A General View of Positivism

A General View of Positivism - Or, Summary exposition of the System of Thought and Life

Although Positivism has been pretty widely discussed of late, not only by those interested in philosophy and religion, but by the general reader and the public press, perhaps but few of them, whether readers or critics, have exactly grasped the full meaning of it as a system at once of thought and of life. The vast range of the ground it covers and the technical, allusive, and close style of Comtes writings in the original have made it difficult to master the subject as a whole. It has accordingly been thought that the time has come to add to the New Universal Library a translation of The General View of Positivism, i.e., the careful summary of the Positiveviii Polity which Auguste Comte prefixed to the four volumes of his principal work. The translation which was published by Dr. J.H. Bridges in 1865 is at the same time a most accurate version by one of Comtes earliest followers, and also it is turned in an easy and simpler style, with the references and allusions explained, marginal headings to the paragraphs, and a complete analysis of the contents. Positivism is not simply a system of Philosophy; nor is it simply a new form of Religion; nor is it simply a scheme of social regeneration. It partakes of all of these, and professes to harmonize them under one dominant conception that is equally philosophic and social. Its primary object, writes Comte, is twofold: to generalize our scientific conceptions and to systematize the art of social life. Accordingly Comtes ideal embraces the three main elements ofix which human life consistsThoughts, Feelings and Actions. Now it is clear that no such comprehensive system was ever before offered to the world. Neither the Gospel nor any known type of religion undertook to give a synthetic grouping of the Sciences. No synthetic scheme of philosophy ever attempted to correlate religion, politics, art, and industry. No system of Socialism, ancient or modern, started with mathematics and led up to an ideal of a human devotion to duty, with a ritual of worship, both public and private. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 53799
Author: Comte, Auguste
Release Date: Dec 24, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Bridges, John Henry, 1832-1906