Auguste Comte and Positivism

by John Stuart Mill

One of the foremost figures of Western intellectual thought in the late 19th century, John Stuart Mill offered up examinations of human rights, personal and societal rights and responsibilities, and the striving for individual happiness that continue to impact our philosophies, both private and political, to this day. This concise but explosive essay is perhaps the best example of how far-reaching-and necessary on an ongoing basis-his thinking was.

In this 1865 work, Mill discusses the rational "religion" of French philosopher and social scientist Auguste Comte, reviewing his fellow thinker's great treatise on human behavior as knowable, quantifiable, and correctable from both positive and negative angles, "endeavouring to sever," the author writes, "what in our estimation is true, from the much less which is erroneous."

English philosopher and politician JOHN STUART MILL (1806 - 1873) served as an administrator in the East Indian Company from 1823 to 1858, and as a member of parliament from 1865 to 1868. Among his essays on a wide range of political and social thought are Principles of Political Economy (1848), Considerations on Representative Government (1861), and The Subjection of Women (1869).

Genres: Philosophy, Sociology, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Anthropology

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1865

About the author

John Stuart Mill, English philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. He was an exponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham, although his conception of it was very different from Bentham's.

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auguste Comte is so bad... J.S. Mill seems to admire him in many ways, but also criticizes the more obviously weak points of the philosophy. Comtean Positivism reeks of narcissism, suffers from an inability to abstract from a western cultural context, an inability to abstract from a 19th century context, and totally lacks an understanding of the introspective process or an acknowledgement of even the concept of qualia. Put simply, in the mildly offensive contemporary internet terminology, Comte is an "Autiste" par excellence. That is of course why Mill, a fellow Autiste but of lower power level, finds him so admirable. There is very little of value in here which was not already discovered by British Empiricism, or perhaps other forms of Empiricism. Comte actually believed in book burning, authoritarian highly intrusive government with enforced monolithic school curricula, rule by bankers, killing all plant and animal life which didn't serve human interests at the time he was alive, and many other absurd claims. He also avoided reading any other books lest they interfere with his "brilliance". Moreover he claims that these things are objectively good, and we can derive that from first principles. His philosophy is one of insanity, which marks out this certain type of French thinking. This obsessive constructivism, an unwarrantedly rigid demand for proof and demand that all bodies of knowledge have a foundation in a scientific fact, and unwarranted overconfidence in the supreme reliability of one's reasoning. And yet, Comte is so arrogant that he doesn't even stick by this restriction, and feels free to occasionally make comments derived from intuition, which we are to believe as true. This book gets 3 stars because it sympathetically lays out a philosophy for you to view, which is so insane and horrifying that you cannot look away.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting introduction to Comte, an eccentric genius. The comments seem sharp and unbiased.

[Allan Olley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a relatively engaging summary of Comte's philosophical, scientific, political and religious positions. It also contains Mil's criticism of Comte's positions. The account often also gives a sense of Mill's position on issues like the proper definition of science as he contrasts his ideas with Comte's in his analysis. Therefore it also makes a rather compact summary of Mill's position on various issues.

[Scott Mckenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Stuart Mill's "essay" provides an honest account of Comte's principal works in a relatively succinct form. Mill doesn't shy away from criticizing Comte's absurd notions of "regeneration of human society," through which the institution of "Positive Religion" would be instituted for all of humanity. This essays offers very compelling counterarguments to the subtle and blatant shortcomings of Comte's ideas.

[Arno Mosikyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The golden rule of morality, in M. Comte's religion, is to live for others, “vivre pour autrui.”

All education and all moral discipline should have but one object, to make altruism (a word of his own coining) predominate over egoism.

[Gil Rosado · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding and essential work that should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in philosophy, psychology, sociology and human development

[real_sandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much fun!

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you're into the origins of sociology. It begins with an overview of how man has explained the natural phenomena. It started with fetishism, then polytheism, monotheism, metaphysics and finally positivism which uses empirical data to prove the natural laws. Comte used the methodology of the physical sciences to establish laws for the social sciences. He was a proponent of a humanist religion in order to perfect society. Mill was a contemporary of his and agreed with some of his theories but in this book he criticized many of his findings.

[Greyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insight into the high peaks and inevitable valleys that come when a great mind has the time to produce an immense and seminal body of work.

[Onyango Makagutu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read

[Rich B]

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