''A General View of Positivism'' (''Discours sur l'ensemble du positivisme'') is a 1844 book by the French philosopher
Auguste Comte
Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...
, first published in English in 1865. A founding text in the development of
positivism
Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...
and the discipline of
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
, the work provides a revised and full account of the theory Comte presented earlier in his multi-part ''
The Course in Positive Philosophy
The ''Course of Positive Philosophy'' (''Cours de Philosophie Positive'') was a series of texts written by the French philosopher of science and founding sociologist, Auguste Comte, between 1830 and 1842. Within the work he unveiled the epistemo ...
'' (1830–1842). Comte outlines the epistemological view of positivism, provides an account of the manner by which sociology should be performed, and describes his
law of three stages
The law of three stages is an idea developed by Auguste Comte in his work '' The Course in Positive Philosophy''. It states that society as a whole, and each particular science, develops through three mentally conceived stages: (1) the theological ...
.
See also
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Religion of humanity
Religion of Humanity (from French ''Religion de l'Humanité'' or '' église positiviste'') is a secular religion created by Auguste Comte (1798–1857), the founder of positivist philosophy. Adherents of this religion have built chapels of Huma ...
*
Sociological positivism
Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. G ...
References
*Comte, A.; Bridges, J.H. (tr.), ''A General View of Positivism''; Trubner and Co., 1865 (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; )
External links
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1848 non-fiction books
Philosophy of science books
Sociology books
Positivism
Modern philosophical literature
Auguste Comte
History of sociology
Philosophy of social science
Works about philosophy of social sciences
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