This volume begins to explore the life and works of Auguste Comte during his so-called second career, the controversial period that began in 1842 and lasted until his death. This volume covers the years from 1842 to 1852, when Comte transformed his positive philosophy into a political and religious movement. It represents the first in-depth study of that movement. Focusing on key books, such as the Discours sur l'ensemble du positivisme, Mary Pickering connects Comte's intellectual development to the tumultuous historical context and to episodes in his personal life, especially his famous relationship with Clotilde de Vaux. The book examines for the first time why workers, doctors, women, and famous writers, such as John Stuart Mill, George Henry Lewes, and Emile Littré, were drawn to his thought.

This volume continues to explore the life and works of Auguste Comte during his so-called second career. It covers the period from the coup d etat of Louis Napoleon in late 1851 to Comte s death in 1857. During these early years of the Second Empire, Comte became increasingly conservative and anxious to control his disciples. This study offers the first analysis of the tensions within his movement. Focusing on his second masterpiece, the Systeme de politique positive, and other important books, such as the Synthese subjective, Mary Pickering not only sheds light on Comte s intellectual development but also traces the dissemination of positivism and the Religion of Humanity throughout many parts of the world.

As the founder of sociology, positivism, and the history of science, Auguste Comte was arguably the most important nineteenth century French philosopher. Yet he has been curiously neglected. Based upon ten years of research, including three years of archival work in Paris, Mary Pickering's projected two-volume study constitutes the first comprehensive intellectual biography of this thinker. This first volume covers the period from his birth to the completion of the seminal Cours de philosophie positive and places Comte's evolution within the context of post-revolutionary France. It shows that Comte, reacting to the cataclysmic upheavals of his time, developed sociology as a way to unify society. He conceived the new doctrine of positivism to serve as its basis and to eliminate the questionable abstractions of conventional philosophy. The book examines the interplay between Comte's controversial intellectual development and the vicissitudes of his personal and professional life. It highlights his struggles with poverty and mental illness, his failed marriage to a so-called prostitute and his violent confrontations with the government and the scientific community. At the same time, it investigates his volatile relationships with his family, friends, and disciples, as well as with such famous contemporaries as Saint-Simon, the Saint-Simonians, Guizot, and John Stuart Mill. Pickering challenges the traditional view of Comte as an arid, simplistic thinker. According to her, he always emphasized the importance of the emotions and distrusted the scientistic approach that now is paradoxically associated with positivism. She thus demonstrates that his later religious direction did not constitutea break with his early beliefs but represented their logical outcome.

This book constitutes the first volume of a projected 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 postrevolutionary 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 scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone