Auguste Comte

Mary Pickering (San Jose State University)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Domains

Philosophy of Science
Sociology

Dates

Born 19 Jan 1798
Died 5 Sep 1857
Activity 1818-1857

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Activities

Primary

Philosopher
Social scientist

Resources

Auguste Comte is known as the founder of sociology (the science of society), the history of science (the study of the development of the sciences in their historical context), positivism (a philosophy limiting knowledge to what can be observed), and the Religion of Humanity (a secular religion that celebrated society or Humanity).

Comte was born into a modest bourgeois family in 1798 in Montpellier, France. He was forever marked by the turmoil of the French Revolution (1789-99), which upset traditional institutions and beliefs and made it difficult for the French to agree on what constituted a legitimate government and a just society. Comte’s life reflects the instability of the post-revolutionary period. As a teenager, he …

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3950 words

Citation: Pickering, Mary. "Auguste Comte". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 June 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=977, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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