Positivism of Saint Simon and August Comte

A approach and theory known as positivism looks at social reality through the prism of science and scientific principles. Because most positivist theories hold that there is a distinct scientific method that is commonly accepted to be unitary in character, this philosophical episteme's location and its argument are rather circular. Positivism is based on three axioms: that there is an observable, definable scientific technique; that there is only one such approach that enables the identification of social reality; and that this method is independent of individuals. However, some academics now contend that positivism is better to subjective perceptions of social reality because it enables the production of objective knowledge. Positivism makes it possible to categorise social phenomena and reality. Over time, positivism has come to be used to describe a philosophical school that served as the foundation for intellectual movements in the wealthy Western countries. It served as the cornerstone for the development of "modernity" in Europe and North America near the end of the nineteenth century and well into the first half of the twentieth. Additionally, positivists tried to incorporate scientific methods into philosophy so that it would become measurable, objective, and as a result, predicted of social reality. The aim to strip philosophy of any metaphysical elements was positivism's other key trait.

In the words of Niccola Abbagnano, 

Positivism can be traced to the writings of British empiricists John Locke, Berkeley, and David Hume, as well as British philosopher Francis Bacon. The British utilitarian philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill embraced this approach and created positivist ideas to gauge human progress as well as economic and urban developments in the nineteenth century. After all, it can be said that the industrial revolution's mass production techniques in the eighteenth century were what gave positivist philosophy in Europe the necessary "cultural" push. In some ways, the modernization theory that emerged in Western Europe and North America had its roots in these philosophical adventurisms. It was believed that science and technology would enhance civilization and that science itself and its methodology served as the foundation for real knowledge and the advancement of human society.

The renowned French philosopher Claude-Henri Saint-Simon (1760–1825) is said to have coined the phrases positivism and positive philosophy in order to describe a fresh viewpoint and a methodical strategy for comprehending complex social realities. This has ramifications for Saint-Simon in terms of social, political, educational, and religious matters. In each of those areas, he aimed to bring about reforms.

The phrases "positivism" and "positive philosophy" were popularised and organised by French philosopher Auguste Comte (1789–1857), who studied under and worked with Saint-Simon for seven years. According to Comte, society advance from a religious to a metaphysical to a scientific stage, where the positivistic, scientific perspective and technique are predominant. In addition, Comte is frequently cited as the first genuine social scientist. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the French critic and philosopher Hippolyte Taine (1828-1893) and the French philosopher and linguist Émile Littré (1801-1881) found favour with later positivist methodology.

Not that positivism only existed in the global North. Alejandro Korn, an Argentine philosopher (1860–1936), for instance, used positivist in his country, believing that the country's post–independence history reflected an Argentinian positivism that was fundamentally distinct from the methodological tenets of the Global North. Similar to how Poland was influenced by Comte's positivism, Brazil's national motto, Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress"), is based on it. Early social anthropologists and ethnographers were also profoundly affected by this positivist philosophical stance. After all, positivist knowledge systems and anthropology created dichotomies between, among other things, the East and the West, the coloniser and the colonized, and the rational and the oriental.

In the latter years of the nineteenth century, Ernst Mach was regarded as the positivist with the most influence. One of the two major impacts on the Vienna Circle members and on what eventually became logical positivism was Mach's positivism in science. With the Vienna Circle and the concept of logical positivist, positivism in Western philosophy saw by far its strongest and most significant development (also known as Logical Empiricism). They merged the positivist they had mostly learnt from Mach with the potent Gottlob Frege logic to produce a positivism that was presented logically. The Vienna Circle and the Logical Positivists' work were so influential that nowadays, when the term "positivism" is used, it typically refers to Logical Positivism or a type of analytic positivism.

Henri de Saint-Simon, also known as Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, was a French social theorist and the father of French socialism. He lived from October 17, 1760, to May 19, 1825. Saint-Simon suggested a novel and beneficial reconstruction of society after the French Revolution, one in which the heads of business would act as priests and scientists as kings. In this society, peace would be guaranteed by universal association, and the goal would be to develop things that are valuable to life. Sociology and economics as scientific disciplines both benefited from Saint-concept Simon's of a "science of society." Throughout the nineteenth century, French and European society was inspired by Saint-worldview. Simon's His most important work, Nouveau Christianisme (1825), declared that the world had reached the Old Testament-predicted crisis, which would lead to the establishment of a truly universal religion, the adoption of a pacific social structure by all nations, and the rapid improvement of the condition of the poor. Saint Simon made an effort to strip Christianity down to its most basic and fundamental components by removing the dogma that had grown in both Catholicism and Protestantism. Although he had few followers during his lifetime, Olinde Rodrigues, Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, and Amand Bazard created the Saint-Simonism school immediately after his passing. This school attracted a large number of bright young scientists and philosophers. 

Saint-Simonism promoted governmental ownership of property and claimed that history was moving toward a time of peace and industrial advancement. "The whole of society ought to strive towards the amelioration of the moral and physical existence of the poorest class; society ought to arrange itself in the way best suitable for reaching this objective," Saint-Simon advocated as the precept of the new Christianity. Saint-"new Simon's Christianity" was a picture of a culture that put the teachings of Jesus into practise by working to uplift its least fortunate citizens. Saint-Simon came back to the New Testament teachings of Jesus and rejected many of the ideas and practises that had been adopted by the Christian churches. He created a theory where the state controlled and owned the means of production for the good of everybody. Later theorists developed Christian socialism and atheistic communism from these ideas.

Saint-Simon was not a particularly methodical thinker, yet he had a significant impact on modern thought as the historical father of French socialism and the source of many ideas that subsequently evolved into Comtism. In a book titled L'Industrie published in 1817, he first laid out his socialist beliefs. In L'Organisateur, a publication on which Augustin Thierry and Auguste Comte worked together, he expanded on these ideas in 1819. Though it only attracted a small number of converts, the first number made a splash. Du système industriel and Catéchisme des industriels first appeared in 1821 and 1823–1844, respectively. The Nouveau Christianisme (1825), which he left unfinished, is the last and most significant expression of his opinions.

The French Revolution and the still-in-use feudal and military order in France had an influence on Saint-ideas Simon's for the reconstruction of society. He insisted on the need for a fresh, constructive reform of society in response to the destructive liberalism of the Revolution, even going so far as to request that Louis XVIII of France establish a new social order. Saint-Simon, however, favoured a plan in which the industrial tycoons should be in charge of society in contrast to the military and feudal system, which had been bolstered by the restoration. Instead of the Church, men of science should be the ones guiding society's spiritually. Saint-Simon envisioned an industrialist state governed by modern science, where peace should be enforced by international cooperation. He believed that men should have the right to rule society if they can successfully organise it for productive labour. Producing products that were beneficial to life was the societal goal. Saint-Simon felt that the industrial chiefs, to whom the control of production was to be committed, would rule in the interests of society, therefore he was unaware of the battle between labour and capital that was so heavily stressed by subsequent socialism. Later, he focused more on the plight of the poor, and in his most famous work, The New Christianity, it assumed the form of a religion. Saint Simon's final argument with Comte was a result of this growth in his teaching.

Auguste Comte and the advancement of sociology and economics as scientific disciplines were influenced by Saint-quest Simon's for a "science of society" comparable to the natural sciences. Saint-Simonism served as an inspiration for numerous writers including Thomas Carlyle, Michel Chevalier, John Stuart Mill, Napoleon III, and young Leon Walras. Throughout the nineteenth century, Saint-vision Simon's influenced French and European civilization. The evolution of Marxist thought was also affected by Saint-"scientism." Simon's The sect's survivors issued a superb edition of Saint-Simon and Enfantin's works (47 vols., Paris, 1865–1878).

While Saint-Simon's sentimental and mystical tendencies led him to recognise the need for a religion, his positivist and scientific studies compelled him to establish a moral code that was solely practical and verifiable. Although he thought that Christianity had improved human morality, he thought that Christianity's era was coming to an end. His religious tendencies grew stronger over time, until he declared that the world had reached the point of the Old Testament's predicted crisis, which would lead to the establishment of a truly universal religion, the adoption of a pacific social structure by all nations, and the rapid improvement of the condition of the poor. This idea was developed in "Le Nouveau Christianisme," a book that Saint Simon left unfinished when he passed away.

Prior to creating Nouveau Christianisme, Saint-Simon had little interest in theology. He set out to distil Christianity down to its most basic and fundamental components, starting with his believe in God. He removed the dogmas, various excrescences, and flaws that had crept into the Protestant and Catholic understandings of Christianity. "The whole of society ought to strive towards the amelioration of the moral and physical existence of the poorest class; society ought to arrange itself in the way best suited for reaching this objective," he advocated as the precept of the new Christianity.

Saint-Simon had relatively little influence during his lifetime, and he only left a small number of followers who still upheld his ideas and looked to him as a prophet. The two people who had received Saint-final Simon's orders together, Olinde Rodrigues and Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin, were the most significant of these disciples. Le Producteur, the journal they started out with, was ceased publication in 1826. However, the sect eventually started to expand, and by the end of 1828, it was holding meetings not only in Paris but also in a number of rural communities.

Amand Bazard delivered a "full exposition of the Saint-Simonian religion" over the course of many lengthy lectures in Paris in 1828. More people embraced his Exposition de la doctrine de St. Simon (2 vols., 1828–1830). The second volume was primarily written by Enfantin, who, together with Bazard, had the position of society's leader but was more metaphysically inclined and prone to pushing his conclusions to the limit. The socialist reformers experienced increased freedom as a result of the July Revolution (1830). A proclamation was made calling for the enfranchisement of women, the abolishment of the right to inherit, and the sharing of commodities. The Globe was acquired by the school early the next year thanks to Pierre Leroux, a new student.

Some of the brightest and most promising young men in France were now among its number, and many of them were students at the École Polytechnique, which had captured its interest. The participants organised themselves into a group that lived off a common fund in the Rue Monsigny and was divided into three classes. But soon there were disagreements among the sect. Because Enfantin wanted to construct a haughty sacerdotalism and had loose ideas about marriage and the relationship between the sexes, Bazard, a man of logic and a more stable temperament, was no longer able to collaborate with him. After some time, Bazard and many of the school's most ardent followers seceded as well.

The group's financial resources were severely depleted and its public image was severely damaged by a string of ostentatious shows it put on during the winter of 1832. They eventually relocated to a site held by Enfantin in Ménilmontant, where they established a communist community with distinctive clothing. The cult was completely disbanded when the leaders were tried and found guilty of actions that were detrimental to the societal order (1832). Many of its members rose to fame as economists, engineers, and businessmen.

The Saint-Simon school developed and clarified the master's hazy and jumbled ideas. In the theory of history, they distinguished between the critical, or detrimental, and the organic, or beneficial, epochs. War, egotism, and anarchy are traits of the critical epochs where philosophy rules as the dominant force. The organic epochs are ruled by religion and characterised by an attitude of submission, adoration, and community. The two main social principles are antagonism and association, and the one that dominates determines the character of an era. However, the spirit of association, which extends from the family to the city, from the city to the nation, and from the nation to the federation, tends to win out against its adversary more and more. Future social progress will be built on this associational idea. The industrial tycoon abuses the proletariat under the current system, whose members, despite being ostensibly free, are forced to agree to his terms or risk famine. The only solution is to abolish the law of inheritance and combine all labor-producing resources into a common fund that will be utilised through association. So, society assumes ownership of all properties and delegated their management to social organisations and social agents. The state gains the right of succession at the expense of the family.

The Saint-Simon school was a prominent proponent of a social structure in which each person was ranked according to his or her abilities and rewarded for their contributions. Government would resemble a form of religious or intellectual autocracy. The Saint-Simon school promoted the total liberation of women and their complete equality with men. Man and woman who participate in the triple function of religion, the state, and the family are referred to as "social individuals." The school upheld the honour of the Christian law of marriage in its official statements. A philosophy of the "rehabilitation of the flesh," derived from the school's philosophic theory and related to these ideas, rejected the dualism Catholic Christianity emphasised in its mortification of the body and claimed that the body should be given its rightful place of honour. This idea was ambiguous, and different Saint-Simon school members gave it varied ethical interpretations that gave it diverse ethical characteristics. Enfantin transformed it into a form of sensuous mysticism, a free-love framework with a moral backing.

Thinker Auguste Comte, referred to as the "founder of sociology," was a Frenchman who lived from January 17, 1798, to September 5, 1857. According to his "Positivism" ideology, which he established, human society has gone through three stages, the third of which he refers to as the "positive" stage and is characterised by scientific thought. He invented the term "sociology" to denote the scientific study of human society and was the first to apply the scientific method to the social realm. He hoped that via such efforts, a comprehension of human civilization may be attained, allowing humankind to advance to a higher level, where the entire human species might work as one. Additionally, he created the word "altruism," promoting the idea that people should live for the benefit of others. Although Comte seemed to believe that human intellect was the most significant factor in creating the new global order, in his later writings, he accepted the idea that love was the answer to all of humanity's problems. Despite the failure of Comte's vision of a new world order brought about by a somewhat mystical form of scientific sociology, his work laid the groundwork for significant advancements in our understanding of how human society works.

Famous for his expansive universal rules is Auguste Comte. His goal was to construct a social science that would explain both the past evolution of humanity and its likely future course. According to him, the study of human society proceeds in a similar manner to the study of nature. He thus made an effort to ascertain the rules by which human society survives and develops.

 He defined positivism as a philosophy that held that the only real knowledge is scientific knowledge and that this knowledge can only be obtained by positively endorsing theories via a rigorous scientific methodology. His ideas, which are frequently held by technocrats who think that scientific advancement is the primary source of progress, are sometimes referred to as a scientific ideology. As a method for understanding science philosophy that was developed by Enlightenment thinkers like Pierre-Simon Laplace Comte, who believed that the scientific method had replaced metaphysics in the history of thought, provided the first comprehensive theory of positivism. Comte also noted how theory and observation in science are mutually reinforcing. Thus, Comte was a key figure in the development of the social evolutionist school of thinking. According to anthropological evolutionism, positivism is the most advanced stage of society and the time at which science and logical justifications for scientific phenomena emerge. Theoretical systems based on Marxism and predictive dialectics are quite positivist.

Comte also said, “The dead govern the living,” which is likely a reference to the cumulative nature of positivism and the fact that our current world is shaped by the actions and discoveries of those who came before us. Comte’s positivism should not be confused with Logical positivism, which originated in the Vienna Circle in the 1920s. Logical positivism is a school of philosophy that combines positivism—which states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge—with a version of apriorism—the notion that some propositional knowledge can be had without, or “prior to,” experience

Comte introduced the crucial connection between theory, practise, and human comprehension of the world in his explanation of the Positive philosophy. The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte was translated by Harriet Martineau and published in 1855 with the following statement: "If it is true that every theory must be founded upon observed facts, it is also true that facts cannot be viewed without the guidance of some theory." Without such direction, our facts would be meaningless and pointless; we would not be able to remember them and, for the most part, not even be able to see them.