Auguste Comte facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Auguste Comte
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Auguste Comte by Tony Touillon
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| Born |
Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte
19 January 1798 |
| Died | 5 September 1857 (aged 59) Paris, France
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| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | University of Montpellier École Polytechnique |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline Massin (m. 1825–1842) |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western philosophy |
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Notable ideas
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Sociological positivism, law of three stages, encyclopedic law, altruism |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Auguste Comte (full name: Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte; January 17, 1798 – September 5, 1857) was a French thinker who was one of the founders of sociology (from the Latin: socius, "companion"; and the suffix -ology, "the study of", from Greek λόγος, lógos, "knowledge" ) and positivism. It was recently discovered that the term 'sociology' had already been introduced in 1780, but with a different meaning, by the French essayist Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (1748-1836).
Contents
Life
Comte was born on 19 January 1798 at Montpellier, in southern France. After attending the University of Montpellier, one of the oldest European universities, Comte was admitted to the École Polytechnique in Paris.
He married Caroline Massin, but divorced in 1842.
He died in Paris on 5 September 1857 and is buried at the famous Cimetière du Père Lachaise. His apartment from 1841-1857 is now conserved as the Maison d'Auguste Comte.
Law of three stages
The law of three stages is a socio-historical idea of Auguste Comte. Comte said that knowledge developed in three stages. The first stage is the "theological" stage, in which Comte says that people use religion or gods to explain why things happen or where things came from. The second stage is the "metaphysical" or "abstract" stage, where people use philosophy and abstract ideas to think about their beliefs and explain things. The last stage is the "positive", regarding to the three stages of positivism. Comte said that society could shift into a positivist society if the sciences, including sociology, are all used to explain things.
Works
- Comte, A.; Bridges, J.H. (tr.); A General View of Positivism; Trubner and Co., 1865 (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN: 978-1-108-00064-2)
- Comte, A; Martineau, H. (tr.); The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte; 2 volumes; Chapman, 1853 (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN: 978-1-108-00118-2) (but note that C.U.P. say "Martineau's abridged and more easily digestible version of Comte's work was intended to be readily accessible to a wide general readership, particularly those she felt to be morally and intellectually adrift", so this is not really Comte's own writings)
- Comte, A.; System of Positive Polity; various publishers
- Comte, A.; Cours de Philosophie Positive, Tome II; Bachelier, Paris, 1835, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31882/31882-h/31882-h.htm; scans of the six volumes are at Projet Gallica
Images for kids
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Comte's Theory of Science – According to him whole of sciences consists of theoretical and applied knowledge. Theoretical knowledge divide on general fields as physics or biology, which are an object of his research and detailed such as botany, zoology or mineralogy. Main fields mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and sociology it is possible to order according to decrescent range of research and complicatedness of theoretical tools what is connected with growing complexity of investigated phenomenones. Following sciences are based on previous, for example to methodically coll chemistry, we must imply acquaintance of physics, because all chemical phenomena are more complicated than physical phenomena, are also from them dependent and themselves do not have on them an influence. Similarly sciences classified as earlier, are older and more advanced from these which are presented as later.
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Positivist temple in Porto Alegre
