Comte and the Origins of Sociology
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Auguste Comte developed a three-stage philosophy of history (theological, metaphysical, positive) that unified all sciences under one method and founded sociology, making him profoundly influential on modern social science and technocratic governance despite his late-career mental illness and messianic delusions.
- Comte's three-stage model of intellectual development applies across all disciplines and cultures, providing a framework for understanding the progression from mythological to scientific thought
- His project to unify all sciences around positivism fundamentally shaped the Vienna Circle, pragmatism, and modern philosophy of science, even as his later 'Religion of Humanity' revealed dangerous intellectual grandiosity
- Technocratic governance in modern states (Federal Reserve, scientific administration) traces directly to Comte's vision of rule by technical experts, creating an ongoing tension between positivist efficiency and normative foundations for ethical governance
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The fact that Greeks made great advances in mathematics before quantum mechanics became possible, and that sophisticated physiology required breakthroughs in physics and chemistry, demonstrates that there is a 'cunning of the insane'—a profound brilliance in Comte's hierarchical organization of the sciences.
“it is not surprising if you look back on the and this has been very influential in the history of science it's not surprising that the greeks made great advances in mathematics before we were able to make great advances in quantum mechanics it is pretty clear that quantum physics is dependent upon certain mathematical instruments which have to be developed first right so and it's not surprising that we don't develop a very sophisticated [27:32] physiology until breakthroughs are made in physics and chemistry so there is a certain cunning of the insane there is a profound brilliance here”
The problem of positivistic moral and political theory is the Achilles heel of positivism; all great empiricists and positivists face the challenge of grounding ethics and morality in a purely naturalistic worldview without metaphysical or transcendent foundations.
“arguably another problem that he addresses if he doesn't solve is the problem of positivistic moral and political theory which is always the achilles heel of [43:58] these guys”
Despite his difficulties in reception, Comte's early work is profound and brilliant and has had an almost incalculably important influence on the philosophy of science, history of science, and development of social science in the modern West.
“his early work is profound and brilliant he has had an influence which is almost uncalculably important on the further development of the philosophy of science the history of science and the development of social science in the modern west”
Mathematical knowledge in the early theological stage was conceived as divinely ordained; when Pythagoras discovered the Pythagorean theorem, he sacrificed an ox to Apollo because mathematical knowledge was believed to come from the gods.
“the earliest mathematics if you think about something like the theorem of pythagoras when a squared plus b squared equals c squared when that fact came to pythagoras he went out and sacrificed an ox to apollo why because mathematical [15:41] knowledge comes from the gods”
Modern positivists with justice do not believe that a normative or ethical element can be derived from a purely naturalistic worldview; Comte himself evades the is-ought problem (Hume's famous distinction) by constructing a cult of reason.
“i think that modern positivists with some justice don't believe that you're going to be able to get that normative element out of a purely naturalistic world and compt himself does dodge the conflict between is and ought which becomes such an influence such an important question in hume's morals and humorous politics and the way in which he dodges this distinction between is and ought is by [31:40] constructing a sort of cult of reason”
Auguste Comte is one of the most important and influential yet surprisingly one of the least read of the great 19th century philosophers, generally regarded as the founder of positivism and the inventor of the discipline of sociology.
“august compt is one of the most important and influential [0:31] yet surprisingly one of the least read of the great 19th century philosophers he is generally regarded as the founder of positivism a scientific and naturalistic tendency in western thought and he also invented or developed the discipline of sociology”
Comte's thinking is long, ponderous, and not terribly accessible, and towards the end of his life he suffered a mental breakdown that makes his work appear pathological and self-parodying.
“comte is not often read he is little [1:04] regarded in contemporary great books syllabi primarily because of the fact that his thinking is long ponderous involved not terribly accessible that's one problem and the second problem is is that towards the end of his life he became visibly insane he suffered a sort of mental breakdown and his work clearly shows the influence of this tragic mental collapse which makes him an easy target for parity”
Comte's two great political mottos are 'order' and 'progress'—order representing the static immobility of feudal Europe that he finds attractive, and progress representing necessary change, with his political theory attempting to enable progress without the convulsive disorder of religious wars or the French Revolution.
“order and progress are the two great mottos which he introduces into his political theory and order the order the static immobility characteristic of feudal europe is something that he finds attractive and longs for compt was very much opposed to the reformation very much opposed to the french revolution he disliked disorder [4:13] and he was attempting to create the possibility for human progress without the convulsive disorder that we find say in the wars of religion or in the french revolution”
Many contemporary social scientists are indebted to Comte but do not realize it, and yet his work does not appear on many great books curricula despite being quite influential on modern social science.
“the uncharitable reading is he was [41:27] crazy from the beginning that he elected himself pope to his own private religion and actually not pope but messiah and the fact that certain people were willing to reinforce his delusions does not make them any more any less delusional so that would be the harsh reading of comp and i think that accounts for the fact that many contemporary social scientists who are indebted to comp to a degree they do not realize tend to ignore this this doesn't make itself make its way on to many great books syllabi and in fact it should because it's quite influential”
Comte's project is to synthesize and logically organize all the natural sciences developed since the age of Copernicus and Galileo, with the ontological presupposition that nature is all there is, so that once the natural sciences are unified and logically organized, all knowledge is organized.
“he had a creative streak and alas unlike other figures he had a messianic streak which came out late in his career but at least initially his project is to synthesize and unify [5:14] the sciences as they have developed since the age of say copernicus or galileo pull them all together under the aegis of one intellectual structure which validated and connected all of these disciplines and he had hoped once we had finished off the natural sciences since he made the ontological posit that nature was all there was once you have unified and logically organized the natural sciences you have logically organized all of knowledge”
The French Revolution was a major influence on Comte's thought; he disliked revolutionary convulsions and viewed the Revolution as an example of what must be avoided in future political progress, yet he wanted to allow for salutary changes without accompanying misery.
“a third big influence is the french revolution comp disliked revolutionary convulsions on the whole he was a very conservative i might be tempted to almost say reactionary political thinker and the french revolution is his example of what must be avoided in our future political progress”
Comte's philosophy of history has resonances with Vico's stages (age of gods, age of heroes, age of men) and shares the idea that knowledge development follows necessary triadic patterns across all cultures.
“within this first stage the theological stage he like hegel or particularly like vico those of you know vico's stages from the age of the gods to the age of the heroes to the age of men will find an almost perfect symmetry between this tripartite development”
Comte was always an intellectual outsider, never able to get a university post due to his naturalistic inclinations, reactionary political views, and personal psychological problems; instead he gave lectures from his apartment in an intellectual salon over 12 years, which were occasionally interrupted by psychotic breaks.
“he was always an outsider never able [9:26] to get a university post um because of his naturalistic inclinations because of his reactionary political views and also because of his personal craziness he gave lectures personally in his apartment he held a small soiree and had something like an intellectual salon and it's surprising although there was only a small number people who attend his lectures over the course of 12 years and these these lectures are occasionally interrupted by his psych psych psychotic breaks”
In the theological phase, magic thinking attributes intentionality and responsibility to objects; ancient Greeks could hold a statue responsible if it fell on someone, a holdover from magical thinking about the attribution of agency to inanimate objects.
“the fact that in ancient greece if a statue fell down fell on someone you could hold the statue responsible [16:14] well that is a holdover from this magic thinking right it is a an artifact of that primitive theological physics”
The positive stage eliminates explanatory abstractions and the distinction between appearance and reality that had been central to Western philosophy for 23 centuries; it asserts 'what you see is what you get'—the world is what it appears to be, with no need to posit forces, laws, forms, or essences.
“and move on to the next necessary phase which is the positive phase and the positive phase is the phase of society where we get rid of all these explanatory abstractions we no longer use that sort of abstract thinking as a as a way of accounting for the world [20:19] instead what you see is what you get positivism simply says there's no need to posit things like forces laws the theory of forms essences and existences none of that scholastic stuff get rid of it all all positivism says is that what you see is what you get the world is what it appears to be it essentially undoes the distinction between appearance and reality which had been central to the whole western tradition for the previous what 23 centuries at least”
Multiple disciplines have gone through the three stages: physics, chemistry, physiology (as evidenced by Harvey's discovery of blood circulation), and astronomy have all progressed from theological to metaphysical to positive stages.
“astronomy has gone through these three phases physics has gone through these three phases with harvey finding the circulation of the blood physiology went through these three phases”
Comte bases his cult of reason on the Jacobin cult of reason from the French Revolution and Rousseau's concept of civil religion; like many French thinkers, he cannot imagine a stable polity without a religious foundation, even a secular one.
“comte is very much indebted to the cult of reason that comes from the jacobins of the french revolution and he makes a sort of hybrid between the jacobin cult of reason and the civil religion that rousseau introduces at the end of the uh what's his famous book uh the social contract remember that there's a social uh civil religion very simple and elementary at the at the end of his work i think [32:11] what he's doing is borrowing that tendency it seems that many french thinkers cannot imagine a society in which you don't have a religion which i think may be testimony to the tremendous influence of catholicism in the french intellectual tradition it's hard for them to imagine a stable polity that doesn't have some sort of religious foundation even a guy as skeptical and as revolutionary in some ways as rousseau can't imagine it so comp picks up on that tendency”
Comte founds the 'Religion of Humanity,' creating a new secular Catholic Church with himself as pope (or more accurately messiah) and founding principles of right and wrong that he claims are canonical and authoritative.
“what he founds is something he calls the religion of humanity and here's where things get i think [32:42] visibly psychotic and where i think it's a little too easy i'll try and go easy on comp because it's too easy to make this appear ridiculous he did such a good job of it himself the first thing comp does is construct this new air zot's catholicism by leaving out essentially the jesus stories and by introducing his own conception of right and wrong which he somehow takes to be canonical and authoritative in other words to call him the new pope of this new religion doesn't quite do him justice he's more like the new messiah [33:13] of this new religion right and he lets himself to both of these disciplines or to both of these stations”
Comte signs his letters with the title 'High Priest of the Religion of Humanity,' which John Stuart Mill found melancholy to witness—evidence of great intellectual decay in a once-great mind.
“he begins to to sign his letters um with the modest title that he gave himself once again high priest of the religion of humanity which makes his correspondence uneasy because it's pretty clear that you're dealing with someone whose brain is starting to go i mean i mean john stuart mill said it's it's a really melancholy site to see a great intellect in such a state of decay”
In Comte's Religion of Humanity, he claims to represent the self-consciousness and chosen instrument of humanity itself; without a metaphysical realm, he essentially becomes god—the self-consciousness of the eternal species-being.
“he thinks that he's god's chosen or [33:45] more precisely since there's no god around i mean no metaphysical realm he sort of is god he's the auto he's the auto he's the self-consciousness of our species and his religion of humanity is humanity worshiping itself in other words each individual per one of us as a sort of cell in this eternal species being in other words it takes up marxist and hegelian resonances saying that our real existence is not the individual body that we are but rather our existence is a species which goes on forever”
Comte reorganizes the entire calendar so that instead of saint days, months are named after great philosophers and thinkers in chronological order (month of Moses, month of Descartes, month of Newton), creating a microcosm of historical time.
“he decides to reorganize the entire calendar and as an instead of having saints days we're going to have the days in tribute to the great philosophers and thinkers and literary figures and this is a genuinely crazy idea so we have the month of moses why because moses was a great guy deserves his own [35:18] month in the same way that the romans decided that they could name their months after guys like augustus and julius caesar so we get july he says no that that shows a typically roman lack of taste a smart positivist of guys are going to name our calendar months after the great thinkers like moses or descartes or newton and they'll be of course in a natural progressive order because the month will be a microcosm of all of historical time”
Comte establishes a canon of books necessary for positive thought, and of course declares that his own works must be the final required reading since he is finishing off the entire project of human knowledge.
“there will be a certain set of books which will be canonical for all positive thought and of course here's the last of these books that we really need to read is comp's work himself because he's finishing all this off”
Comte exhibits a combination of great intellectual insight and delusions of grandeur; he literally expects positivism to supersede monotheism and is unself-conscious about appearing crazy because he is completely convinced he has the final right answer.
“it is pretty clear that what we have here is a combination of great insight and delusions of grandeur he elects himself pope to a religion he starts and he expects the word he [36:19] literally expects positivism to supersede monotheism in some ways there's a kind of crazy promethean almost niche in will to take everything to its maximum extreme except the insanity of it becomes so much more visible he's totally unself-conscious about seeming crazy because he's completely convinced that he has the final right answer”
Both Saint-Simon and Comte had visions of the world ruled by scientific experts; Saint-Simon proposed a 'Council of Newton' of the 21 smartest scientists, and Comte, terrified by the 1848 revolutions, proposed a 'positivist council' that he would himself preside over.
“san simon wanted the world ruled by what he called the council of newton the 21 smartest scientists well compt offers to do something similar during the revolutions of 1848 he's terrified by the prospect of new political disorder in europe he says now that i've thought about it perhaps we should have the entire world ruled by what i will call the positivist council and you can imagine who's going to preside over this council calmed so with some reluctance [39:53] he offers himself as a kind of kind of being drafted on on the convention floor he's willing to rule the world because the world really needs him”
The problems of method (unifying the sciences around one common method and object of inquiry) and the elimination of metaphysics are among the most important tendencies in the philosophy of science since Comte, notably in the Vienna Circle's concept of unified science.
“in the first case it seems to me that the problems of method of unifying the sciences around one common method and around one common object of inquiry nature is one of the most important tendencies in the philosophy of science since the time of compt if you think about the idea of a unified science which animated the vienna circle”
Brazil's flag displays the positivist motto 'Order and Progress'; after the abolition of slavery in 1888, positivists were very influential in developing the new Brazilian state, creating a transition between Catholicism and scientific technocracy.
“the government of brazil right i mean they have the positivist flag it says order in progress right after the abolition of slavery in 1888 positivists were very influential in developing the new brazil for better or worse it is a kind of transition between catholicism and its universal moral order and the technocratic scientific element that is becoming more and more influential among all the elites in every kind of government”
Important intellectuals including Fourier, von Humboldt, and John Stuart Mill were impressed by Comte's ambitions if not by his solutions, demonstrating that despite his marginalization, his intellectual power was recognized by peers.
“it's surprising although there was only a small number people who attend his lectures over the course of 12 years and these these lectures are occasionally interrupted by his psych psych psychotic breaks he is often [9:57] suicidal he's profoundly depressed but when he is teaching it's amazing the number of important intellectuals that come in fourier is one of his students the famous utopian socialist von humboldt the german naturalist comes to these lectures john stuart mill although he doesn't attend these lectures is very much impressed by comps achievements”
In his later work, Comte argues that human development involves both intellectual progress and moral progress—the law of love has been expanded and universalized; Christianity is an early, primitive, mythological formulation of the true law of love that he claims can be derived from his positivist philosophy.
“the progress of human existence has been an intellectual progress but also a moral progress a progress of the moral sentiments the law of love has been expanded and universalized christianity which he kind of tips his hat to is an early primitive development a [31:09] mythological formulation of the true law of love which he somehow believes can be derived from his political and epistemological stance”
Unlike later Vienna Circle reductionists, Comte does not reduce all disciplines to physics; rather, he holds that each discipline must develop its own canons of reasoning and procedures for developing legitimate knowledge, though all study the same reality and have logical and ontological divisions corresponding to natural kinds.
“they all study the same thing which is the real world the world of space and time and they study it not in the same way because comps has not gotten to the reductive positivism that we will see in the in the vienna circle of the 20th century for him each of these disciplines has to develop its own canons of reasoning [14:09] and its own procedures for developing legitimate knowledge so in other words sociology will not be reducible to physics for compt in the way that it would i think be reducible for uh say the early wittgenstein or any of the hardcore positives like karnap or schlick or ayer”
The theological (or mythological) phase is the earliest phase of human knowledge, in which knowledge is bound up with myth, and anthropomorphic entities and intentionality are attributed to natural phenomena; examples include ancient astronomy fused with astrology and early physics couched in mythology.
“the first phase is the theological phase and if you think about it there's a good i mean this is not at all an implausible set of ideas in the most ancient strata of human history and of human society knowledge is always bound up with myth when the ancient sages studied astronomy astronomy and astrology were the same discipline right they weren't separate when you looked at a at a collection of [15:11] stars and you said that is the lion that is leo well this is probably connected with some lion myth right and there will always be some sort of mystical mythological element been built into their early primitive astronomy and if you think about the development of physics the earliest physics is also myth couched in mythology”
Some of Comte's followers and later positivists wanted to censor, bowdlerize, and limit Comte's work to his early Course on Positive Philosophy, rejecting his later System of Positive Politics as visibly inferior and pathologically influenced.
“this is the part of positivism which most contemporary positivists or most contemporary naturalistic thinkers like and calmed and there were some of his followers after he died that wanted his work to be cut away they wanted it bolderized they wanted it censored because they thought that after this [29:04] first this initial work the theory of positive philosophy that he just went visibly crazy and that this the stuff that comes after that is visibly inferior and different from this particular approach to nature and knowledge”
The metaphysical stage accounts for the world using intellectual abstractions like forces, causes, and rights rather than anthropomorphic entities; examples include Platonic forms, scholastic essences and existences, Descartes' clear and distinct ideas, and Rousseau's natural rights.
“for comp the metaphysical stage differs from the theological stage in that it accounts for and it accounts for the world around us not with these anthropomorphic entities the the tree god and the stone god and [19:19] the sky god it accounts for these things using intellectual abstractions like forces causes rights and for comp everything i would say between plato and the french revolution are examples of metaphysical thinking what's an example of a metaphysical thing in comp sense of the term the platonic forms well everybody agrees that those are metaphysical say the essences and existences of the scholastics clearly metaphysical descartes clear and [19:49] distinct ideas metaphysical abstractions uh it's another example rousseau's idea of natural rights metaphysical abstractions”
Comte claims to be finishing the unification project by bringing sociology into the positive stage—he will be the first positivist sociologist, creating a science of society without falling into the metaphysical abstractions that previous social thinkers (Aristotle, Plato, Aquinas) were caught up in.
“the key problem that we have is the comp says i august calmed i'm now going to be the first positivist sociologist i will tell you what all human society amounts to and i'm not going to fall into these metaphysical abstractions that you are i'm just going to say that all the sciences are unified and because physics and chemistry and [22:22] mathematics have all gone through these phases the last of the elements of knowledge sociology knowledge of human society must also necessarily go through this phase”
Within Comte's theological stage, there are three sub-phases: fetishism (earliest, attributing magical powers to special rocks or trees), polytheism (transformation into multiple deities, as in Homer and Hinduism), and monotheism (highest theological phase, unified and elegant, as in Judeo-Christianity).
“within this first phase there are a number of subphases which also appear to be roughly speaking necessary the first [18:17] phase is what he calls the fetishistic phase in which you attribute to special rocks or special trees if you think of the religion of the druids special magical powers the power to give you good weather or bad weather things like that he says that's the earliest and most primitive phase fetishism the second phase will be the transformation of fetishism into polytheism the best example here would be homer or it's also where you play something like hinduism and the third phase within this theological stage of development is monotheism which is what he sees as [18:48] being the great contribution of the judeo-christian tradition it is the highest of the theological phases because it is the most unified it is the most elegant”
The uncharitable reading holds that Comte was crazy from the beginning, exhibiting paranoid symptoms very early in his career; his first intellectual mentor, Saint-Simon, and he engaged in mutual accusation of stealing each other's ideas before breaking permanently.
“the uncharitable reading is crazy from the word go and i think there's a lot to be said for that too [38:52] he exhibits paranoid symptoms very early he's first intellectual mentor after he leaves the polytechnic institute is san simon one of the great french utopian socialists and after a long and close connection in which they express considerable admiration for each other they engage in mutual accusation of stealing each other's ideas compt accuses sen simone his mentor and employer sesimon accuses compt and they break permanently”
Comte's mental gifts and mental diseases grew apace, causing him to become increasingly the object of ridicule; within France he had almost no influence, but his influence was significant among scattered intellectuals in various countries and periphery areas outside metropolitan Western culture.
“we have here the case of an unfortunate man [10:27] who is mentally gifted and at the same time mentally diseased and that causes his mental gifts and his mental diseases to grow a pace and that causes him to become more and more the object of ridicule strangely enough within france compt has almost no influence almost no frenchman take comp seriously his influence is among scattered intellectuals in various countries and also countries like brazil that are outside the metropolitan area of western culture [10:59] that are on the periphery of it”
The logical hierarchy of the sciences dictates that mathematics must undergo the three-stage development before astronomy can, then astronomy before physics, then physics before chemistry, then chemistry before physiology, and finally physiology before sociology—each stage is contingent upon the previous stage's development.
“there is a definite logical hierarchy and historical hierarchy there once math starts to go through that process of development then it's possible for astronomy to go through that development once astronomy starts to go through that development then physics can start to go through development and then chemistry can start to go through that development and then physiology can go through that development and then we get comp who's finishing the project the keystone goes into the arch the progress of the human [27:01] mind culminates with comptia and sociology all right so you can see how one is contingent upon the other”
The elimination of metaphysics is a major theme in 20th-century positivism; A.J. Ayer's Language, Truth and Logic—a great positivist manifesto—performs elimination of metaphysics in its first chapter, but Comte had already done this.
“another thing that's going to come up again and [42:58] again those of you know that know aj air's book language truth and logic what's one of the i mean it's a great positivist manifesto what does he do in the first chapter the elimination of metaphysics well compt had done that already right so it's not unique it's just a reworking of something that's already there”
Comte comes from an orthodox royalist Catholic family and is educated at a polytechnic university, creating a polarization in his thought between longing for the organic stability of medieval Catholicism and engagement with modern natural science.
“he comes from an orthodox royalist catholic family extremely conservative and traditional uh strangely enough he is educated at a polytechnic university and at this time it creates a sort of [3:42] polarization in his thought at the one hand he longs for the organic stability and unity characteristic of medieval catholicism”
French utopian socialism was a major influence on Comte; he responds to the same dissatisfactions with industrial society that Marx and Charles Dickens were responding to—the social and familial dislocation generated by industrial society creates problems that traditional political theories cannot address.
“the final great influence on compt was the tradition of french utopian socialism and in this respect i would say that uh that he's responding to the same sort of dissatisfactions with industrial society that marx was responding to or in fact that charles dickens was responding to the social and familial dislocation [6:51] characteristic of the new industrial society generated certain problems that traditional political theories were not capable of formulating or addressing”
Comte had considerable influence on Herbert Spencer and the development of social Darwinism through his hard-headed attempt to describe society as it actually is independent of any metaphysical abstractions.
“he's also quite influential on herbert spencer and the development of things like social darwinism right this hard-headed attempt to describe society as it actually is independent of any metaphysical abstractions is not so far from the early position that comp takes”
In the positive stage, knowledge consists of observable regularities and simple mathematical laws (like F=ma); scientists watch phenomena repeatedly and make law-like generalizations that can be brought together into compact mathematical representations of the world.
“by undoing this distinction between appearance and reality [20:51] what compd offers us is simple regularities mathematically expressed laws that tell you what goes on in the world if you want to know what really happens in the world well watch it and watch it again and watch it again and then make some law like generalization about it and then have special scientists bring these generalizations together so that what you get is things like f equals m a very nice small math compact precise mathematical representations in principle”
Due to the proliferation of knowledge in the modern world, it is not possible for ordinary citizens to understand all technical matters necessary to make informed decisions; therefore technocracy in the form of delegation to experts is a live option, but the problem is how to find a normative basis for it.
“because of the proliferation of [46:35] knowledge in the modern world it's not possible for any of us to know all the things we have to know to make an informed decision the consequence of that is that positivism in the form of technocracy is at least a live option in the 20th century the problem is how they will find a normative basis for that”
Although utopian socialism's solutions are generally unsatisfactory (and Comte's especially so), the questions it raises about new problems generated by industrialization remain valid and must be reformulated, as they are concomitant with the world we live in.
“if his solutions to these problems is unsatisfactory and i think for the most part it is as is true generally for the whole tradition of utopian socialism [7:22] utopian as being the operative word well then at least asking these questions represents a kind of a breakthrough if his answers are not very satisfactory the questions remain with us or minimally have to be reformulated because it's the kind of it he's gesturing at the kind of problems we can't escape they're a concomitant of the world we live in now”
All technocratic tendencies in modern politics—decisions made by technical experts rather than democratic majorities—owe something to Comte; they represent a practical implementation of his vision of rule by scientific experts.
“the final observation i'll make is that i think that all technocratic [46:05] tendencies in modern politics owe something to calm in other words there he was right in saying that to a great extent political decisions are at least partially technical if you think about something like the federal reserve board we have a special group of economists there that decide things like how much money gets printed or what the interest rates are because of the fact that you and i have no idea what to do with that i don't understand the equations neither do you there's no point having me vote on these things because i understand them neither do you you can only leave it to the technicians and hope they do a good job”
Comte does not confront the problem of how, given his inductivist epistemology, he can know that the positive stage is the final one rather than a penultimate stage before some unknown future stage.
“there are things that he doesn't consider how do we know that the positive stage is the last one i mean if it's an inductive empirical activity who knows what's going to come tomorrow [36:49] i mean think of the problems that are built into induction how do you know it's going to be the end he feels called and chosen that's all you can say he's quite condensed that only never confronts that sort of a problem”
In empiricist and positivist philosophy, which treat the physical world as ultimate reality, the question arises: if you don't worship the physical world (physics), and you don't worship metaphysical entities, what do you worship? If you don't worship anything, what will your normative and ethical theory look like—it will be a vacuum.
“if you find all the great empiricists all the guys who like that tables and chairs space and time kind of philosophy uh what is it that edmund says at the beginning that soliloquy and king lear thou nature art my goddess and to thy law my services are bound well all of positivism is a sort of hymn nearer my physics to thee it's all physics worship and the problem is is that if you don't worship yourself you don't worship humanity what do you worship and if you don't worship anything well then what will your normative theory look like what will your ethical theory look like it'll be a big vacuum isn't that [44:32]”
Attempting to unify all knowledge is in some ways noble and heroic in a Greek sense because it is full of hubris and intellectual sin of pride, yet there is tragic nobility in attempting to do more than any human being could possibly do.
“one way or another it is literally insane to believe that you can do that and to [37:52] attempt to do it is in some ways noble and heroic in a greek sense in the sense that it is full of hubris and there's a certain sort of intellectual sin a pride in that and at the same time there's a kind of tragic nobility to it he is trying to do more than anyone could possibly do”
Comte offers a secular alternative to Christian immortality: do good, be virtuous while on earth, and you will live forever in the memory of those who love you—a form of immortality through collective memory rather than a heavenly afterlife.
“he says i'll give you a new erzotz alternative to the christian offer of immortality do good while you're here on earth be virtuous and you will live on forever in the memory of those who love you there is i mean crazy as this seems there's an element of truth in this in other words it's hard to separate the crazy stuff from the almost pedestrian observation that well if you do want any kind of immortality and you don't believe in a second world and in a heaven the closest you're going to come is immortality and speech immortality and [34:47] collective memory”
Another group of Comte's followers emphasized the legitimacy of his later work, the System of Positive Politics (1851-1854), and argued that one cannot separate the philosophy from the polity—Comte's system is simultaneously a theory of history, knowledge, and a normative theory about how societies ought to be run.
“another group of his followers i [29:35] think that the people for whom the attraction to comptia philosophy was the possibility of reconciling moral order and political order with the advent of modern science another group of followers of compt liked that tendency in compt and they're the ones who emphasized the legitimacy and importance of his later work and the last of his works or the last thing he finished with the system of of positive politics and this was produced between 1851 and 54 and his count himself said you cannot [30:07] separate the philosophy from the polity in other words this is a theory of history and a theory of knowledge but it also is a normative theory about how societies ought to be run”
Comte had a tremendous influence on pragmatism because he held a pragmatic standard of knowledge: does it work? If it works, it is real positive knowledge; don't give me any metaphysical element.
“think he also had a tremendous influence on pragmatism because he had essentially a pragmatic standard of knowledge does it work well then his real positivistic [42:28] knowledge don't give me any metaphysical element just tell me if it works or not”
Comte's polymathic intellect gave him expertise across all scientific disciplines of his time—he was an adept mathematician, well-versed in physics, biology, and chemistry—allowing him to synthesize and unify the sciences under one intellectual structure.
“modern natural science is a fundamental concern for him he was an adept at all scientific disciplines within his view he was familiar he was an expert mathematician he had a natural gift for mathematics he [4:44] was well versed in contemporary physics he studied biology he studied chemistry he was a polymathic intellect”
Comte's first major work, the six-volume Course on Positive Philosophy (formulated 1830-1842), reformulates his home lectures and covers all natural science, which he understands as all science and all knowledge, by collapsing psychology into behavioral sciences and all social science into a new discipline he calls sociology.
“the first work that he produced was six volumes the course on positive philosophy he formulates that between 1830 and 1842 it is a sort of a transcript or a [11:30] reformulation of the lectures that he gives in his home and in six volumes it covers well all of natural science which he understands to be all of science which he understands to be all of knowledge because what he does is end up collapsing things like psychology into the behavioral sciences and he ends up collapsing all of social science into one super science the new discipline he founds and he calls this discipline sociology”
In Comte's three-stage theory, all elements of human knowledge—mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, physiology (understood as subsumable to behavioristic psychology), and sociology—go through three necessary stages of development, with sociology as the final stage representing human self-consciousness.
“all the elements of human knowledge and what he means by these elements of human knowledge are mathematics astronomy physics chemistry physiology and physiology is understood to subsume psychology because physiology will be or his psychology will be completely behavioristic right positivistic and the final stage in the development of human thought is sociology human beings self-consciousness [13:37] their scientific understanding of the society that they participate in and into which they are incorporated so there are six disciplines which encompass all of real scientific real legitimate knowledge”
Comte's Course on Positive Philosophy contains two main parts: a philosophy of history and an epistemological position; the philosophy of history is a three-stage theory accounting for the necessary triadic development of human knowledge and all human civilizations, with stages being theological, metaphysical, and positive.
“there are two parts to his course on positive philosophy the first part is a philosophy of history the second part is an epistemological position i'll start with the philosophy of history first...the philosophy of history is a three-stage philosophy of history in which he tries to account for the necessary triadic development of all individual human civilizations and of the individual components the conceptual components within a civilization and the three stages are the theological stage the metaphysical stage and then the final positive stage”
Comte constructs a cold and austere Cartesian universe while simultaneously longing for a Pascalian moral order; the human mind is simply not big enough to reconcile these two demands, so the tension pulls the rope apart and leads to his mental breakdown.
“he has constructed a cold and austere and harsh cartesian universe and at the same time he longs for a sort of pascali in moral order and the problem is the human mind just isn't big enough to do that [38:22] even a huge mind like his can't do the job and so you see him in a kind of tug of war between his desire for moral order and his desire for logical clarity and the problem is he pulls so hard in this tug of war the rope snaps and alas we have here a tragic faustian figure”
A technocentric interpretation of history—focusing on the relationship between human beings and nature—can be extracted from Comte's three-stage philosophy by removing the Eurocentrism and racism characteristic of his thinking; this approach is comparable to William McNeill's positivistic world history.
“the philosophy of history i think his technocentrism is absolutely crucial in other words i was last couple of years when i was at johns hopkins i was teaching the history of the world and when i was trying to formulate the connection i mean finding some way to get this massive information together the theme that i chose was the relationship between human beings and nature [43:28] because it's really there which is very handy for our purposes so i think that there's a a big future in that idea that technocentric interpretation of history if we leave out the eurocentrism and racism that's characteristic of comp's more reactionary tendencies um he's worth comparing to william mcneil in that respect a very hard-headed naturalistic approach positivistic”
As positivism breaks down due to Gödel's theorems, the Duhem-Quine thesis, and other logical developments, what emerges is pragmatism; pragmatism is what you get when you scratch off the varnish of a positivist and find a positivist with a broken heart.
“granted that we don't want or i don't want anyway to adopt comp's religion of humanity it does beg the question of what you do want to adopt all these hardshell 20th century positivists might want to look at that and since positivism itself breaks down [45:02] due to the influence of girdles the ethereum and various other logical developments um what we get out of this is pragmatism right in other words i think that if you scratch um the first layer of varnish off a pragmatist what you'll find is a positivist with a broken heart because they don't get what they want”
Taking the charitable reading, Comte is a humane person who tells people to love their neighbor and live for others in his Religion of Humanity, and his loss of proportion may be a tragic result of the Faustian bargain of attempting to unify all knowledge.
“let me take two tacks on this and finishing up let's try first of all the charitable reading right which is not my strong point but let me let me try charitable reading of compt is that he's basically a humane person in his religion of humanity he tells people his moral injunctions to things like love your neighbor and live for others well i mean [37:21] i can kind of see this as a kind-hearted man he doesn't seem to me malicious he does seem to me to have lost a sense of his own proportion but that is perhaps a tragic result of making a faustian bargain those people in the western tradition who are really under the misapprehension that they have the capacity to unify all of knowledge and to account for all previous logical and historical developments as leading up to them have made a pact with the devil”
Comte is a 'monster of intellectual hubris' more so than Faust himself—attempting to do what no human being could possibly accomplish.
“he's a monster of intellectual hubris right much more so than faust himself in that respect”
The Vienna Circle's positivists (Schlick, Carnap, Ayer) are the Achilles heel of naturalism and positivism regarding their moral theory; Schlick's book on the problems of morality from a positivist perspective is unconvincing, uninspiring, and represents the weakness of naturalistic approaches to philosophy.
“the weakest part of things like the vienna circle somebody like schlick's book on the problems of morality from the perspective of a positivist it's really lame it convinces no one it inspires no one and it's certainly the achilles heel of all these naturalistic approaches to philosophy”
If you want to find the Achilles heel of pragmatists, go to their moral theory because pragmatists, like positivists, have nothing intelligent to say about ethics; this can be seen as a virtue (avoiding false claims) or as a vacuum (absence of guidance).
“if you want to find the achilles heel of these pragmatists you go to their moral theory because they don't have anything intelligent to say now that can be seen as a virtue it can also be seen as a vacuum i prefer the latter”
Comte is like Aristotle in unifying all the knowledge of his time; he is the true 'new organism' in a way that even Bacon's book with that title fails to be—a halfway point between Lucretius's ancient atomism and Carnap's hard-shell positivism.
“i would be inclined to say that in some ways he's like aristotle unifying all the knowledge of his time you might i would be tempted to say that this is the true new organism remember bacon writes a book called the new organism this is the real new organism this makes bacon look like small potatoes he's a halfway point between uh someone [28:02] like lucretius the roman epicurean who's also a materialist and uh karnap who goes for the real hard shell positivism”
Comte reacts to new physics in the same way that Plato reacted to Milesian physics—trying to arrest centrifugal tendencies through the creation of a new religion; but while Plato could formulate a new religion in an era when religion was normal to intellectual life, by Comte's time (early 19th century) the project was impossible.
“you can see that there are delusions of grandiosity here right feelings that the world the rest of the world is at least sufficiently knowledgeable and sufficiently reasonable and sufficiently amenable to salutary change that they can see the revolutions of 1848 are a mistake what they really need is to be run by the smartest guy around there's a sort of platonic element here i would say that compt is reacting to the new physics in the same way that [40:23] plato is relating to the physics of the my lesions and trying to arrest the centrifugal tendencies that come out of that in plato's cases a lot easier to formulate a new religion because he's at a time when religion is more is more a part of the regular intellectual life of the high culture by the time of kant by the early 19th century the project of reinvigorating the traditional religion and making it logically consistent or logically uh satisfactory [40:56] to the currents of scientific thought at the time it's just too late by the early 19th century plato is the last guy that could really try and pull that off compt is trying to do what nobody could have done”
Comte's three-stage theory, while containing elements of grandiosity and disturbance, contains a germ of truth worth recognizing; the sensible elements can be extracted from the pathological ones and used productively.
“and his theory of the development of the human mind while it has elements of grandiosity [25:58] certain elements which are very disturbing um there is a germ of truth here and it must be recognized it's really worth thinking about and if you can extract the sensible stuff from the crazy stuff i think we're at something of an advantage now”