COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



this which gives to the first three volumes of 

 the " Philosophie Positive " the character of a 

 general treatise on scientific method, and which 

 makes them still interesting and profitable read- 

 ing, even in those chapters on physics, chem- 

 istry, and biology, which in nearly all other 

 respects the recent revolutions in science have 

 rendered thoroughly antiquated. Comte in- 

 tended this portion of his work especially for a 

 new Organon of scientific research, which should 

 influence educational methods in the future, as 

 well as assist in determining the general con- 

 ception of the universe. He calls attention to 

 the futility of approaching the most compli- 

 cated phenomena, such as those of life, indi- 

 vidual or social, without having previously, by 

 the study of the simpler sciences, learned what 

 a law of nature is, what a scientific conception 

 is, what is involved in making an accurate ob- 

 servation, what is requisite to a sound generali- 

 zation, what are the various means of verifying 

 conclusions obtained by deduction. Continu- 

 ally we witness the spectacle of scientific special- 

 ists, justly eminent in their own department of 

 research, who do not scruple to utter the most 

 childish nonsense upon topics with which they 

 are but slightly acquainted. The reason is that 

 they have learned to think correctly after some 

 particular fashion, but know too little of the 



80 



