Though Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel are generally regarded as the “founders” of sociology as a discipline, sociological theory was actually rooted in nineteenth-century culture as intellectuals and scientists attempted to make sense... Read More | Share it now!
The Last Religion | An interview with Hugo Pinto
Olaf Simons: You have made a beautiful film on Positivism in Brazil. "The Last Religion" (Documentary about Positivism in Brazil, 2015) from Hugo Pinto on Vimeo. What gave you the idea to work on such a – shall I say strange –... Read More | Share it now!
Some More Thoughts on Secular Humanism and Its Special Brand of Scientism
Stephen LeDrew’s Book on the Evolution of Atheism has apparently asked the right questions – if I read Patrik Lindenfors’s considerations at Humanistbloggen correctly. (The Google Translate English version is actually quite readable). What... Read More | Share it now!
Crowdfunding Comte
Two documents with the power to anticipate the age of modern crowdfunding. The first is provided by Bernard Quaritch Ltd who are presently offering the original for the price of £200: A printed receipt with manuscript insertions dated Paris, 9... Read More | Share it now!
Is Atheism a Belief? Yes, for a certain kind of atheist
As William noted in his post, atheism could be considered a kind of belief for those atheists who do not simply lack a belief in God, but believe precisely that there is no God. It is one thing to say “There’s no evidence for God, I have no reason... Read More | Share it now!
Is Atheism a Belief? Yes, if you are looking for an interesting descriptive model
This is not really a question Let me first examine the question in its functionality. It is essentially a move “theists” (today a term atheist are keeping alive) might make to vex atheists over their particular problems with agnosticism. It is... Read More | Share it now!
The Life of Auguste Comte: Final Chapter – “Life in the anticipation of the Grave” | by Henri Gouhier
Available also in Portuguese Auguste Comte’s Religion of Humanity was far more than the all-embracing philosophical proposal he outlined in the sixth chapter of his General View on Positivism in 1848 – the treatise he would publish again in his... Read More | Share it now!
A vida de Auguste Comte: Capítulo final – “Habitando um túmulo antecipado” | por Henri Gouhier
Available also in English Sobre as orações de Comte – algumas observações introdutórias O quadro esboçado por Henri Gouhier – exposto com fortes doses de ironia, a título de “crítica” – apresenta um painel intenso e bonito de alguns... Read More | Share it now!
Auguste Comte’s Religion of Humanity | by John Stuart Mill
The following passages are an excerpt from John Stuart Mill‘s Auguste Comte and Positivism, a book lenght appraisal of Comte’s philosophy including his theory of knowledge, his Religion of Humanity and his ideas of future societies. The... Read More | Share it now!
A Comte Portrait in Dostoyevsky’s Landlady?
It all started with livejournal announcing a public lecture by Tatiana Kasatkina about Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s story The Landlady. According to the invitation this was one of Dostoevsky’s most intriguing stories – one in which he dived into... Read More | Share it now!
Образ Конта в рассказе Ф. М. Достоевского
English translation] Все началось с того, что я увидел в livejournal анонс публичной лекции Татьяны Касаткиной о рассказе «Хозяйка» Ф. М. Достоевского. В... Read More | Share it now!
Auguste Comte on the Relativity of Scientific Knowledge
What puzzles me is the question how much of Mach’s positivism, or even Wittgenstein’s neo-positivism (if both allow me these categorisations) is actually inherent in Comte’s explicit positivism. I used to think: not much. Yet whenever... Read More | Share it now!
A General View of Positivism (1848), introduction | by Auguste Comte
From the “introductory remarks” to Auguste Comte, A General View of Positivism , Bridges, J.H. (tr.) (London: Trubner and Co., 1865/ 2nd ed. 1880), pp. 1-5. Reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00064-2. Positivism... Read More | Share it now!
New edition of Auguste Comte’s ‘Cours de philosophie positive’, Lessons 46-51 (1830-42)
The volume contains Comte’s first six lessons on sociology edited and freshly annotated by Michel Bourdeau, Laurent Clauzade, and Frédéric Dupin. Political arguments showing the necessity and timeliness of the science of society Survey of... Read More | Share it now!
Polity in a cosmic context
Comte had an acute feeling for the way humanity is dependent on astronomical conditions – assume small changes in the elliptical orbit of Earth, in the inclination of Ecliptic, and life, at least life as we know it, would have been impossible.... Read More | Share it now!
The Uses and Abuses of Secular Saints
Today’s date in the Positivist calendar, devised by Auguste Comte in 1849, is Caesar 24, 224. The fifth month of this 13 month calendar is devoted to Military Civilization, if that’s not an oxymoron, and is therefore stuffed with 28... Read More | Share it now!