CHAP, ii COMTE S LIFE AND TEACHING 17 



clopedists and their fellows. Out of Fetishism, accord- 

 ing to Comte, grew Polytheism. The change is mainly 

 attributed to the action of human reason. It came to 

 be discovered that things which had been regarded as 

 animated were really inanimate. But the theological 

 delusion was not yet shaken off; the human mind was 

 not yet strong enough to go right on to the scientific 

 or positivist consciousness. Instead of doing that, 

 mankind invented a set of imaginary beings, called 

 gods, lurking behind the phenomena of nature. To 

 the gods were now attributed those activities which 

 observation would no longer suffer men to ascribe to 

 stones or plants or unconscious natural forces. Next, 

 out of Polytheism grew Monotheism. Here again 

 reason had been at work ; as the unity and harmony 

 of nature was more and more discovered, it became 

 more and more difficult at length it became impossible 

 to interpret the world as an effect produced by in- 

 dependent or rival agencies. There must be one great 

 first cause ; one great manlike Being. Monotheism 

 had begun ; the last term in the theological develop- 

 ment. But the development was to continue beyond 

 Monotheism, and already, unnoticed, under the domin- 

 ance of the theological stage, the germs of the 

 metaphysical stage of mind were developing. Meta- 

 physics, according to Comte, sees through the absurdity 

 of belief in gods or in God ; reason is still active, and 

 is very strongly impressed at this stage (says Comte) 

 with the moral difficulties of Theism ; but, according 

 to metaphysicians, all we have to do is to substitute 

 abstractions for the discredited deities. In the meta- 

 physical stage of thought we take these abstractions 

 seriously, as if they could give a real and satisfying 

 explanation of things ; but they are only ghosts of 



