68 conciliarism
Comte worked with his mentor to develop a science of
human behavior. Comte broke with Saint-Simon in
1824 and gained his own fame after he delivered a
series of lectures on POSITIVISM.
These lectures provided the basis for Comte’s great-
est work, Cours de philosophie positive(Course of Posi-
tive Philosophy). The six-volume work was written
between 1830 and 1842. In his opus, Comte asserted
that each science needed its own methodology and
that each science is dependent on its antecedents.
Hence, philosophy is dependent on history, physics
dependent on astronomy, and so forth. He contended
that each science goes through three distinct phases:
theological (where humans view nature and natural
law as dependent on the will of a deity); metaphysical
(cause and effect begin to replace divine will); and
positive (the quest for absolute knowledge of an area).
Comte’s positivism manifested itself in the belief that
progress was both irreversible and inevitable. However,
he did not believe that humans could obtain perfect
knowledge.
Comte helped develop the modern discipline of
sociology (and he coined the term sociology). He con-
tended that sociology had not yet entered the positive
stage but that it ultimately would clarify the other sci-
ences. Sociology would be able to provide a framework
by which social customs and traits could be quantified
into laws. He envisioned the modern division of soci-
ology into two distinct branches: social statics, or the
comparative study of different social systems; and
social dynamics, or the study of social change. Comte
also differentiated between order and PROGRESS. Order
was marked by consensus on the fundamental princi-
ples of a society, while progress was marked by change
in the underlying principles as had been the case in
Europe from the REFORMATIONthrough the French Rev-
olution. Comte asserted that a synthesis of order and
progress could produce a global society that would not
fight over religious or political differences. Comte’s
later works included the 1848 book Discours sur
l’Ensemble du positivisme (A General View of Posi-
tivism), and the 1851 piece, Système de politique posi-
tive(System of Positive Polity).
In Comte’s estimation, the events of the French
Revolution had been negative in that they had broken
down the old order but had not produced a new one.
He advocated a new religion of humanity that would
be led by an industrial-elite priesthood and that would
have as its highest deity a supreme being who com-
bined the essence of existence with the harmony of
nature. Scientific principles would guide everyday life,
and Comte devised a new calendar based on honoring
13 great thinkers, including ARISTOTLE, DANTE, and
Shakespeare.Further Readings
Harp, G. Positivist Republic: Auguste Comte and the Reconstruc-
tion of American Liberalism, 1865–1920.University Park:
Pennsylvania State Press, 1995.
Standley, A. Auguste Comte.Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981.conciliarism
A 15th-century movement in the CATHOLIC Church
that strove to have councils or representative assem-
blies of the church determine policy. This is con-
trasted with the prevailing power of the bishop of
Rome, or pope. It was a DEMOCRATIC, REPUBLICAN
movement in the Roman Catholic Church that
emerged during the great schism when three separate
bishops claimed to be pope. A solution was seen in
reforming church governance through periodic coun-
cils, like CONGRESSES, in which the representatives of
the whole church were considered a greater authority
than the official hierarchy of church administrators.
In terms of political or governmental theory, it repre-
sented a battle between legislative and executive
authority. The idea of a more representative church
governance emerged during the Councils of Con-
stance (1414–18) and Basle (1431–49). It reflected
developments in CANON LAWin the 12th and 13th cen-
turies, in which the early church practice of ruling
synods and reliance on scripture for church rules and
discipline prevailed. The rise of church and civil COR-
PORATIONS(colleges, guilds, towns) that were self-gov-
erning influenced conciliarism. This democratic
impulse in the church affected modern CONSTITUTION
republican political thought, eventually supplanting
monarchies in Europe with representative parlia-
ments. The conciliarist movement ended with the
assertion of papal supremacy in the late 15th century
and the pope’s reinforcement of his supreme authority
through agreements with various European monar-
chies. The Protestant REFORMATIONof the 16th century
was partly a result of the failure of the conciliar move-
ment. For three centuries after this, republican church
government was not associated with the Catholic
Church. The Vatican II Roman Catholic council
(1962–65) is seen as democraticizing the church with
some of the conciliarist ideals.