COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



from Hume. And we went so far as to assert 

 that Comte's generalization of the historic order 

 of speculative development inaugurated nothing 

 less than a veritable revolution in the attitude 

 of philosophy. Yet we have ended by regard- 

 ing that generalization as wholly erroneous in 

 one fundamental point, and as more or less in- 

 adequate in nearly all its points. And more 

 than this, we have noted that the very weakness 

 of Comte's position consisted in his inability to 

 advance one step in psychology beyond the 

 point reached by Hume. 



In spite of all this, however, the essential im- 

 portance of the step taken by Comte is in no 

 way invalidated. It is one thing to show that 

 a doctrine is not wholly true ; it is quite an- 

 other thing to show that it contains no truth 

 whatever. When Copernicus, for example, as- 

 serted that the planets revolve about the sun 

 in circular orbits, he made a statement which 

 is false ; yet it is by virtue of his making this 

 statement that we regard him as the inaugura- 

 tor of the modern movement in astronomy. 

 It was false that the planets revolve in circular 

 orbits, but it was true that they revolve about 

 the sun ; and this was the part of the statement 

 which turned men's thoughts into a new chan- 

 nel. Now, while I do not believe that Comte 

 will ever be regarded by posterity as the Kepler 



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