reconcile seemingly antithetical principles of order with progress, individualism with social unity, and morality with rationalization. In doing so, it established anxieties about the forces of change. Positivists advocated the most modern of principles, and sought to further the progress of civilization, but also identified those rationalized forces as problems in need of control. Positivism thus established its own undoing, which would come at the beginning of the twentieth century. In that era, intellectuals rejected purely scientific visions of the world in favor of subjective thought. I locate the origins of that rejection at the very foundations of positivist theory.
M.A.
Masters
History
Arts and Humanities
History

To employ the language of altruism was, for much of the Victorian period, to associate oneself directly with Auguste Comte and his philosophy of ‘positivism’. Even in 1897, almost half a century after its first introduction, the dean of Rochester spoke not just about ‘altruism’ but about Comte’s ‘Altruism’. ‘Sociology’, ‘positivism’, and ‘altruism’ were all Comtean terms which could be used as philosophical watchwords or as political banners. This chapter examines the inventor of ‘altruism’ and how he came to have an impact on the English language.