COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



We have seen that Comte discerned the fact 

 that there has been a continuous progress in 

 men's conceptions, of which the chief symptom 

 has been deanthropomorphization, and of which 

 the result must be the destruction of ontology. 

 He also discerned the fact, that after giving up 

 ontology, it is still possible to build up a philo- 

 sophy out of materials furnished by the sci- 

 ences. We have freely admitted that, in each 

 of these cases, the step taken by Comte was 

 sufficient to work a revolution in the attitude 

 of philosophy ; and we may add that, by vir- 

 tue of this twofold advance, Comte was justi- 

 fied in calling his system of philosophy " posi- 

 tive," in contrast with the absolutely sceptical or 

 " negative " philosophy of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury. 



But, while admitting all this, we have also 

 seen that Comte supposed the terminal phase 

 of deanthropomorphization to consist in the 

 ignoring of an Absolute Power manifested in 

 the world of phenomena ; and that he regarded 

 philosophy merely as an Organon of scientific 

 methods and doctrines useful in constructing a 

 theory of Humanity and a social Polity. On 

 the other hand, the Cosmic Philosophy is 

 founded upon the recognition of an Absolute 

 Power manifested in and through the world of 

 phenomena ; and it consists in a Synthesis of 

 scientific truths into a Universal Science dealing 

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