Auguste Comte
Auguste Comte
This book constitutes the first volume of a two-volume intellectual biography of Auguste Comte, the founder of modern sociology and a philosophical movement called positivism. Volume One offers a reinterpretation of Comte's 'first career' (1798–1842), when he completed the scientific foundation of his philosophy. It describes the interplay between Comte's ideas and the historical context of post-revolutionary France, his struggles with poverty and mental illness, and his volatile relationships with friends, family and colleagues, including such famous contemporaries as Saint-Simon, the Saint-Simonians, Guizot and John Stuart Mill. Pickering shows that the man who called for a new social philosophy based on the sciences was not only ill at ease in the most basic human relationships, but also profoundly questioned the ability of the purely scientific spirit to regenerate the political and social world.
- This is the first modern biography of Comte
- Comte is regarded as the founder of modern sociology and positivism
- Covers his personal life as well as the development of his philosophy
Reviews & endorsements
'A notable feature of this magnificent book is the illuminating way in which Mary Pickering relates the life-struggles of Comte with the development of his ideas.' I. Bernard Cohen, Harvard University
Product details
February 1994Hardback
9780521434058
792 pages
234 × 156 × 41 mm
1.28kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. The early years
- 2. The life and works of Saint-Simon up to 1817
- 3. Comte's first works for Saint-Simon
- 4. Comte's growing independence, 1819–21
- 5. The fundamental opuscule and Comte's rupture with Saint-Simon
- 6. The aftermath of the rupture
- the search for connections
- 7. Comte's efforts to establish himself
- 8. Intellectual and mental crises
- 9. The road to recovery, 1828–30
- 10. Years of success and confrontation, 1830–8
- 11. Comte's changing psyche and aberrant behavior, 1838–40
- 12. The encounter between two luminaries: Comte and Mill
- 13. 1842: a turning point
- 14. Cours de philosophie positive: positivism and the natural sciences
- 15. Cours de philosophie positive
- sociology
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index.
