486 



PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



and, secondly, l)ecause the two earlier foriii.s of ])ractica1 

 politics named above had first to bo tried and found to be 

 wanting before the last stage became possible or practical. 

 The first remark leads him to a doctrine which holds an 

 important position in his system, and which has, by 

 some of his followers, been considered to rank as an 

 important discovery. it is his classification or his 

 doctrine of the " hierarchy of the sciences." ^ 



' These (|U(>tations are all taken 

 from tlie reprint of tlie earlier 

 Tract (1822), in the Aiipendi.x to 

 the fourth volume (p. .'J47 S77.) 

 of the 'System of I'o.sitive Polity, 

 or TreatiHC on Sociology.' (lOng. 

 trauHl., London, 1875-77.) The 

 oI)je(;t which (Jointc had in view in 

 repiinting a collection of his eai'licr 

 'i'ract.s waH, a.s he nayw, " to demon- 

 Htrate the peifect harmony which 

 exirtts between my youtliful efl'orts 

 and my mature(l conccptionH " 

 ((Jeneral Ajjpendi.x, p. 1) " . . . 

 when reproducing . . . the third 

 EtiHay, i)ul)liHhed in May 1822, . . . 

 in 1824, ... 1 thought it right to 

 add to itH 8{)ecial title that f)f 

 ' Syntem of PoHitive Polity,' — a 

 title premature indeed, Vjut rightly 

 indi(-ating the hco])C of my laVjour.s " 

 (p. :}). ThiH in important an hear- 

 ing ujion the f|ueHtion to what 

 extent (Jointe modified \\'m j)hiio- 

 sophical creed in the latter jiart 

 of his career. Two extretne viewH 

 exist on this point, represented 

 among others by Littr(5 and 

 Hobinet, of whom the f firmer (iin- 

 cards evei'ything that (^>mte pub- 

 lished after the yoai- 184 2, whereas 

 the latter considers tlie jxincipal 

 merit of Comte to conHist in the 

 foundation of a new religion, the 

 Peligion of Humanity. In spite 

 of the extravagances of the later 

 doctrine, which drew from Mill a 

 strong condenuiation, we are bound 



to look upon CVmite's last practical 

 effort as a highly instructive object- 

 lesson. He recognised the neces- 

 sity of estal>lishing some authority 

 or- spiritual power wiiich should 

 guarantee a moral control, superior 

 to the intellectual and practical 

 Hplieres of social and politii'al life 

 and work, and which should keep 

 in order the Intcdlectuals as well 

 as the Industrials, it is well to 

 note that the spiritual power is 

 vested in those who have been 

 drawn from the; intellectual iilass, 

 and who, as is more fully ex])lained 

 in the ' l'olitii|ue Positive,' have 

 learnt fi'om history that the 

 altruistic feelings more exactly 

 defined as attachment or sym- 

 pathy, reverence and benevolence, 

 are f)n the way of gradually con- 

 quering the egoistic or animal 

 tendencies inherent in human 

 nature. Witli this is also con- 

 nected the emphasis laid by (Jointe 

 U])on education, which he no- 

 where limits to instruction, as was 

 at that time very common in 

 his country. We may also note 

 that he does not believe that the 

 higher grades of positive know- 

 ledge can ever become genoi'al, 

 and we infer that among the 

 Industrials he also classes the 

 Proletariat or the masses, of whom 

 Mill complains that he does not 

 take suflicient note in his political 

 scheme. 



