My readers would hardly be interested were I to follow Mr. Congreve any
further, or I might point out that the fact of his not having heard me
lecture is hardly a safe ground for his speculations as to what I do not
teach. Nor do I feel called upon to give any opinion as to M. Comte's
merits or demerits as regards sociology. Mr. Mill (whose competence to
speak on these matters I suppose will not be questioned, even by Mr.
Congreve) has dealt with M. Comte's philosophy from this point of view,
with a vigour and authority to which I cannot for a moment aspire; and
with a severity, not unfrequently amounting to contempt, which I have
not the wish, if I had the power, to surpass. I, as a mere student in
these questions, am content to abide by Mr. Mill's judgment until some
one shows cause for its reversal, and I decline to enter into a
discussion which I have not provoked.
The sole obligation which lies upon me is to justify so much as still
remains without justification of what I have written respecting
Positivism--namely, the opinion expressed in the following paragraph:--
"In so far as my study of what specially characterises the Positive
Philosophy has led me, I find therein little or nothing of any
scientific value, and a great deal which is as thoroughly
antagonistic to the very essence of science as any thing in
ultramontane Catholicism."
Here are two propositions: the first, that the "Philosophie Positive"
contains little or nothing of any scientific value; the second, that
Comtism is, in spirit, anti-scientific. I shall endeavour to bring
forward ample evidence in support of both.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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