ILLUSTRATIONS AND CRITICISMS 



We are now in a position to examine the 

 claims of Comte to be regarded as the founder 

 of sociology. And first let us note that a law 

 of social progress answering so many require- 

 ments as are met by the law above expounded 

 could not have been obtained earlier than the 

 present generation or even than the present 

 decade. 



To conceive of sociogeny as a specialized 

 branch of psychogeny, itself a specialized branch 

 of biogeny, was not possible until a general sci- 

 ence of genesis had been at least partially insti- 

 tuted. The very idea of a science of genesis as 

 applied to organic phenomena was not elabo- 

 rated until the appearance of Von Baer's great 

 treatise in 1829. And the conception was then 

 altogether too novel to be worked into the web 

 of philosophy which Comte was weaving. Con- 

 sidering how, throughout the latter part of his 

 life, he steadfastly refrained from the study of 

 contemporary scientific literature, I do not think 

 it likely that Comte ever became aware of the 

 growing prominence of this conception of gen- 

 esis ; and if he had become aware of it he 

 would doubtless have scornfully repudiated it, 

 as he repudiated almost every new conception 

 which was distinctly in advance of the limited 

 scientific knowledge of 1830. The knowledge 

 which Comte was not prepared to utilize at that 

 date, he was certainly not in a condition to util- 

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