OF SOCIETY. 487 



11/ i'h intoroHtin^' to hco how tliis earlier Tract of 44. 



Kaily Tract 



Cfjiiito (lelinoH already with reiiiarkahlo cleaniesH the "" '*"i'i' 



'' I'ollty' 



main pointH which his later voluininouB KyHteinatic comte-H 

 work'H wore intended to ljrin<^' out, prove, and illustrate JrdmmiT" 

 in greater detail. Thin programme oon.siHted in the 

 main ui two jjarts : the theory of Society or Sociology, 

 and the n(5W Order of Society or Polity. These two 

 partH are represented in th(! ' (Jours de I'hilosophio 

 I'ositive' (0 vols., 1830-1842) and the ' Systeme de 

 J'olitique I'ositivo ' (4 vols,, 1851-1854). Wo now know, 

 tlKudcH, to a larg(! extent, to Comte's own lahours, that 

 the j)h(;ii()iii(;ii;i, of society niuHt !)(; approached from 

 three sides : rtom the side of hiology, froni the side of 

 history, and fiom the side of psychology. IJnfortun- 

 at(;1y (Jomte did not admit th(! last, or if Ik;, in his 

 la,t(!r woi'i<, itifdiidfid a psy(;hological theory, he did so 

 without distinctly admitting it; hence the psychological 

 foundations of his system are incomplete and unsatis- 

 factory. The two separate s(;i(Mic;es which should have 

 eontrihuted their shiuo to the th(!or(!tical portion of the 

 work, ))sycliology and ethics, did not lind a, ])lacc in 

 the earli(ir woi'k which constriictcsd the hierarchy of the 

 sciences, heginning with nuitluimatics and ending with 

 sociology, which was represented as a further develop- 

 ment of Itiology. In dealing, in his Iat(!r work, with 

 moral, as distinguislKid from punily intellectua-l jird- 

 gress, lui does indeed introduce a, ])sychological distinc- 

 tion whicli has Ixscome of (;apital import.'ince in the 

 I'ositivist ScIkioI. This is the re(M)gnil/ion of a pui'ely 

 empiric-al fact or ohsoi'vation. He points out that 

 human nature is possessed of tw(j tendencies, of sym- 



