COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



have one and all belonged to theology or met- 

 aphysics, and it is not their tradition which 

 Comte has followed. Does it mean those who 

 have illustrated particular sciences ? Well, since 

 they have not philosophized, Comte can hardly 

 have received his philosophy from them. That 

 which is recent in the Positive Philosophy, that 

 which is Comte's invention, is the conception 

 and construction of a philosophy, by drawing 

 from particular sciences, and from the teaching 

 of great scientific minds, such groups of truths 

 as could be coordinated on the positive method." 

 That the mode in which Comte effected this 

 coordination was imperfect may affect our es- 

 timate of the amount of his achievements, but 

 it cannot affect our estimate of their character. 

 The former is a merely personal question, in- 

 teresting chiefly to disciples ; the latter is a gen- 

 eral question, interesting to all of us who are 

 students of philosophy. For the purposes of 

 impartial criticism, the great point is, not that 

 the attempt was a complete success, but that the 

 attempt was made. When knowledge is advan- 

 cing with such giant strides as at present, it is 

 hardly possible to construct a general doctrine 

 which forty years of further inquiry and criti- 

 cism will not considerably modify and partially 

 invalidate. It is now forty years since Comte 

 framed his philosophy of science ; and during 

 that period there is not a single department of 

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