Philosopher and sociologist, the founder of Positivism, born in Montpellier,
France. He studied for a while at Paris, and was for some years a disciple
of Saint-Simon. He published his lectures on positivist philosophy in six
volumes (1830--42). He taught mathematics privately, and in his later years
was supported by his friends. His Système de politique positive
(4 vols, 1851--4, System of Positive Polity), shows the influence of his
brief relationship with Clothilde de Vaux. In his philosophy, all sciences
are regarded as having passed through a theological and then a metaphysical
stage into a positive or experiential stage; the sociological development
is from militarism to industrialism. In positive religion, the object of
reverence is humanity, and the aim the well-being and progress of the race.