168 COSMIC PHILOSOPHY. [ft. t. 



The significance of this illustration will "become still more 

 apparent as we proceed to examine the attempt of Comtc to 

 describe the course of philosophic evolution as actually shown 

 in history. According to Comte there are three modes of 

 philosophizing — the Theological, the Metaphysical, and the 

 Positive. The first two modes are characterized by the 

 attempt to formulate the unknowable Cause or causes of 

 phenomena ; but Positivism, recognizing the futility of all 

 such attempts, ignores the unknowable Cause or causes of 

 phenomena. Positivism limits itself to ascertaining uni- 

 formities of coexistence and sequence among phenomena. 

 Metaphysics and Theology superadd investigations concern- 

 ing the nature of the hidden efficient cause of the pheno- 

 mena ; but Metaphysics regards this cause as a mere abstract 

 entity, while Theology regards it as endowed with volition 

 and intelligence. There are three successive stages of 

 theology ; Fetishism, in which phenomena, being not yet 

 generalized, are regarded each as endowed with a volition of 

 its own; Polytheism, in which generalized groups of pheno- 

 mena are regarded each as under the control of a presiding 

 deity endowed with volition ; and Monotheism, which arises 

 when men have gained the conception of a Universe, and 

 have generalized the causes of phenomena until they have 

 arrived at the notion of a sinole First Cause. According to 

 Comte, philosophy began in fetishism; as science progres- 

 sively arranged phenomena in groups of wider and wider 

 generality, philosophy passed through polytheism into mono- 

 theism ; and as with its increasing generality, the primitive 

 anthropomorphic conception of cause faded away, becoming 

 replaced by the conception of an unknowable Cause mani- 

 fested in phenomena, philosophy became metaphysical : 

 finally, when the unknowable Cause is wholly ignored, and 

 no account is taken of anything beyond the immediate con- 

 tent of observed facts, philosophy becomes positive. For 

 while Comte did not follow Hume and Berkeley to U.e «y« 



