Description
Book SynopsisThis 2001 book provides the first in-depth critique of Comte's concept of religion and its place in his thinking on politics, sociology and philosophy of science. Wernick relates Comte to Marx and Nietzsche and examines key features of modern and postmodern French social theory, tracing the inherent flaws of Comte's system.
Trade Review'Mr Wernick's book on August Comte is brilliant. ... (He) succeeds admirably in placing Comte's religion in the context of his time and in the history of social theory in France. … This book will give any reader pause to reflect on the distinctiveness of French social theory, the problem of defining a community, and the relationship between politics and religion in both its theistic and post-theistic forms.' Mary Pickering, San Jose State University, California
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; 1. Introduction: rethinking Comte; 2. The system and its logic (1): from positive philosophy to social science; 3. The system and its logic (2): from sociology to the subjective synthesis; 4. Religion and the crisis of industrialism; 5. Love and the social body; 6. The path to perfection; 7. Humanity as 'le vrai grand-être'; 8. Socio-theology after Comte; References; Index.
