COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



logy, the study of equilibrium, or the condi- 

 tions essential to order, is ranked before the 

 study of the laws of progress as generalized 

 from history. 1 



It will be observed that in this scheme no 

 special place is assigned to psychology. This 

 is an omission quite in keeping with Comte's 

 general conception of the scope of philosophic 

 inquiry, from which the observation and analy- 

 sis of states of consciousness are purposely 

 omitted altogether. This omission will best be 

 criticised and characterized later on, when in the 

 course of our philosophic synthesis we shall 

 have arrived at the discussion of the relations 

 of the phenomena of mind to the phenomena 

 of life. 2 Meanwhile, merely noting this serious 

 omission, we may observe that the classification 

 just sketched is so fascinating in its simplicity, 

 and so manifestly convenient for many practi- 

 cal purposes of research, that at first it seems 

 almost a pity for criticism to invalidate it. Its 

 leading features appear to speak for themselves, 

 to carry their own recommendation with them, 



1 In a future chapter, it will appear that the proper arrange- 

 ment is just the reverse of this, no sound theory of social equi- 

 librium being attainable until the laws of progress have been 

 generalized from history, with the aid of biology and psycho- 

 logy. Here, as in many other cases, Comte's error was due 

 to his imperfect comprehension of the principle of Evolution. 



a See below, Part II. chap. xiv. 

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