Moving from Romanticism to Realism...Comte is considered the father of sociology as we know it and his “positive philosophy” was hugely influential on 19th century thought. His writing is highly philosophical- I found it to be one of those things I struggled to make myself read for an extended period of time, and upon finishing not a whole lot of it stuck in my brain. Although I’m going to keep it short, a few things were interesting and worth sharing.
He postulates that everything we as humans know go through 3 theoretical conditions: “the Theological, or fictitious; the Metaphysical, or abstract; and the Scientific, or positive.” The theological seeks the “first and final,” or origin and purpose of all things, and supposes all phenomena to be attributable to the supernatural. Okay makes enough sense. The scientific gives up the search for these things and simply studies their laws- the concrete and measurable. Boring! The metaphysical is a transition between the 2. Ow. Brain hurts.
*The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte, London: John Chapman, 1853.
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Serenity Now!
Cosmo Kramer's Dad on Seinfeld
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