ch. x.] COSMISM AND POSITIVISM. 263 



mental as to outweigh all minor points of agreement, even 

 were the points of agreement ten times as numerous as they 

 are. For since we deny that the Positive mode of philoso- 

 phizing, implying the recognition of nothing beyond the 

 contents of observed facts, is a practicable mode at all, it is 

 clear that we cannot, save by the utter distortion and per- 

 version of human speech, be classified as Positivists. 



Casting aside, then, our third and fourth cardinal proposi- 

 tions, temporarily assumed for the purpose of emphasizing 

 this rejection of them, we may briefly restate as follows the 

 fundamental issue between Cosmism and Positivism. 



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 philosophy out of materials 

 furnished by the sciences. 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 virtue of this twofold advance, Comte was 

 justified in calling his system of philosophy " positive," in 

 contrast with the absolutely sceptical or " negative " philo- 

 sophy of the eighteenth century. 



But, while admitting all this, we have also seen that 

 Comte supposed the terminal phase of deanthropomorphi- 

 zation to consist in the ignoring of an Absolute Power mani- 

 fested 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 mani- 

 fested in and through the world of phenomena ; and it 

 consists in a Synthesis of scientific truths into a Universal 

 Science dealing with the order of the phenomenal niani- 



