AUGUST COMTE'S PRINCIPAL COMPARATION WITH VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

Philosophy is a process of conducting critical studies to acquire the truth and to know the quintessence of some particular things. An assortment of thoughts from various figures and schools emerged related to the efforts to achieve the truth. One of them is August Comte who is also celebrated as the Father of Sociology. In Hindu teachings, there are also various schools of philosophy, one of which is Vedanta philosophy. The purpose of writing this article is to attain a comparison of the main points of August Comte with Vedanta philosophy with the intention of obtaining a new perspective of knowledge. By using a qualitative descriptive method, a comparison is achieved. According to August Comte with his positivism school, valid knowledge is knowledge that comes from positive-scientific facts, apart from the facts there is no knowledge. Whereas according to Vedanta, the highest knowledge is the knowledge about Atman and Brahman. August Comte's positivism emphasizes surrender to society (outside); whereas according to Vedanta, surrender is done to God (Brahman) as the origin of the entire existing universe (inside). Regarding absoluteness, August Comte believed that it was ineffective to inquire about absolute knowledge (both theological and metaphysical) and that he was no longer in quest of the origin and purpose of things and the nature of things. In the intervening time, when humans are able to realize that they are sparks from God and know the purpose of everything and the nature of things is the highest thing in Vedanta philosophy.