122 REASONS FOR DISSENTING FROM COMTE. 



little as lie probably intended it, Ms expressions suggest this 

 conception. In the minds of both disciples and antagonists, 

 &quot;the Positive Philosophy&quot; means the philosophy of M. 

 Comte ; and to be imbued with the ideas of &quot; the Positive 

 Philosophy&quot; means to be imbued with the ideas of M. Comte 

 to have received these ideas from M. Comte. After what 

 has been said above, I need scarcely repeat that the con 

 ception thus inadvertently suggested, is a wrong one. M. 

 Comte s brief enunciations of these general truths, gave me 

 no clearer apprehensions of them than I had before. Such 

 clarifications of ideas on these ultimate questions, as I can 

 trace to any particular teacher, I owe to Sir William 

 Hamilton. 



From the principles which M. Comte held in common with 

 many preceding and contemporary thinkers, let us pass now 

 to the principles that are distinctive of his system. Just as 

 entirely as I agree with M. Comte on those cardinal doctrines 

 which we jointly inherit ; so entirely do I disagree with him 

 on those cardinal doctrines which he propounds, and which 

 determine the organization of his philosophy. The best way 

 of showing this will be to compare, side by side, the 



** Propositions which I hold. 



&quot;...chacune de nos con- The progress of our conceptions, 



ceptions principales, chaque and of each branch of knowledge, is 



branche de nos connaissan- from beginning to end intrinsically 



ces, passe successivement alike. There are not three methods 



par trois etats theoriqu.es of philosophizing radically opposed; 



differens: 1 etat theologique, but one method of philosophizing 



ou fictif ; 1 etat metaphy- which remains, in essence, the same. 



sique, ou abstrait ; 1 etat At first, and to the last, the conceived 



scientifique, ou positif. En causal agencies of phenomena, have a 



d autres termes, 1 esprit hu- degree of generality corresponding to 



main, par sa nature, em- the width of the generalizations 



ploie successivement dans which experiences have determined; 



chacune de ses recherches and they change just as gradually as 



trois methodcs de philoso- experiences accumulate. The inte- 



