5 h 54 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Can science guide society without putting individual freedom at risk?
In Auguste Comte and Positivism, John Stuart Mill weighs a bold claim: real knowledge comes only from observed facts and the laws that connect them. He follows Auguste Comte through the three stages of human thought and a ladder of sciences, from mathematics to the study of society. Mill gives these ideas a fair hearing, with praise as well as criticism.
The argument sharpens when Comte turns from explaining knowledge to ordering human life. His later plan centres on a Religion of Humanity, with rituals and a priesthood of scholars. Mill welcomes the ambition to study society scientifically, but challenges a system that threatens individual freedom. The question becomes not just what science can explain, but how people should live.
What you’ll discover
- Three stages of thought Explore Comte's claim that knowledge moves through theological, metaphysical and positive stages.
- Facts and their laws Consider what we can know when observation sets the limits of knowledge.
- A ladder of sciences Follow an order that links mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology and society.
- Society under scientific study Examine the ambition Mill welcomes: finding laws in social events as in physical ones.
- Freedom against rigid order Watch Mill's sympathy turn to criticism as Comte proposes a complete social system.
Who will love it
For readers curious about how modern science came to see itself, and anyone who enjoys watching one thinker argue with another about observed facts, free inquiry and personal liberty.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Human thought moves through three stages
- Knowledge means facts and their laws
- The sciences form a ladder of dependence
- Society can be studied and guided scientifically
- Comte's later system threatens individual freedom
- A religion of humanity, and what remains
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 5 h 54 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 9 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Auguste Comte und der Positivismus in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Auguste Comte und der Positivismus
by John Stuart Mill · 1865
Mill weighs Comte's science of society against a religion of humanity that puts personal liberty at stake.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Human thought moves through three stages
Mill begins with the claim that made Comte's reputation, the law of three stages. Comte held that every branch of human knowledge passes through a theological stage, then a metaphysical stage, then a positive stage. In the first, people explain events by the will of gods or spirits. In the second, they explain them by hidden forces and abstract essences. In the third, they stop asking why things exist at bottom and ask only how things happen.
Mill accepts this as a real and useful discovery about the history of the mind. He thinks it fits what we see in astronomy, which left behind the idea of gods moving the planets, and in chemistry, which gave up alchemy for measurement. Comte added that the sciences do not reach the positive stage together. The simpler ones arrive first and the more complex ones later, and the study of society is the last to arrive.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Auguste Comte und der Positivismus
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Auguste Comte and Positivism about?
It is Mill's critical study of Comte's philosophy. Mill explains Comte's method of basing knowledge on observed facts and then judges Comte's later plan for a society ruled by a scientific priesthood and a religion of humanity.
What is positivism in simple terms?
Positivism is the view that true knowledge comes from observation and the laws that link observed facts. It avoids claims about ultimate causes or hidden essences and holds that science is the best guide to understanding the world.
What is the law of three stages?
Comte's law says each field of knowledge moves through a theological stage, a metaphysical stage and a positive stage. Explanations shift from gods to abstract forces and finally to observed laws. Mill accepts this as a broad tendency.
The author
John Stuart Mill
1806–1873 · British philosopher and political economist
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher and political economist, born in London in 1806. He wrote A System of Logic (1843), On Liberty (1859), Utilitarianism (1861), and The Subjection of Women (1869). He lived in England and France and died in Avignon in 1873. His Autobiography appeared that year.
More like this
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in philosophy & ideas
See all
Free
Free
Free
