Auguste Comte and Positivism

John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)

Part 1 lays out the framework for Positivism as originated in France by Auguste Comte in his Cours de Philosophie Positive. Mill examines the tenets of Comte's movement and alerts us to defects. Part 2 concerns all Comte's writings except the Cours de Philosophie Positive. During Comte's later years he gave up reading newspapers and periodicals to keep his mind pure for higher study. He also became enamored of a certain woman who changed his view of life. Comte turned his philosophy into a religion, with morality the supreme guide. Mill finds that Comte learned to despise science and the intellect, instead substituting his frantic need for the regulation of change. (Summary by Bill Boerst)

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Biography & Autobiography, History

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 01 - Part 1A Bill Boerst
00:34:46
Play 02 02 - Part 1B Bill Boerst
00:33:24
Play 03 03 - Part 1C Bill Boerst
00:42:43
Play 04 04 - Part 1D Bill Boerst
00:26:35
Play 05 05 - Part 1E Bill Boerst
00:29:23
Play 06 06 - Part 1F Bill Boerst
00:29:20
Play 07 07 - Part 1G Bill Boerst
00:19:22
Play 08 08 - Part 2A Bill Boerst
00:26:44
Play 09 09 - Part 2B Bill Boerst
00:26:26
Play 10 10 - Part 2C Bill Boerst
00:29:19
Play 11 11 - Part 2D Bill Boerst
00:20:22
Play 12 12 - Part 2E Bill Boerst
00:28:48