ILLUSTRATIONS AND CRITICISMS 



details. And amid the host of pregnant sugges- 

 tions concerning Greek and Roman, and espe- 

 cially concerning mediaeval history, the great fact 

 that there has been and is a determinate order 

 of sequence in human affairs is placed quite 

 beyond cavil on the highest plane of inductive 

 demonstration. 



To achieve so much as this was to show that 

 a science of sociology is possible, and to prepare 

 the way very thoroughly for the creation of 

 such a science. But Comte professed to have 

 done more than this. He regarded himself as 

 the founder of sociology, and is so regarded by 

 his disciples. It is part of our business to de- 

 termine, if we can, whether the claim is a valid 

 one ; and in order to do this, we must examine 

 the theorems which Comte propounded as the 

 fundamental laws of progress. 



These theorems are two in number, — the 

 first relating to the intellectual, the second to 

 what we may call the material, development of 

 mankind. The first is an old acquaintance, be- 

 ing nothing else than the generalization that all 

 human conceptions must pass through three 

 stages — the theological, the metaphysical, and 

 the positive. We have already (Part I., chapter 

 vii.) examined this theory upon its own merits. 

 Tried by a psychological analysis, we have found 

 it to be only partially true. We saw it to be 

 correct in so far as it asserts that the prevailing 

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