Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The Early Years
- 2 The Life and Works of Saint-Simon up to 1817
- 3 Comte's First Works for Saint-Simon
- 4 Comte's Growing Independence, 1819–1821
- 5 The Fundamental Opuscule and Comte's Rupture with Saint-Simon
- 6 The Aftermath of the Rupture: The Search for Connections
- 7 Comte's Efforts to Establish Himself
- 8 Intellectual and Mental Crises
- 9 The Road to Recovery, 1828–1830
- 10 Years of Success and Confrontation, 1830–1838
- 11 Comte's Changing Psyche and Aberrant Behavior, 1838–1840
- 12 The Encounter between Two Luminaries: Comte and Mill
- 13 1842: A Turning Point
- 14 Cours de philosophie positive: Positivism and the Natural Sciences
- 15 Cours de philosophie positive: Sociology
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
2 - The Life and Works of Saint-Simon up to 1817
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The Early Years
- 2 The Life and Works of Saint-Simon up to 1817
- 3 Comte's First Works for Saint-Simon
- 4 Comte's Growing Independence, 1819–1821
- 5 The Fundamental Opuscule and Comte's Rupture with Saint-Simon
- 6 The Aftermath of the Rupture: The Search for Connections
- 7 Comte's Efforts to Establish Himself
- 8 Intellectual and Mental Crises
- 9 The Road to Recovery, 1828–1830
- 10 Years of Success and Confrontation, 1830–1838
- 11 Comte's Changing Psyche and Aberrant Behavior, 1838–1840
- 12 The Encounter between Two Luminaries: Comte and Mill
- 13 1842: A Turning Point
- 14 Cours de philosophie positive: Positivism and the Natural Sciences
- 15 Cours de philosophie positive: Sociology
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The philosopher places himself at the summit of thought; from there he views what the world has been and what it must become. He is not just an observer, he is an actor; he is an actor of the highest kind in a moral world because it is his opinions of what the world must become that regulate society.
Saint-Simon, Mémoire sur la science de l'hommeTHE PROBLEM OF SAINT-SIMON'S INFLUENCE ON COMTE
The seven-year association of Comte and Saint-Simon, from 1817 to 1824, profoundly changed each man's intellectual development. Although the different strands of their thought seem tied together inextricably, an effort to disentangle them is required to understand Comte's evolution and the origins of positivism and sociology. Before these subjects can be addressed, however, it is necessary to review the life and thought of Saint-Simon up to the time of his first meeting with Comte in 1817. This examination will provide a closer look at the political, intellectual, and psychological world in which Comte found himself during his period of maturation. As a synthesizer of ideas, Saint-Simon not only introduced him to recent late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century developments, but also gave him a certain perspective on more general, long-range movements throughout history.
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- Information
- Auguste ComteAn Intellectual Biography, pp. 60 - 100Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1993