Comte, Auguste (1798–1857)

Auguste Comte, a French philosopher and utopian, was the founder of sociology and a strong proponent of positivism. In the fourth volume of the System of Positive Polity (1854), Comte proposed the word sociology for his new positivist science. The term positivism was intended as an ideological weapon with which to combat the philosophical legacy of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Comte believed that the reorganization of French society after the French Revolution would require intellectual reform. He was convinced that religious dogma, especially Catholicism, should be replaced by his positive philosophy—a system that had an intellectual and moral basis and allowed science to intervene on behalf of the betterment of society.

Consistent with many social thinkers of his era, Comte believed that society should be studied (and organized) in the same manner as the natural sciences, scientifically and positively. Social positivists seek to discover social laws that are applicable to society. One could explain scientific observations as “facts” without interference of value judgments. Comte based his idea of positivism on the premise that everything in society is observable and subject to patterns or laws. Comte did not mean that human behavior would always follow these laws; rather, he saw positivism as a way of explaining phenomena apart from supernatural or speculative causes. The discovery of the basic laws of human behavior would allow for deliberate courses of action on the part of both individuals and society. Accordingly, decision making guided by science would be positive.

The key to positive decision making is to separate the subjective (mere beliefs) from the objective (facts). Comte insisted that the only reliable way of acquiring objective truth was through the methods of science. Truth can be based only on fact. According to Comte, a “positive” fact is one that everyone would admit is true, if given an equal opportunity to judge. Facts are the building blocks of science and the core fundamental principle of judicial law. Comte believed that we should regard nothing as outside the scope of science and that every regularity or law that science can discover will lead to a more “perfect” society. He envisioned a world where positivism dominated and theological and metaphysical thinking would disappear. Comtean principles are reflected in democratic societies such as the United States, where law is guided by the fundamental principles of positive science, specifically, determining “truth” based on factual presentation of evidence.

Comte addressed the legal profession by claiming that lawyers first arose as agents of the military powers and then as defenders of the governing class. However, Comte attributed great significance to lawyers in his review of history and his “Law of Three Stages.” This evolutionary theory on societal development centered on his belief that progress was a matter of the growth of the human mind. He reasoned that the human mind evolved through stages and so, too, he proposed, must society.

The first stage is theological, reliance on supernatural or religious explanations to explain what man otherwise could not. This stage hampers intellectual development. Second, the metaphysical stage, the belief that mysterious forces control behavior, is transitional. It exhibits the development of abstract thinking. Third, the positive stage, the belief that laws of human behavior exist and can be discovered through observation and the use of reason, is the final stage of development, highlighted by a reliance on science and rational thought. Comte believed that lawyers and metaphysicians remained as the temporal and spiritual representatives of the intermediate transitional stage of civilization. He did not reproach lawyers for not establishing a new goal for society; instead, he considered them a necessary transitional force and not a nuisance.

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