This English edition of The Catechism of Positive Religion was published in 1891, thirty-four years after the death of Comte, the French philosopher of science and politics and founder of positivism, whose work was widely read in the later nineteenth century. Comte's self-published French original of 1852, translated here, outlines his progressive ideal of 'sociocracy', which would provide a systematic basis, free of metaphysics, for intellectual and moral transactions among humans. Congreve's edition, in common with others, divides the book into five parts. The introduction contains two dialogues, entitled General Theory of Religion and Theory of Humanity. Parts 1-3 respectively consider the Positivist's private and public 'worship'; 'doctrine', including the external world and human society and ethics; and 'regime' or way of life, private and public. The final two dialogues cover polytheism, monotheism and theocracy. This book remains of interest as an early precursor of secular humanist ethics.

Excerpt from The Catechism of Positive Religion: Translated From the French of Auguste Comte The alterations in the arrangement of the Catechism have, in every case, the sanction of Auguste Comte. See Politique, Positive, vol. iv. The Tables at the end of the volume are given from the latest edition of the Author. I have felt warranted by an extract from one of his letters in inserting the name of Shelley in the Calendar. In the Preface, p. 4, the formula alluded to is: Faire de l'ordre avec du désordre. Your materials are disorder, with them you must organize order. In the Positivist Library, Old Mortality should be substituted for Woodstock. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.