194 COSMIC PHILOSOPHY. [n: i. 



Comte ranked thermology first, probably because of the 

 enthusiasm aroused in him by his friend Fourier's achieve- 

 ment in bringing the general doctrine of thermal expansion 

 and contraction so thoroughly under the sway of mathe- 

 matical analysis. In biology, anatomy, or the study of 

 structure, is placed before physiology, or the study of func- 

 tion; and the study of the vegetal or nutritive functions 

 precedes that of the animal or nervo-muscular functions. 

 In sociology, the study of equilibrium, or the conditions 

 essential to order, is ranked before the study of the laws of 

 progress as generalized from history. 1 



It will be observed that in this scheme no special place is 

 assigned to psychology. This is an omission quite in keep- 

 ing with Comte's general conception of the scope of philo- 

 sophic inquiry, from which the observation and analysis of 

 states of consciousness are purposely omitted altogether. This 

 omission will best be criticized and characterized later on, 

 when in the course of our philosophic synthesis we shall 

 have arrived at the discussion of the relations of the phe- 

 nomena of mind to the phenomena of life. 2 Meanwhile, 

 merely noting this serious omission, we may observe that 

 . the classification just sketched is so fascinating in its sim- ' 

 plicity, and so manifestly convenient for many practical 

 purposes of research, that at first it seems almost a pity for 

 criticism to invalidate it. Its leading features appear to speak 

 for themselves, to carry their' own recommendation with them, 

 to characterize this classification as the best which, with our 

 present resources, it is possible to frame. And, indeed, if we 

 compare it with some of the most ambitious preceding classi- 

 fications, such as those of Oken and Hegel ; or even with 



1 Tn a future chapter, it will appear that the proper arrangement is just the 

 Mverse of this, no sound theory of social equilibrium being attainable until 

 the laws of progress have been generalized from history, with the aid of 

 biohtgy and psychology. Here, as in many other cases, Comte's error wai 

 due to li is imperfect comprehension of the principle of Evolution. 



2 See below, part ii. chap. xiv. 



