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WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
Positivism, or the Religion, of Humanity, is the name
given by the French philosopher, Auguste Comte, to the
system of thought and conduct founded by him, and
signifies that it rests on a basis of demonstrable, or “posi
tive”, science. The name has been objected to in some
quarters as being ungainly, and in others as suggesting
the idea of dogmatism. To the first of these objections,
although, perhaps, superficially true, it may be replied
that every system has a fair claim to be recognized by the
appellation bestowed on it by its founder; and this ia
especially the case where a man like Comte is concerned.
The other objection, expressing the idea that Positivism
leans towards intellectual autocracy, can be maintained
only so long as ignorance of its real nature prevails. In
addition to the qualities of reality, utility, certainty, and
precision, which are connected in ordinary language with
the term positive, Comte points out that, when science was
applied to the study of social phenomena, it at once as
sumed an organic character, and that, being organic, it
necessarily became relative. It could not, however, become
relative without becoming also sympathetic, and it is this
last quality which, although usually regarded as having
no connection with science, Comte declares to be specially
typical of Positivism.
In his famous Law of Intellectual Progress, without a
reference to which even the briefest account of Positivism
would be imperfect, Comte asserts that every theoretical
conception framed by the human mind passes through
three stages ; the first being the Theological, or fictitious;
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WHAT POSITIVISM MEAN’S.
the second, the Metaphysical, or abstract; the third, the
Positive, or scientific. The first of these stages is always
provisional, the second simply transitional, the third alone
definitive. It is not intended to discuss here at any length
the truth of this law, which can be adequately appreciated
only after a study of Comte’s Philosophy of History ; but
it may be mentioned that it has been accepted by various
thinkers of eminence, and notably by John Stuart Mill.
Considering, however, its importance, as furnishing the
foundation from which the whole Positivist system springs,
it will, perhaps, be well to give a very brief explanation
of its meaning, which is this:—Prom the earliest epoch
at which we can conceive man to have become possessed
of even the smallest amount of speculative power, he must
spontaneously have been led to theorize, although in a
very crude way, on the origin and meaning of the multi
tudinous facts of the world around him, and must, for his
own satisfaction, have endeavoured to frame some explana
tion which might account for their existence. Of real
knowledge he could have but little, and his means of
acquiring it were very slender. He was, therefore, neces
sarily thrown back upon imagination and hypothesis; and
the simplest and readiest hypothesis which could, under
the circumstances, present itself to him was, that the endless
motion and variety he found pervading the world were the
products of intelligence of some kind, resembling that
which he himself was conscious of possessing, although,
of course, infinitely more powerful. This assumption lies
at the root of all theological philosophy, whatever the
precise shape of the doctrines which, from age to age,
have been built upon it. It is, however, a mental process
which, according to Comte, is itself also susceptible of
.analysis into three stages. In the first of these, primitive
man, knowing nothing of the distinction which, with the
progress of science, has been drawn between organic and
inorganic nature, incapable of realizing the ultimate dif
ference between life and death, supposes all matter to be
animated, and assumes that the intelligences, to which he
ascribes the changes he sees, dwell in and form part of
the objects with whose existence his senses make hirn,
acquainted. The lion roars, the fish swims, the eagle
soars, because it is alive and possessed of an intelligence
similar to his own. And so the river flows, the cloud
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moves, th© lightning flashes, because, so far as he knows,
it, too, is alive, and endowed with intelligence.
This mode of explanation, which Comte denominated
Fetichism, was regarded by him as the inevitable startingpoint of man’s intellectual activity. With the increase of
. knowledge, however, and the advance of reasoning-power,
it was eventually found to be insufficient. The hypothesis
■ < of universal, all-permeating life and will was discovered
t 1 to be irreconcilable with the facts furnished by ever
widening experience, and it had accordingly to be modified.
The world was still assumed to be governed by intelli
gence, but that quality was no longer attributed to
inanimate bodies, upon which man had, by degrees, learned
to exercise, within certain limits, an unquestioned power.
It was now supposed to reside in certain supernatural
beings, having no corporeal existence, and dwelling apart
from matter, although continuing to preside over different
groups of phenomena manifested by matter—beings which
were accessible to the prayers of man, and susceptible of
being propitiated by his sacrifices. With this form of
philosophy, known as Polytheism, the reign of theology,
properly speaking, began.
But this enormous effort of abstraction once accom
plished, by which the attributes of Life and Will were
detached from the countless objects of inanimate nature,
and bestowed on a comparatively restricted number of
purely mythical gods and goddesses, it was inevitable that
this theory should have a much less stable existence than
that which preceded it. A gradual process of concentrartion in the number of deities, to which, from the outset,
the system was necessarily exposed, could eventually
have but one logical termination. This was the establish
ment of Monotheism, and the recognition of a single god
as the legitimate heir to the government of the universe.
Every Polytheistic system must, in the nature of things,
come to this in the end.
So long, however, as theological methods were pursued,
SO long, that is to say, as men persisted in inquiring into
the causes of phenomena, the answers obtained were more
and more doomed to be regarded as unsatisfactory and
delusive. Men vt*fere, however—as they still are—reluctant
to frankly abandon the search for causes; but, growing
mistrustful of purely theological solutions, the habit was/
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WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
by degrees, formed of silently ignoring them, and seeking
the desired explanation in various abstract principles, quite
as much the creation of their own minds as theology, and
quite as unreal: of which tendency a familiar illustration
is afforded in the case of Moliere’s aspirant to medical
honours, who, amidst the applause of the Court of Ex
aminers, explains the narcotic properties of opium, not by
the soothing intervention of the god of sleep, but by the
assumption that it is possessed of a certain “ dormitive
virtue ”. This method marks what Comte calls the Meta
physical stage, and is regarded by him as a mere transition
from the Theological search into causes to the final, scien
tific, Positive stage, in which all hope of ever learning the
real nature of causes is definitively abandoned, and men
are contented to voluntarily restrict themselves to the study
of the laws of phenomena—a study which has, in fact, been
going on all the time concurrently with the other inquiry ;
has been the basis on which the whole of man’s practical
activity has rested; and the chief agent in discrediting
supernaturalism, and gradually narrowing its domain.
Supposing the Law of the Three Stages to be true, it
involves, ultimately, the universal abandonment of every
form of theological belief—that is to say, the disappear
ance of every religion resting on a supernatural foundation.
Religion, however, as suggested by its etymological deriva
tion, is the binding force of all human society, and by no
writer has this been more clearly recognized than by Comte.
It is religion which, under one form or another, holds
society together. In order, therefore, that the social fabric
may not, as a result of intellectual progress, be dissolved,
and anarchy supervene, it is necessary to discover some
substitute for theological religion. Science must become
religious. Positivism, then, professes to be such a religion.
It is ostensibly based on science, and, in Comte’s view, is—
in its general principles at least, if not in all its details—
destined ultimately to become universal.
The fundamental problem of human life, as stated by
Comte, is how to subordinate Egoism to Altruism—or, to
put it in a perhaps simpler, though certainly less compact
form, how to give continually-increasing predominance to
the higher over the lower side of man’s nature, so that his
activity, which originally was inspired by necessarily in
dividualist motives, may become ever more and more social
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in its character. This is a problem which, it is almost
needless to say, has been empirically dealt with, although
not explicitly recognized, by every religion in its turn, and,
in some cases, with remarkable success; but, owing to
what Positivism regards as the fatal want of reality in the
doctrines of all previously-existing religions, it was impos
sible that the success could be other than temporary. Those
creeds, whatever their differences in dogmatic details, all
inculcated in man’s mind a spirit of reverence and sub
mission to some supernatural power or powers, which he
supposed to exercise absolute dominion over his destiny,
and from which he derived all that he possessed. As a
collateral and subordinate result they also, through the
wisdom of their teachers, the spiritual leaders of the race,
fostered the sense of duty and desire for union among
those whose lives were subject to the same conditions, and
who acknowledged allegiance to the same Divine Power.
At first, no doubt, this was done in a very rudimentary
and imperfect way; but every fresh religious develop
ment, while becoming simpler in its supernatural aspect,
strengthened the social ties, until Christianity, by its
doctrine that all men were children of one Father, and
consequently brethren, carried the conviction of the unity
of the race to a point which had never before been reached,
thereby approximating more closely than any previous
creed to a solution of the problem.
Assuming, however, the truth of the Positivist hypothesis
as to the disappearance of theological belief, a substitute
will eventually be required for the supernatural Power
which has so long served, not merely as the rallying-point
of man’s intellectual conceptions, but as the source of
inspiration of his social sympathies. This substitute
Positivism finds in Humanity, which, following out a
suggestion of Pascal, it personifies as an immense and
eternal Being, to whose immeasurable services we are
indebted for all the blessings we enjoy, and whose
existence, apart altogether from disputed theological
legends of origin, is, at all events, an indisputable fact.
It is not unusual to speak of Positivism as if it were a mere
a priori emanation from Comte’s brain; as if he had under
taken the task of reconstructing society in such a fashion
as merely to give it a shape which should correspond with
his own prejudices and conceptions; and he has accord
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WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
ingly been, taxed with arrogance and presumption. But
to regard Positivism in this fight is to mistake its character
and its aims. It is, in theory, a scientific construction,
framed in accordance with what Comte regarded as per
manent and incontrovertible laws governing the world and
man, and cannot, therefore, justly be condemned as a mere
arbitrary scheme for which Comte alone is responsible.
How far its claim in this respect is well-founded is, of
course, open to question, and no one was more sensible
than Comte of the difficulties which lay in the way of its
general acceptance. He was fully aware of the tentative
nature of his task, but, while acknowledging the possi
bility that shortcomings might ultimately be detected in
his doctrines, he insisted strenuously on the virtue of his
method. “ In all inquiries,” he said, “but especially in
the study of social questions, the method is more important
than the doctrine ” ; and in more than one passage of his
fundamental work, the Philosophic Positive, he admitted, in
a spirit of modesty widely separated from the arrogance
laid to his charge, that different conclusions from his own
might be arrived at by “more fortunate successors”,
employing his method, but possessed of later, and there
fore more accurate, information. The tendency to agree
with him that social, like all other, phenomena, are subject
to the action of natural law, is certainly increasing.
Whether the system he built up on this assumption will
ultimately secure the adhesion of mankind, is a question
which only the future can decide.
Although, however, Positivism puts forward these scien
tific pretensions, it has by no means the dry, cold character
with which it is sometimes reproached, and which is popu
larly attributed to all science. Its cardinal principle is
the supremacy of feeling over intellect, and this principle
is fostered in every way by the conception of Humanity, by
the cultivation of a sense of gratitude to the past, by a
touching attitude of reverence towards the dead, by insist
ing on the sacredness of family ties, by exalting the func
tions of woman as a wife and a mother, and by the most
elaborate provisions for what Comte called Cuite — a
French word which has, perhaps, no adequate equivalent
in English, but is more or less imperfectly rendered by the
word “worship ”, and which, as employed by Comte, has
for its object to enforce the idea, not merely of the solidarity,
�WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
>
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but—what is far more important—the conimu/ty of the
human race: an idea which lay at the root of Carlyle’s
Hero Worship. “The History of the World”, said Car
lyle, “is the Biography of Great Men”, and he declared
that he knew of “no nobler feeling ” than “the transcen
dent admiration of a Great Man”, to which he gave the
name of worship. Comte—with whom, not merely on this
but on some other points, Carlyle had much in common—
gave a more universal and systematic form to this con
ception by his remarkable compilation of the “Positivist
Calendar ”, which, with the double view of cultivating
a knowledge of the history of the past, and stimulating
our gratitude for the legacy it has bequeathed to us,
devotes each day in the year to the memory of some bene
factor of the race: some great man who, whether as priest
or warrior, poet or statesman, thinker or worker, aided, by
his efforts, the great cause of human progress. Carlyle
justifies hero-worship by asking whether every “true
man” does not feel “that he is, himself made higher by
doing reverence to what is really above him ” ; and this
question is some index to the spirit which animates Posi
tivism. It urges its adherents to endeavour to understand
the past, as a means of raising their own characters. It
seeks to repress the tendency, so widely manifest in the
present generation, to glorify itself at the expense of its
ancestors, and to substitute for it a spirit of humility,
springing from a more thorough knowledge of the extent
of our obligations; in reference to which, indeed, it affirms,
in one of its most characteristic axioms, that, with the
lapse of time, the living become ever more and more subject to
the dominion of the dead, and that, therefore, in adopting
an attitude of irreverence towards the past, we are vainly
striving to escape from an inevitable destiny.
As a further means of subordinating the individual to
the community, and therefore to Humanity, Positivism
seeks to break down the barrier which now exists between
private and public life, by means of a series of social cere
monies, to which Comte gave the name of Sacraments,
and which are intended to remind each member of a community that, in all the important epochs of his career—
e.g., birth, marriage, death—his interests are not exclusive,
but that he forms part of a greater whole which is also
concerned. This view of life, although expressed under
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WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
theological forms, has been, sanctioned by all previous
creeds, and Positivism merely continues the tradition.
By these and similar means it endeavours to assert the
supremacy of feeling over intellect, and to stimulate the
sentiment of social duty—duty to Humanity. But according
to the wise phrase of Tacitus, which has been so often
repeated, the difficulty is not merely to do our duty, but
to know what is our duty ; and here the assistance of the
intellect is necessary. Such knowledge is to be obtained
only by education directed to social ends ; and perhaps the
most important part of Comte’s work is his comprehensive
scheme for the reform of education, which, if carried out,
would mean a veritable revolution, not merely in the
methods of teaching, but in social habits and modes of
life. It would be superfluous at the present moment to
enter into the details of this scheme, but the magnitude of
the changes it contemplates is faintly indicated by the pro
vision that schools, as now understood, would be abolished,
all children being left in their mother’s care till the age of
fourteen, and receiving from her the rudiments of educa
tion which they are now taught at school. This, however,
is merely a preliminary process, it being proposed that, at
the age of fourteen, the children of all classes, and both
sexes, shall commence an encyclopaedic training (occupying
seven years, and founded on Comte’s Classification of the
Sciences), which is intended to give them a general
acquaintance with the whole field of human knowledge,
beginning with mathematics, passing afterwards in suc
cession through astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and
sociology, and terminating with morals. This education is to
be imparted by an organized body of teachers, whom Comte
designates by the name of a priesthood—a term which,
especially in Protestant countries, is invested with certain
sinister associations, and the employment of which accounts,
no doubt, for the suspicion with which many people view
Positivism, under the impression that, if once established,
it would be dangerous to liberty. Of the existence of this
feeling Comte was quite aware, but his survey of history
led him to the conclusion, which, ignoring current preju
dices, he formulates as a definite sociological theory—that
no society can exist, and be developed, without a priesthood in
some form or other. “All men”, he said, “stand in need
of education and counsel ”, and wherever any institution
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is found to exercise these functions, there, under whatever
name it is known, exists what is in essence a priesthood. In
this sense the germ of a Positivist priesthood has already
made its appearance, although in a very imperfect form.
The science teacher, the physician, the journalist, each in
his own way, performs these functions, and may conse
quently, within his own limits, be regarded as a priest.
Comte, however, desired that what is now done in a
spontaneous, informal way, with too often no guarantee of
either capacity or integrity, should be done by a carefully
selected body of men, trained for the purpose, devoting
their whole lives to the work, and voluntarily abandoning
all competition for wealth or exalted position.
But education, in the Positivist sense, must not be re
garded as limited to mere book-learning. Its object, as
already stated, is to inculcate principles of civic duty—to
make men not merely scholars, but citizens; the education
which allows any member of the community to stand aloof
from the political and social movements of his time, how
ever elaborate it may be from the intellectual stand-point,
being, in Comte’s view, utterly unworthy of the name.
Obviously, however, the character of civic duty is governed
by the conception which exists as to the nature and func
tions of the State; and here, again, Positivism sets forth an
ideal which, if established, would effect a revolution. With
the decay of theology, it regards as inevitable the decline
of the hereditary principle in government, the institution
of birth being directly dependent on theology. On this
hypothesis, the ultimate form of government will be
republican. War also, being regarded as another ally of
theology, it is assumed will disappear. If, in fact, the
Positivist estimate be correct, there are spontaneous ten
dencies now at work, by which society will ultimately be
transformed—which will, by degrees, abolish the theolo
gical, monarchical, and military character it still possesses,
and render it instead scientific, republican, and pacific
industrial. Abandoning, as Positivism does, all idea of a
future life, and of consolation in another world for the
misfortunes of this, it considers the highest duty of the
human race to be that of developing, by collective efforts,
the resources of the earth, its only dwelling-place, so that,
by the labours of each succeeding generation, the happiness
of its inhabitants may be increased. With the acceptance
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WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
of this view, many of the special classes identified with, and
supported by, existing institutions will gradually become
extinct, and society, in the main, will assume a purely
industrial aspect, the bulk of it consisting of workmen,
labouring as now, only under vastly improved conditions,
and with more avowedly social aims, in association with,
a comparatively small body of capitalists, regarded as
trustees of the wealth of the community, under the intel
lectual and moral' guidance of the priesthood, and in
spired and consoled by the companionship and sympathy
of women.
Industry, however, being the basis of the society to
which Positivism looks forward, and peace being ever
more and more firmly established, Comte predicts that the. communities into which mankind is now distributed will,
by degrees, undergo a process of re-arrangement. Thereare, in his view, three normal forms of human association
—three social aggregates which call out man’s affection,
and inspire him with a sense of duty—the Family, the
State, and Humanity. Of these, the spirit of union is most
intense in the case of the first, and most general in thecase of the last; the State serving as a connecting link
between the two—appealing to man’s sympathy and ener
gies on behalf of something nobler than the interests of
. the narrow family group, and so helping to raise him to
a consciousnesss of his duty to Humanity. In order, how
ever, that this process should be effective, the idea of
Country should be real and tangible. Patriotism, in the
proper sense of the term, Comte holds to be impossible in
the case of such enormous societies as those now con
stituting the principal states of the world. They are toolarge to inspire a genuine sentiment of affection and de
votion, and he regards it, therefore, as certain, that, sooneror later, a movement of decomposition will set in, which
will reduce them within narrower limits. The ideal Posi
tivist State, the State destined to become universal, is
represented by a city with its surrounding territory; and
Comte anticipates that, under the influence of this view,.
Europe will in time break up into a number of small
republics of the size of Belgium or Tuscany, in which,
as a result of the restraining discipline of the new universal
spiritual power which Positivism will establish, civic
duty, now too often a synonym for mere vulgar Chauvin
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ism, will become a reality, modified, restricted, and en
nobled by subordination to the still loftier sentiment of
■duty to Humanity.
It will be seen that the aims of Positivism are large,
and it is consequently regarded with hostility by many
who are ignorant of its teaching, or who shrink from its
conclusions. It is sometimes classed indiscriminately with
Atheism, Communism, and other theories of a purely
revolutionary character ; and if attention be directed only
to the results which it proclaims as inevitable, and for
which it seeks to prepare the way, this comparison is,
perhaps, not unnatural. Between Positivism, however,
and other so-called “progressive” schools, there is a pro
found difference in method, which is too often overlooked.
While they mostly look to political changes, either peace
ful. or violent, as a means of achieving their ends, Positivism
relies solely on moral means. It insists that a reformation
in ideas must precede any alteration in institutions. One
of the most pregnant and luminous political maxims with
which Comte has enriched the world consists in this—that
progress is but the development of order ; from which maxim
the conclusion is inevitable that, unless based upon order,
progress of any permanent character is impossible. Al
though, therefore, the intellectual, moral, and political
aspects of society will, in the course of time, if the Posi
tivist ideal be reached, undergo modifications of which
the most advanced reformers now scarcely dream, yet it
is assumed that they will be effected gradually and spon
taneously, as the result of previous convictions arrived at
by means of Positivist education. Briefly, the method of
Positivism may be described as that of evolution as opposed
to revolution.
. Whether the Eeligion of Humanity be destined to justify
its title, time alone can show. Its success, or its failure
can matter nothing to its founder. The philosopher to
whose genius it is due, who passed his life in poverty and
obscurity, , gaining a precarious subsistence as a teacher of '
mathematics, now sleeps peacefully, indifferent alike to
praise or blame, in a quiet hollow of Père-Lachaise. It is
however, a significant testimony to the force of his doc
trines, that, in various parts of the world, they have
succeeded in. attracting groups of devoted adherents, of
different nationalities, who carry on a systematic propa
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WHAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
ganda. The influence of his teaching, moreover, cannot
De measured by the number of those who call themselves
Positivists. In Comte’s phrase, Positivism is “systema
tized common sense”, and, as such, it acts, naturally
enough, in different ways on different minds, influencing
them to an extent which it is quite impossible to gauge.
Persons of the most widely varying pursuits, although
unable to accept it as a whole, and even rejecting its
leading principles, have acknowledged their obligations
to it on points connected with their own special ex
perience.
The centre of the Positivist movement is at No. 10, Rue
Monsieur-le-Prince, Paris, where M. Pierre Laffitte, the
friend and disciple of Auguste Comte, assisted by a body
of younger co-religionists, carries on the work of scientific
and historical teaching essential to the progress of the
cause, and where also a Positivist magazine, La Revue
Occidentale, is published every two months. There are also
groups in Havre, Rouen, and other French cities. Positi
vism was introduced into England by Dr. Richard Con
greve, another disciple of Comte, and there are now three
organized bodies in London, the best known, perhaps, of
which has its head-quarters at Newton Hall, Fleur-de-lis
Court, Fetter Lane. The movement has of late years
spread to Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and other
British cities. It has branches also in Sweden, the United
States, Chili, Brazil, India, etc. The organization is not
very strict, and there are differences of opinion as to the
opportuneness of giving prominence to certain aspects of
the system; but, by common consent, an agreement exists
on fundamental points of doctrine. All the groups cherish
the same ideal, although some of them differ as to the
means of arriving at it.
Comte’s principal work, La Politique Positive, instituting
the Religion of Humanity, has been translated into
English, and published in four volumes by Longmans,
but is now out of print. Comparatively few people, how
ever, have sufficient time, and perhaps still fewer the
inchnation, to study, as it requires and deserves, so large
and important a philosophical work. Those who wish to
make acquaintance with the system, without so serious an
expenditure of energy, will do well to read Comte’s smaller
works, two of which, the General View of Positivism, and
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the Catechism of Positive Religion, are published in English
in a convenient form, price half-a-crown each. The former,
translated by Dr. Bridges, and published by Messrs.
Beeves and Turner, 196, Strand, is an admirable exposition
of general principles, and, as such, is perhaps the more
suitable for a person approaching the subject for the first
time. It begins with a most remarkable chapter on the
intellectual character of Positivism, the first reading of
which, to any one not previously familiar with philosophical
problems, is in itself a veritable education. In the suc
ceeding chapters, it deals with such subjects as the nature
and uses of wealth (in connexion with which it includes a
profound criticism of the ordinary Economic and Socialist
theories), the position and duties of the workman in a
properly-organized society, the social functions of woman,
the human theory of marriage, the relation of Positivism
to Art, the meaning of the conception of “ Humanity ” as
a central object of religion, etc., etc. But, for the purpose
of learning the nature of the institutions by which it is
proposed to give effect to these principles, and to form
an idea of what society, organized in accordance with
them, would belike, the reading of the General View should
be supplemented by that of the Catechism, a translation of
which, by Dr. Congreve, is published by Messrs. Triibner
and Co., Ludgate Hill. The original appeared in 1852,
four years later than the General View, and as a conse
quence, Comte’s views having become more matured, the
religious conception of Positivism is brought forward more
distinctly. In it are found the list of books, known as the
Positivist Library, which Comte recommended for habitual
reading by those whose leisure is limited, and who are,
therefore, under the necessity of making a selection from
the enormous mass of literature by which they are sur
rounded ; a copy of the Positivist Calendar; and sundry
other tables, the knowledge of which is essential in order
to thoroughly realize the nature of Positivism, not merely
as a philosophical creed conducing to sound and tranquil
lizing convictions, but as a large-hearted effort to reor
ganize society, to stimulate material and moral progress,
and to increase the sum of human happiness. An English
abridgment, by Miss Martineau, of the Philosophic Positive
is published by Triibner in two volumes. An appreciative
memoir of Comte, with some account of the system, will
�16
WIIAT POSITIVISM MEANS.
be found ill the second volume of Lewes’s History of Philo
sophy. * A fuller and more synthetic view, however, is
given in the Notice sur V Œuvre et sur la Vie P Auguste Comte,
by Dr. Bobinet, his friend and physician.
Any one wishing for further information as to the organiza
tion in England, or the methods of propaganda, is requested
to apply to the Secretary of the English Positivist Com
mittee, Newton Hall, Fleur-de-lis Court, Fetter Lane,
London, E.C.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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What positivism means
Creator
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Ellis, Henry
English Positivist Committee
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 16 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: Publication details from KVK.
Publisher
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[s.n.]
Date
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[18--]
Identifier
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G2815
Subject
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Positivism
Rights
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (What positivism means), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Positivism