Journal of the History of Philosophy

Auguste Comte: Four Lost Letters to America NEAL C. GILLESPIE and GERALD H. DAVIS * AUGUSTE COMTE, THE FOUNDEROF POSITIVISM, has little influence today. Yet, in the told-nineteenth century his two major works, the Cours de philosophie positive (1830-1842) and the Syst~me de politique positive (1851-1854) seemed to offer a viable alternative to the traditional Christian world view which was then in the process of disintegration. In England and Russia, in his native France, and to a lesser extent in Germany and other countries of western Europe, disciples appeared and Positivist societies were formed to implement the new social order that Comte had outlined. Despite this interest, those who would go the whole way with Comte were few. For every follower who fully accepted Positivism there were others who found in Comte's philosophy nothing beyond a stimulation for their own thought and a systematic ordering of ideas that before had floated loosely in their minds. Devotees and skeptics alike, however, considered him one of the significant thinkers of the century: The reception of Comte's work in the United States was much the same as in Europe. A few enthusiasts went as far as Henry Edger who attempted to found a Positivist community at Modern Times, Long Island in 1854, but most American readers of the Cours and Syst~me declined to be converted although they were frequently sympathetic and even admiring. Among these was George Frederick Holmes. a young Englishman living in western Virginia who was by vocation variously a farmer, a reviewer, a college professor, and. by avocation, a student of social processes. Holmes was first led to the Cours in 1848 by his own quest for a science of history and soon became the most prominent of Comte's early critics in America. 2 * Neal C. Gillespie, Associate Professor, Gerald H. Davis, Professor, Deparunent of History, Georgia State University. x The best discussion of Positivism in Europe and one that effectively demolishes the notion that Comte's work was largely responsible for the spread of "scientism" in the latter part of the nineteenth century is W. M. Simon, European Positivism in the Nineteenth Century : An Essay in Intellectual History (New York: [ca. 1963]). For Positivism in Russia, see James H. Billington, "The Intelligentsia and the Religion of Humanity," American Historical Review, LXV (July, 1960), 807-821. 2 For Holmes's criticism see "Philosophy and Faith," Methodist Quarterly Review, 4th scr., III (April, 1851), 185-218; "Faith and Science---Comte's Positive Philosophy," ibid., IV (January and April, 1852), 9-37, 169-199; "Instauratio Nova--Auguste Comte," ibid., IV (July, 1852), 329-360; "The Bacon of the Nineteenth Century," ibid., V (July and Oct., [49] 50 H/STORY OF PHILOSOPHY Holmes's series of essays on Positivism, which appeared in the Methodist Quarterly Review between 1852 and 1854, were brought to Comte's attention by the editor, John McClintock. The result was an enlightening correspondence between the founder of Positivism and his American critic. Altogether they exchanged fourteen letters, ten of which were published in 1936 by Richard L. Hawkins in Auguste Comte and the United States, 1816-I853. The four previously lost letters from Comte are presented here to complete the series.3 The entire correspondence is an interesting example of the reversals that frequently attended Comte's attempts to spread his doctrine. Comte first wrote to McClintock praising Hohnes's well-disposed article "Faith and Science--C~mte's Positive Philosophy" as "une consciencieuse apprrciation de mon ouvrage fondamental." '* After learning of Comte's favorable opinion Holmes suggested that they correspond. In his initial letter he again praised Comte's work but, while pointing out their basic agreement on the serious moral and intellectual crisis facing contemporary civilization, he rejected Comte's philosophy as a whole because of its hostility to metaphysics and traditional Christianity. Regretting the world's neglect of Comte's genius and his consequent poverty Holmes sent a donation of fifty francs and also asked Comte to correct the errors in "Faith and Science" that he had mentioned to McClintock. While denying any desire to pry, he also wanted a sketch of Comte's life in order better to...