Talk:Auguste Comte

Does this article still merit the category "Articles Needing RWification?" Nyx (talk) 23:20, 18 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Nope. I axed it. 23:53, 18 May 2011 (UTC) C ® ackeЯ

I think that Comte became a kind of theologian of science. Look here.

http://atheism.wikia.com/wiki/Auguste_Comte's_Religion_of_Humanity

Imo it shouldn't be that way. He probably lost his mind when his love died, but the rational way of viewing the world isn't a religion. Lots of time i've read the accuse that atheism or humanism are religions against religion. They're not! They are ways of looking at the existence which stress that Nature is all there is, this life is what we have to cherish and that human happiness and reason are the candles in the darkness of ignorance and superstition. They aren't creeds. Men should point men and say - use your reason, beware of irrationality, love life, and... Think for yourself! - Well, Comte excepted. Gianga23 (talk) 09:30, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Comte vs. Rand
I think this article places too much weight on the supposed ideological animosity between Comte and Ayn Rand. Truth is, Comteam sociological positivism has contributed much to the "libertarian" worldview with its reliance on "reason" and understanding the society and economics through objective "hard facts", "hard science" and "statistics".

Of course, Karl Marx had a positivist streak in his writings as well (as did most of the 19th century sociologists), but the 20th century currents in Marxism, specifically the Critical Theory, were antipositivist and emphasized that the simple "hard science" interpretations of the society failed to account for the fact that societal institutions (bureaucrats, political parties, courts of law, joint stock companies, organizations) were hardly "rational" or "scientific" in their own right, but rather expressions of power and class relations within the society. Positivism also tends to look at things at their face value and fails to acknowledge the subjective meaning that individual give to them.

Therefore, I think Comte's positivism is very much compatible with extreme capitalism/libertarianism and even Objectivism. They also share the utopian idea of unhindered human progress stemming from the enlightenment philosophy (which, of course, marxism does as well) and the triumph of "reason". 194.89.39.231 (talk) 16:22, 13 September 2017 (UTC)