Auguste Comte and "Development": A Note

Abstract

Comte laid down as aim of historical analysis the rational coordination of fundamental series of human events according to a single design (C 11, 97).' But explanations, inferences, and metaphors presented in his two great works suggest at least three different designs, which in turn suggest different conceptions of meaning of development - a word which Comte relies upon extensively -in history and sociology. The best-known feature by far of Comte's philosophy of history is his of three states,' a law according to which history in general necessarily develops through three stages, described as theological, metaphysical, and scientific (or positive). Each stage, considered statically, forms an integral whole characterized in all its features by typical properties, which derive essentially from a certain cognitive mode. It does not follow that dynamics of change are essentially cognitive or