Recapitulation
of the results
obtained
Love, then, is our principle; Order
our basis; and Progress our end. Such,
as the preceding chapters have shown,
is the essential character of the system of life which
Positivism offers for the definite acceptance of
society; a system which regulates the whole course
of our private and public existence, by bringing
Feeling, Reason, and Activity into permanent
harmony. In this final synthesis, all essential
conditions are far more perfectly fulfilled than in
any other. Each special element of our nature is
more fully developed, and at the same time the
general working of the whole is more coherent.
Greater distinctness is given to the truth that the
affective element predominates in our nature.
Life in all its actions and thoughts is brought under
the control and inspiring charm of Social Sympathy.
By the supremacy of the Heart, the Intellect, so
far from being crushed, is elevated; for all its
powers are consecrated to the service of the social
instincts, with the purpose of strengthening their
influence and directing their employment. By
accepting its subordination to Feeling, Reason
adds to its own authority. To it we look for the
revelation of the laws of nature, of the established
Order which dictates the inevitable conditions of
human life. The objective basis thus discovered
for human effort reacts most beneficially on our
moral nature. Forced as we are to accept it, it
controls the fickleness to which our affections are
liable, and acts as a direct stimulus to social sympathy.
Concentrated on so high an office, the
intellect will be preserved from useless digression;
and will yet find a boundless field for its operations
in the study of all the natural laws by which human
destinies are affected, and especially those which
relate to the constitution of man or of society. The
fact that every subject is to be regarded from the
sociological point of view, so far from discouraging
even the most abstract order of speculations, adds
to their logical coherence as well as to their moral
value, by introducing the central principle round
which alone they can be co-ordinated into a whole.
And whilst Reason is admitted to its due share
of influence on human life, Imagination is also
strengthened and called into constant exercise.
Henceforth it will assume its proper function, the
idealization of truth. For the objective basis of
our conceptions scientific investigation is necessary.
But this basis once obtained, the constitution of
our mind is far better adapted to esthetic than to
scientific study, provided always that imagination
never disregard the truths of science, and degenerate
into extravagance. Subject to this condition,
Positivism gives every encouragement to esthetic
studies, being, as they are, so closely related to its
guiding principle and to its practical aim, to Love
namely, and to Progress. Art will enter largely
into the social life of the Future, and will be regarded
as the most pleasurable and most salutary exercise
of our intellectual powers, because it leads them in
the most direct manner to the culture and improvement
of our moral nature.
Originating in the first instance from practical
life, Positivism will return thither with increased
force, now that its long period of scientific preparation
is accomplished, and that it has occupied the
field of moral truth, which henceforth will be its
principal domain. Its principle of sympathy, so
far from relaxing our efforts, will stimulate all our
faculties to universal activity by urging them onwards
towards perfection of every kind. Scientific
study of the natural Order is inculcated solely with
the view of directing all the forces of Man and of
Society to its improvement by artificial effort.
Hitherto this aim has hardly been recognized, even
with regard to the material world, and but a very
small proportion of our energies has been spent
upon it. Yet the aim is high, provided always
that the view taken of human progress extend
beyond its lower and more material stages. Our
theoretical powers once concentrated on the moral
problems which form their principal field, our
practical energies will not fail to take the same direction,
devoting themselves to that portion of the
natural Order which is most imperfect, and at the
time most modifiable. With these larger and more
systematic views of human life, its best efforts will
be given to the improvement of the mind, and still
more to the improvement of the character and to
the increase of affection and courage. Public and
private life are now brought into close relation by
the identity of their principal aim, which, being
kept constantly in sight, ennobles every action in
both. Practical questions must ever continue to
preponderate, as before, over questions of theory;
but this condition, so far from being adverse to
speculative power, concentrates it upon the most
difficult of all problems, the discovery of moral
and social laws, our knowledge of which will never
be fully adequate to our practical requirements.
Mental and practical activity of this kind can never
result in hardness of feeling. On the contrary, it
impresses us more strongly with the conviction that
Sympathy is not merely our highest happiness, but
the most effectual of all our means of improvement;
and that without it, all other means can be of little
avail.
Thus it is that in the Positive system, the Heart,
the Intellect, and the Character mutually strengthen
and develop one another, because each is systematically
directed to the mode of action for which it is by
nature adapted. Public and private life are brought
into a far more harmonious relation than in any
former time, because the purpose to which both are
consecrated is identical; the difference being merely
in the range of their activities. The aim in both is
to secure, to the utmost possible extent, the victory
of Social feeling over Self-love; and to this aim all
our powers, whether of affection, thought, or action,
are in both unceasingly directed.
This, then, is the shape in which the great human
problem comes definitely before us. Its solution
demands all the appliances of Social Art. The primary
principle on which the solution rests, is the
separation of the two elementary powers of society;
the moral power of counsel, and the political powers
of command. The necessary preponderance of the
latter, which rests upon material force, corresponds
to the fact that in our imperfect nature, where the
coarser wants are the most pressing and the most
continuously felt, the selfish instincts are naturally
stronger than the unselfish. In the absence of all
compulsory authority, our action even as individuals
would be feeble and purposeless, and social
life still more certainly would lose its character
and its energy. Moral force, therefore, by which
is meant the force of conviction and persuasion, is
to be regarded simply as a modifying influence, not
as a means of authoritative direction.
Moral force originates in Feeling and in Reason.
It represents the social side of our nature, and to
this its direct influence is limited. Indeed by the
very fact that it is the expression of our highest
attributes, it is precluded from that practical
ascendancy which is possessed by faculties of a
lower but more energetic kind. Inferior to material
force in power, though superior to it in dignity, it
contrasts and opposes its own classification of men
according to the standard of moral and intellectual
worth, to the classification by wealth and worldly
position which actually prevails. True, the higher
standard will never be adopted practically, but the
effort to uphold it will react beneficially on the
natural order of society. It will inspire those
larger views, and reanimate that sense of duty,
which are so apt to become obliterated in the ordinary
current of life.
The means of effecting this important result, the
need of which is so generally felt, will not be wanting,
when the moderating power enters upon its
characteristic function of preparing us for practical
life by a rational system of education, throughout
which, even in its intellectual department, moral
considerations will predominate. This power will
therefore concentrate itself upon theoretical and
moral questions; and it can only maintain its
position as the recognized organ of social sympathy,
by invariable abstinence from political action. It
will be its first duty to contend against the ambitious
instincts of its own members. True, such
instincts, in spite of the impurity of their source,
may be of use in those natures who are really
destined for the indispensable business of government.
But for a spiritual power formal renunciation
of wealth and rank is at the very root of its
influence; it is the first of the conditions which
justify it in resisting the encroachments to which
political power is always tempted. Hence the
classes to whose natural sympathies it looks for
support are those who, like itself, are excluded from
political administration.
Women, from their strongly sympathetic nature,
are the original source of all moral influence; and
they are peculiarly qualified by the passive character
of their life to assist the action of the spiritual
power in the family. In its essential function of
education, their co-operation is of the highest
importance. The education of young children is
entrusted to their sole charge; and the education
of more advanced years simply consists in giving a
more systematic shape to what the mother has
already inculcated in childhood. As a wife, too,
Woman assumes still more distinctly the spiritual
function of counsel; she softens by persuasion
where the philosopher can only influence by conviction.
In social meetings, again, the only mode of
public life in which women can participate, they
assist the spiritual power in the formation of Public
Opinion, of which it is the systematic organ, by
applying the principles which it inculcates to the
case of particular actions or persons. In all these
matters their influence will be far more effectual,
when men have done their duty to women by
setting them free from the necessity of gaining their
own livelihood; and when women on their side
have renounced both power and wealth, as we see,
so often exemplified among the working classes.
The affinity of the People with the philosophic
power is less direct and less pure; but it will prove
a vigorous ally in meeting the obstacles which the
temporal power will inevitably oppose. The working
classes, having but little spare time and small
individual influence, cannot, except on rare occasions,
participate in the practical administration of
government, since all efficient government involves
concentration of power. Moral force, on the contrary,
created as it is by free convergence of opinion,
admits of, and indeed requires, the widest ramification.
Working men, owing to their freedom from
practical responsibilities and their unconcern for
personal aggrandisement, are better disposed than
their employers to broad views and to generous
sympathies, and will therefore naturally associate
themselves with the spiritual power. It is they
who will furnish the basis of a true public opinion,
so soon as they are enabled by Positive education,
which is specially framed with a view to their case,
to give greater definiteness to their aspirations.
Their wants and their sympathies will alike induce
them to support the philosophic priesthood as the
systematic guardian of their interests against the
governing classes. In return for such protection
they will bring the whole weight of their influence
to assist the priesthood in its great social mission,
the subordination of Politics to Morals. In those
exceptional cases where it becomes necessary for
the moderating power to assume political functions,
the popular element will of itself suffice for the
emergency, thus exempting the philosophic element
from participating in an anomaly from which its
character could hardly fail to suffer, as would be the
case also in a still higher degree with the feminine
character.
The direct influence of Reason over our imperfect
nature is so feeble that the new priesthood could not
of itself ensure such respect for its theories as would
bring them to any practical result. But the
sympathies of women and of the people operating
as they will in every town and in every family, will
be sufficient to ensure its efficacy in organizing that
legitimate degree of moral pressure which the poor
may bring to bear upon the rich. Moreover, we
may look, as one of the results of our common system
of education, for additional aid in the ranks of the
governing classes themselves; for some of their
noblest members will volunteer their assistance to
the spiritual power, forming, so to speak, a new order
of chivalry. And yet, with all this, comprehensive
as our organization of moral force may be, so great
is the innate strength of the selfish instincts, that
our success in solving the great human problem will
always fall short of what we might legitimately
desire. To this conclusion we must come, in whatever
way we regard the destiny of Man; but it
should only encourage us to combine our efforts still
more strongly in order to ameliorate the order of
Nature in its most important, that is, in its moral
aspects, these being at once the most modifiable
and the most imperfect.
The highest progress of man and of society consists
in gradual increase of our mastery over all our
defects, especially the defects of our moral nature.
Among the nations of antiquity the progress in this
direction was but small; all that they could do was
to prepare the way for it by certain necessary
phases of intellectual and social development. The
whole tendency of Greek and Roman society was
such as made it impossible to form a distinct conception
of the great problem of our moral nature.
In fact, Morals were with them invariably subordinate
to Politics. Nevertheless, it is moral progress
which alone can satisfy our nature; and in
the Middle Ages it was recognized as the highest aim
of human effort, notwithstanding that its intellectual
and social conditions were as yet very imperfectly
realized. The creeds of the Middle Ages were too
unreal and imperfect, the character of society was
too military and aristocratic, to allow Morals and
Politics to assume permanently their right relation.
The attempt was made, however; and, inadequate
as it was, it was enough to allow the people of the
West to appreciate the fundamental principle
involved in it, a principle destined to survive the
opinions and the habits of life from which it arose.
Its full weight could never be felt until the Positive
spirit had extended beyond the elementary subjects
to which it had been so long subjected, to the sphere
of social truth; and had thus reached the position
at which a complete synthesis became possible.
Equally essential was it that in those countries which
had been incorporated into the Western Empire,
and had passed from it into Catholic Feudalism,
war should be definitely superseded by industrial
activity. In the long period of transition which
has elapsed since the Middle Ages, both these conditions
have been fulfilled, while at the same time
the old system has been gradually decomposed.
Finally the great crisis of the Revolution has
stimulated all advanced minds to reconsider,
with better intellectual and social principles, the
same problem that Christianity and Chivalry had
attempted. The radical solution of it was then
begun, and it is now completed, and enunciated in
a systematic form by Positivism.
Humanity is
the centre to
which every
aspect of Positivism
converges
All essential phases in the evolution
of society answer to corresponding
phases in the growth of the individual,
whether it has proceeded spontaneously
or under systematic guidance, supposing
always that his development be complete. But it
is not enough to prove the close connexion which
exists between all modes and degrees of human
regeneration. We have yet to find a central point
round which all will naturally meet. In this point
consists the unity of Positivism as a system of life.
Unless it can be thus condensed, round one single
principle, it will never wholly supersede the synthesis
of Theology, notwithstanding its superiority in the
reality and stability of its component parts, and
in their homogeneity and coherence as a whole.
There should be a central point in the system
towards which Feeling, Reason, and Activity alike
converge. The proof that Positivism possesses
such a central point will remove the last obstacles
to its complete acceptance, as the guide of private
or of public life.
Such a centre we find in the great conception of
Humanity, towards which every aspect of Positivism
naturally converges. By it the conception of God
will be entirely superseded, and a synthesis be
formed, more complete and permanent than that
provisionally established by the old religions.
Through it the new doctrine becomes at once accessible
to men’s hearts in its full extent and application.
From their heart it will penetrate their
minds, and thus the immediate necessity of beginning
with a long and difficult course of study is
avoided, though this must of course be always
indispensable to its systematic teachers.
This central point of Positivism is even more
moral than intellectual in character: it represents
the principle of Love upon which the whole system
rests. It is the peculiar characteristic of the Great
Being who is here set forth, to be compounded of
separable elements. Its existence depends therefore
entirely upon mutual Love knitting together its
various parts. The calculations of self-interest
can never be substituted as a combining influence
for the sympathetic instincts.
Yet the belief in Humanity, while stimulating
Sympathy, at the same time enlarges the scope and
vigour of the Intellect. For it requires high powers
of generalization to conceive clearly of this vast
organism, as the result of spontaneous co-operation,
abstraction made of all partial antagonisms. Reason,
then, has its part in this central dogma as well as
Love. It enlarges and completes our conception
of the Supreme Being, by revealing to us the external
and internal conditions of its existence.
Lastly, our active powers are stimulated by it no
less than our feelings and our reason. For since
Humanity is so far more complex than any other
organism, it will react more strongly and more continuously
on its environment, submitting to its influence
and so modifying it. Hence results Progress
which is simply the development of Order, under
the influence of Love.
Thus, in the conception of Humanity, the three
essential aspects of Positivism, its subjective principle,
its objective dogma, and its practical object,
are united. Towards Humanity, who is for us the
only true Great Being, we, the conscious elements
of whom she is composed, shall henceforth direct
every aspect of our life, individual or collective.
Our thoughts will be devoted to the knowledge of
Humanity, our affections to her love, our actions to
her service.
Positivists then may, more truly than theological
believers of whatever creed, regard life as a continuous
and earnest act of worship; worship which will
elevate and purify our feelings, enlarge and enlighten
our thoughts, ennoble and invigorate our actions.
It supplies a direct solution, so far as a solution is
possible, of the great problem of the Middle Ages,
the subordination of Politics to Morals. For this
follows at once from the consecration now given to
the principle that social sympathy should preponderate
over self-love.
Thus Positivism becomes, in the true sense of
the word, a Religion; the only religion which is
real and complete; destined therefore to replace all
imperfect and provisional systems resting on the
primitive basis of theology.
For even the synthesis established by the old
theocracies of Egypt and India was insufficient,
because, being based on purely subjective principles
it could never embrace practical life, which must
always be subordinated to the objective realities
of the external world. Theocracy was thus limited
at the outset to the sphere of thought and of feeling;
and part even of this field was soon lost when Art
became emancipated from theocratical control,
showing a spontaneous tendency to its natural
vocation of idealizing real life. Of science and of
morality the priests were still left sole arbiters;
but here, too, their influence materially diminished
so soon as the discovery of the simpler abstract
truths of Positive science gave birth to Greek
Philosophy. Philosophy, though as yet necessarily
restricted to the metaphysical stage, yet
already stood forward as the rival of the sacerdotal
system. Its attempts to construct were in themselves
fruitless; but they overthrew Polytheism,
and ultimately transformed it into Monotheism.
In this the last phase of theology, the intellectual
authority of the priests was undermined no less
deeply than the principle of their doctrine. They
lost their hold upon Science, as long ago they had
lost their hold upon Art. All that remained to them
was the moral guidance of society; and even this
was soon compromised by the progress of free
thought; progress really due to the Positive spirit,
although its systematic exponents still belong to
the metaphysical school.
With the discovery
of sociological
laws,
a synthesis on
the basis of
Science becomes
possible,
science being
now concentrated
on the
study of Humanity
When Science had expanded sufficiently
to exist apart from Philosophy,
it showed a rapid tendency towards a
synthesis of its own, alike incompatible
with metaphysics and with theology.
It was late in appearing, because it
required a long series of preliminary
efforts: but as it approached completion,
it gradually brought the
Positive spirit to bear upon the organization of
practical life, from which that spirit had originally
emanated. But thoroughly to effect this result
was impossible until the science of Sociology had
been formed; and this was done by my discovery
of the law of historical development. Henceforth
all true men of science will rise to the higher dignity
of philosophers, and by so doing will necessarily
assume something of the sacerdotal character,
because the final result to which their researches
tend is the subordination of every subject of
thought to the moral principle; a result which
leads us at once to the acceptance of a complete
and homogeneous synthesis. Thus the philosophers
of the future become priests of Humanity,
and their moral and intellectual influence will be
far wider and more deeply rooted than that of any
former priesthood. The primary condition of their
spiritual authority is exclusion from political
power, as a guarantee that theory and practice
shall be systematically kept apart. A system in
which the organs of counsel and those of command
are never identical cannot possibly degenerate into
any of the evils of theocracy.
By entirely renouncing wealth and worldly
position, and that not as individuals merely, but
as a body, the priests of Humanity will occupy a
position of unparalleled dignity. For with their
moral influence they will combine what since the
downfall of the old theocracies has always been
separated from it, the influence of superiority in
art and science. Reason, Imagination, and Feeling
will be brought into unison: and so united will
react strongly on the imperious conditions of
practical life; bringing it into closer accordance
with the laws of universal morality, from which
it is so prone to deviate. And the influence of
this new modifying power will be the greater that the
synthesis on which it rests will have preceded and
prepared the way for the social system of the
future; whereas theology could not arrive at its
central principle, until the time of its decline was
approaching. All functions, then, that co-operate
in the elevation of man will be regenerated by the
Positive priesthood. Science, Poetry, Morality,
will be devoted to the study, the praise, and the
love of Humanity, in order that under their combined
influence, our political action may be more
unremittingly given to her service.
With such a mission, Science acquires a position
of unparalleled importance, as the sole means
through which we come to know the nature and
conditions of this Great Being, the worship of whom
should be the distinctive feature of our whole life.
For this all-important knowledge, the study of
Sociology would seem to suffice: but Sociology itself
depends upon preliminary study, first of the outer
world, in which the actions of Humanity take
place; and secondly, of Man, the individual agent.
The object of Positivist worship is not like that
of theological believers an absolute, isolated,
incomprehensible Being, whose existence admits
of no demonstration, or comparison with anything
real. The evidence of the Being here set forward
is spontaneous, and is shrouded in no mystery.
Before we can praise, love, and serve Humanity
as we ought, we must know something of the
laws which govern her existence, an existence more
complicated than any other of which we are cognizant.
Statical Aspects
of Humanity
And by virtue of this complexity,
Humanity possesses the attributes of
vitality in a higher degree than any
other organization; that is to say, there is at
once more intimate harmony of the component
elements, and more complete subordination to the
external world. Immense as is the magnitude of
this organism measured both in Time and Space,
yet each of its parts carefully examined will show
the general consensus of the whole. At the same
time it is more dependent than any other upon the
conditions of the outer world; in other words,
upon the sum of the laws that regulate inferior
phenomena. Like other vital organisms, it submits
to mathematical, astronomical, physical,
chemical, and biological conditions; and, in
addition to these, is subject to special laws of
Sociology with which lower organisms are not
concerned. But as a further result of its higher
complexity it reacts upon the world more powerfully;
and is indeed in a true sense its chief.
Scientifically defined, then, it is truly the Supreme
Being: the Being who manifests to the fullest
extent all the highest attributes of life.
But there is yet another feature peculiar to
Humanity, and one of primary importance. That
feature is, that the elements of which she is composed
must always have an independent existence.
In other organisms the parts have no existence
when severed from the whole; but this, the greatest
of all organisms, is made up of lives which can
really be separated. There is, as we have seen,
harmony of parts as well as independence, but the
last of these conditions is as indispensable as the
first. Humanity would cease to be superior to
other beings were it possible for her elements to
become inseparable. The two conditions are
equally necessary: but the difficulty of reconciling
them is so great as to account at once for the slowness
with which this highest of all organisms has
been developed. It must not, however, be supposed
that the new Supreme Being is, like the old,
merely a subjective result of our powers of abstraction.
Its existence is revealed to us, on the contrary,
by close investigation of objective fact.
Man indeed, as an individual, cannot properly
be said to exist, except in the exaggerated abstractions
of modern metaphysicians. Existence in
the true sense can only be predicated of Humanity;
although the complexity of her nature prevented
men from forming a systematic conception of it,
until the necessary stages of scientific initiation
had been passed. Bearing this conclusion in mind,
we shall be able now to distinguish in Humanity
two distinct orders of functions: those by which
she acts upon the world, and those which bind
together her component parts. Humanity cannot
herself act otherwise than by her separable
members; but the efficiency of these members
depends upon their working in co-operation,
whether instinctively or with design. We find,
then, external functions relating principally to
the material existence of this organism; and
internal functions by which its movable elements
are combined. This distinction is but an
application of the great theory, due to Bichat’s
genius, of the distinction between the life of
nutrition and the life of relation which we find in
the individual organism. Philosophically it is
the source from which we derive the great social
principle of separation of spiritual from temporal
power. The temporal power governs: it originates
in the personal instincts, and it stimulates
activity. On it depends social Order. The
spiritual power can only moderate: it is the
exponent of our social instincts, and it promotes
co-operation, which is the guarantee of Progress.
Of these functions of Humanity the first corresponds
to the function of nutrition, the second to
that of innervation in the individual organism.
Dynamical
aspects
Having now viewed our subject
statically, we may come to its dynamical
aspect; reserving more detailed discussion for
the third volume of this treatise, which deals with
my fundamental theory of human development.
The Great Being whom we worship is not immutable
any more than it is absolute. Its nature is
relative; and, as such, is eminently capable of
growth. In a word it is the most vital of all living
beings known to us. It extends and becomes more
complex by the continuous successions of generations.
But in its progressive changes as well as
in its permanent functions, it is subject to invariable
laws. And these laws considered, as we may now
consider them, as a whole, form a more sublime
object of contemplation than the solemn inaction
of the old Supreme Being, whose existence was
passive except when interrupted by acts of arbitrary
and unintelligible volition. Thus it is only
by Positive science that we can appreciate this
highest of all destinies to which all the fatalities of
individual life are subordinate. It is with this
as with subjects of minor importance: systematic
study of the Past is necessary in order to determine
the Future, and so explain the tendencies of the
Present. Let us then pass from the conception of
Humanity as fully developed, to the history of
its rise and progress; a history in which all other
modes of progress are included. In ancient times
the conception was incompatible with the theological
spirit and also with the military character
of society, which involved the slavery of the productive
classes. The feeling of Patriotism, restricted
as it was at first, was the only prelude then
possible to the recognition of Humanity. From
this narrow nationality there arose in the Middle
Ages the feeling of universal brotherhood, as soon
as military life had entered on its defensive phase,
and all supernatural creeds had spontaneously
merged into a monotheistic form common to the
whole West. The growth of Chivalry, and the
attempt made to effect a permanent separation of
the two social powers, announced already the
subordination of Politics to Morals, and thus
showed that the conception of Humanity was in
direct course of preparation. But the unreal and
anti-social nature of the mediaeval creed, and the
military and aristocratic character of feudal
society, made it impossible to go very far in this
direction. The abolition of personal slavery was
the most essential result of this important period.
Society could now assume its industrial character;
and feelings of fraternity were encouraged by modes
of life in which all classes alike participated. Meanwhile,
the growth of the Positive spirit was proceeding,
and preparing the way for the establishment
of Social Science, by which alone all other
Positive studies should be systematized. This
being done, the conception of the Great Being became
possible. It was with reference to subjects
of a speculative and scientific nature that the
conception first arose in a distinct shape. As early
as two centuries ago, Pascal spoke of the human
race as one Man.11 Amidst the inevitable decline
of the theological and military system, men became
conscious of the movement of society, which
had now advanced through so many phases; and
the notion of Progress as a distinctive feature of
Humanity became admitted. Still the conception
of Humanity as the basis for a new synthesis was
impossible until the crisis of the French Revolution.
That crisis on the one hand proved the urgent
necessity for social regeneration, and on the other
gave birth to the only philosophy capable of
effecting it. Thus our consciousness of the new
Great Being has advanced co-extensively with its
growth. Our present conception of it is as much
the measure of our social progress as it is the
summary of Positive knowledge.
Inorganic and
organic sciences
elevated
by their connexion
with
the supreme
science of Humanity
In speaking of the dignity of Science
when regenerated by this lofty application
of it, I do not refer solely to the
special science of Social phenomena,
but also to the preliminary studies of
Life and of the Inorganic World, both
of which form an essential portion of Positive
doctrine. A social mission of high importance
will be recognized in the most elementary sciences,
whether it be for the sake of their method or for
the value of their scientific results. True, the
religion of Humanity will lead to the entire abolition
of scientific Academies, because their tendency,
especially in France, is equally hurtful to
science and morality. They encourage mathematicians
to confine their attention exclusively to
the first step in the scientific scale; and biologists
to pursue their studies without any solid basis or
definite purpose. Special studies carried on without
regard for the encyclopædic principles which
determine the relative value of knowledge, and
its bearing on human life, will be condemned by all
men of right feeling and good sense. Such men
will feel the necessity of resisting the morbid
narrowness of mind and heart to which the anarchy
of our times inevitably leads. But the abolition
of the Academic system will only ensure a larger
measure of respect for all scientific researches of
real value, on whatever subject. The study of
Mathematics, the value of which is at present
negatived by its hardening tendency, will now
manifest its latent moral efficacy, as the only sure
basis for firm conviction; a state of mind that
can never be perfectly attained in more complex
subjects of thought, except by those who have
experienced it in the simpler subjects. When the
close connexion of all scientific knowledge becomes
more generally admitted, Humanity will reject
political teachers who are ignorant of Geometry,
as well as geometricians who neglect Sociology.
Biology meanwhile will lose its dangerous materialism,
and will receive all the respect due to its
close connexion with social science and its important
bearing on the essential doctrines of Positivism.
To attempt to explain the life of Humanity without
first examining the lower forms of life, would be
as serious an error as to study Biology without
regard to the social purpose which Biology is
intended to serve. Science has now become indispensable
to the establishment of moral truth, and
at the same time its subordination to the inspirations
of the heart is fully recognized; thus it takes
its place henceforward among the most essential
functions of the priesthood of Humanity. The
supremacy of true Feeling will strengthen Reason,
and will receive in turn from Reason a systematic
sanction. Natural philosophy, besides its evident
value in regulating the spontaneous action of
Humanity, has a direct tendency to elevate human
nature; it draws from the outer world that basis
of fixed truth which is so necessary to control our
various desires.
The study of Humanity therefore, directly or
indirectly, is for the future the permanent aim of
Science; and Science is now in a true sense consecrated,
as the source from which the universal
religion receives its principles. It reveals to us
not merely the nature and conditions of the Great
Being, but also its destiny and the successive
phases of its growth. The aim is high and arduous;
it requires continuous and combined exertion
of all our faculties; but it ennobles the simplest
processes of scientific investigation by connecting
them permanently with subjects of the deepest
interest. The scrupulous exactness and rigorous
caution of the Positive method, which when applied
to unimportant subjects seem almost puerile, will
be valued and insisted on when seen to be necessary
for the efficacy of efforts relating to our most
essential wants. Rationalism, in the true sense
of the word, so far from being incompatible with
right feeling, strengthens and develops it, by
placing all the facts of the case, in social questions
especially, in their true light.
The new religion
is even
more favourable
to Art
than to Science
But, however honourable the rank
which Science when regenerated will
hold in the new religion, the sanction
given to Poetry will be even more direct
and unqualified, because the function
assigned to it is one which is more practical and
which touches us more nearly. Its function will
be the praise of Humanity. All previous efforts
of Art have been but the prelude to this, its natural
mission; a prelude often impatiently performed
since Art threw off the yoke of theocracy at an
earlier period than Science. Polytheism was the
only religion under which it had free scope: there
it could idealize all the passions of our nature, no
attempt being made to conceal the similarity of the
gods to the human type. The change from Polytheism
to Monotheism was unacceptable to
Art, because it narrowed its field; but towards the
close of the Middle Ages it began to shake off the
influence of obscure and chimerical beliefs, and
take possession of its proper sphere. The field that
now lies before it in the religion of Humanity is
inexhaustible. It is called upon to idealize the
social life of Man, which, in the time of the nations
of antiquity, had not been sufficiently developed
to inspire the highest order of poetry.
Poetic portraiture
of the
new Supreme
Being, and contrast
with the
old
In the first place it will be of the
greatest service in enabling men to
realize the conception of Humanity,
subject only to the condition of not
overstepping the fundamental truths
of Science. Science unassisted cannot define the
nature and destinies of this Great Being with
sufficient clearness. In our religion the object of
worship must be conceived distinctly, in order to
be ardently loved and zealously served. Science,
especially in subjects of this nature, is confined
within narrow limits; it leaves inevitable deficiencies
which esthetic genius must supply. And there
are certain qualities in Art as opposed to Science,
which specially qualify it for the representation
of Humanity. For Humanity is distinguished
from other forms of life by the combination of
independence with co-operation, attributes which
also are natural to Poetry. For while Poetry is
more sympathetic than Science, its productions
have far more individuality; the genius of their
author is more strongly marked in them, and the
debt to his predecessors and contemporaries is
less apparent. Thus the synthesis on which the
inauguration of the final religion depends, is one
in which Art will participate more than Science,
Science furnishing merely the necessary basis. Its
influence will be even greater than in the times of
Polytheism; for powerful as Art appeared to be
in those times, it could in reality do nothing but
embellish the fables to which the confused ideas
of theocracy had given rise. By its aid we shall
for the first time rise at last to a really human point
of view, and be enabled distinctly to understand
the essential attributes of the Great Being of whom
we are members. The material power of Humanity
and the successive phases of her physical, her
intellectual, and, above all, her moral progress,
will each in turn be depicted. Without the
difficulties of analytical study, we shall gain a
clear knowledge of her nature and her conditions,
by the poet’s description of her future destiny,
of her constant struggle against painful fatalities,
which have at last become a source of happiness
and greatness, of the slow growth of her infancy,
of her lofty hopes now so near fulfilment. The
history of universal Love, the soul by which this
Great Being is animated; the history, that is, of
the marvellous advance of man, individually or
socially, from brutish appetite to pure unselfish
sympathy, is of itself an endless theme for the
poetry of the future.
Comparisons, too, may be instituted, in which
the poet, without specially attacking the old
religion, will indicate the superiority of the new.
The attributes of the new Great Being may be
forcibly illustrated, especially during the time of
transition, by contrast with the inferiority of her
various predecessors. All theological types are
absolute, indefinite, and immutable; consequently
in none of them has it been possible to combine to
a satisfactory extent the attributes of goodness,
wisdom, and power. Nor can we conceive of their
combination, except in a Being whose existence is
a matter of certainty, and who is subject to invariable
laws. The gods of Polytheism were endowed
with energy and sympathy, but possessed neither
dignity nor morality. They were superseded by
the sublime deity of Monotheism, who was sometimes
represented as inert and passionless, sometimes
as impenetrable and inflexible. But the
new Supreme Being, having a real existence, an
existence relative and modifiable, admits of being
more distinctly conceived than the old; and the
influence of the conception will be equally strong
and far more elevating. Each one of us will recognize
in it a power superior to his own, a power on
which the whole destiny of his life depends, since
the life of the individual is in every respect subordinate
to the evolution of the race. But the
knowledge of this power has not the crushing
effect of the old conception of omnipotence. For
every great or good man will feel that his own life
is an indispensable element in the great organism.
The supremacy of Humanity is but the result of
individual co-operation; her power is not supreme,
it is only superior to that of all beings whom we
know. Our love for her is tainted by no degrading
fears, yet it is always coupled with the most
sincere reverence. Perfection is in no wise claimed
for her; we study her natural defects with care
in order to remedy them as far as possible. The
love we bear to her is a feeling as noble as it is
strong; it calls for no degrading expressions of
adulation, but it inspires us with unremitting zeal
for moral improvement. But these and other
advantages of the new religion, though they can be
indicated by the philosopher, need the poet to display
them in their full light. The moral grandeur
of man when freed from the chimeras that oppress
him, was foreseen by Goethe, and still more clearly
by Byron. But the work of these men was one of
destruction; and their types could only embody
the spirit of revolt. Poetry must rise above the
negative stage in which, owing to the circumstances
of the time, their genius was arrested, and must
embrace in the Positive spirit the system of
sociological and other laws to which human
development is subject, before it can adequately
portray the new Man in his relation to the new
God.
Organization
of festivals, representing
statical
and dynamical
aspects
of humanity
There is yet another way in which
Art may serve the cause of religion;
that is, in organizing the festivals,
whether private or public, of which, to
a great extent, the worship of Humanity
will consist. For this purpose esthetic talent is
far more required than scientific, the object in
view being to reveal the nature of the great
Organism more clearly, by presenting all aspects
of its existence, static or dynamic, in idealized
forms.
These festivals, then, should be of two kinds,
corresponding to the two essential aspects of
Humanity; the first illustrating her existence,
the second her action. Thus we shall stimulate
both the elements of true social feeling; the love
of Order, namely, and the love of Progress. In
our static festivals social Order and the feeling of
Solidarity, will be illustrated; the dynamic
festivals will explain social Progress, and inspire
the sense of historical Continuity. Taken together,
their periodic recurrence will form a continuation
of Positive education. They will develop and
confirm the principles instilled in youth. But
there will be nothing didactic in their form; since
it is of the essence of Art not to instruct otherwise
than by giving pleasure. Of course the regular
recurrence of these festivals will not prevent any
modifications which may be judged necessary to
adapt them to special incidents that may from time
to time arise.
The festivals representing Order will necessarily
take more abstract and austere forms than those
of Progress. It will be their object to represent
the statical relations by which the great Organism
preserves its unity, and the various aspects of its
animating principle, Love. The most universal
and the most solemn of these festivals will be the
feast of Humanity, which will be held throughout
the West at the beginning of the new year, thus
consecrating the only custom which still remains
in general use to relieve the prosaic dullness of
modern life. In this feast, which celebrates the
most comprehensiveness of all unions, every branch
of the human race will at some future time participate.
In the same month there might be three
festivals of a secondary order, representing the
minor degrees of association, the Nation, the
Province, and the Town. Giving this first month
to the direct celebration of the social tie, we might
devote the first days of the four succeeding months
to the four principal domestic relations, Connubial,
Parental, Filial, and Fraternal. In the sixth
month, the honourable position of domestic service
would receive its due measure of respect.
These would be the static festivals; taken
together they would form a representation of the
true theory of our individual and social nature,
together with the principles of moral duty to
which that theory gives rise. No direct mention
is made of the personal instincts, notwithstanding
their preponderance, because it is the main object
of Positive worship to bring them under the control
of the social instincts. Personal virtues are by no
means neglected in Positive education; but to
make them the objects of any special celebration,
would only stimulate egotistic feeling. Indirectly
their value is recognized in every part of our religious
system, in the reaction which they exercise
upon our generous sympathies. Their omission,
therefore, implies no real deficiency in this ideal
portraiture of human faculties and duties. Again,
no special announcement of the subordination of
Humanity to the laws of the External World is
needed. The consciousness of this external power
pervades every part of the Positive system; it
controls our desires, directs our speculations,
stimulates our actions. The simple fact of the
recurrence of our ceremonies at fixed periods,
determined by the Earth’s motion, is enough to
remind us of our inevitable subjection to the
fatalities of the External World.
As the static festivals represent Morality, so the
dynamic festivals, those of Progress, will represent
History. In these the worship of Humanity
assumes a more concrete and animated form; as
it will consist principally in rendering honour to
the noblest types of each phase of human development.
It is desirable, however, that each of the
more important phases should be represented in
itself, independently of the greatness of any individual
belonging to it. Of the months unoccupied
by static festivals, three might be given to the
principal phases of the Past, Fetichism, Polytheism,
and Monotheism; and a fourth to the celebration
of the Future, the normal state to which all these
phases have been tending.
Forming thus the chain of historical succession,
we may consecrate each month to some one of the
types who best represent the various stages. I
omit, however, some explanations of detail given
in the first edition of this General View, written
at the time when I had not made the distinction
between the abstract and concrete worship sufficiently
clear. A few months after its publication,
in 1848, the circumstances of the time induced me
to frame a complete system of commemoration
applicable to Western Europe, under the title of
Positivist Calendar12. Of this I shall speak more
at length in the fourth volume of the present
treatise. Its success has fully justified me in anticipating
this part of my subject. To it I now
refer the reader, recommending him to familiarize
himself with the provisional arrangement of the
new Western year then put forward and already
adopted by most Positivists.
Worship of
the dead.
Commemoration
of their
service
But the practice need not be
restricted to names of European
importance. It is applicable in its
degree to each separate province, and
even to private life. Catholicism offers two institutions
in which the religion of the family connects
itself with public worship in its most comprehensive
sense. There is a day appointed in Catholic
countries in which all are in the habit of visiting
the tombs of those dear to them; finding consolation
for their grief by sharing it with others. To
this custom Positivists devote the last day of the
year. The working classes of Paris give every
year a noble proof that complete freedom of
thought is in no respect compatible with worship of
the dead, which in their case is unconnected with
any system. Again there is the institution of baptismal
names, which though little thought of at
present, will be maintained and improved by
Positivism. It is an admirable mode of impressing
on men the connexion of private with public
life, by furnishing every one with a type for
his own personal imitation. Here the superiority
of the new religion is very apparent;
since the choice of a name will not be limited to any
time or country. In this, as in other cases, the
absolute spirit of Catholicism proved fatal to its
prospects of becoming universal.
These brief remarks will be enough to illustrate
the two classes of festivals instituted by Positivism.
In every week of the year some new aspect
of Order or of Progress will be held up to public
veneration; and in each the link connecting public
and private worship will be found in the adoration
of Woman. In this esthetic side of Positive religion
everything tends to strengthen its fundamental
principle of Love. All the resources of Poetry,
and of the other arts of sound and form, will be
invoked to give full and regular expression to it.
The dominant feeling is always that of deep reverence
proceeding from sincere acknowledgment of
benefits received. Our worship will be alike free
from mysticism and from affectation. While
striving to surpass our ancestors, we shall yet
render due honour to all their services, and look
with respect upon their systems of life. Influenced
no longer by chimeras which though comforting to
former times are now degrading, we have now no
obstacle to becoming as far as possible incorporate
with the Great Being whom we worship. By
commemoration of past services we strengthen
the desire inherent in all of us to prolong our existence
in the only way which is really in our power.
The fact that all human affairs are subject to one
fundamental law, as soon as it becomes familiarly
known, enables and encourages each one of us to
live in a true sense in the Past and even in the
Future; as those cannot do who attribute the
events of life to the agency of an arbitrary and
impenetrable Will. The praise given to our predecessors
will stimulate a noble rivalry; inspiring
all with the desire to become themselves incorporate
into this mighty Being whose life endures
through all time, and who is formed of the dead far
more than the living. When the system of commemoration
is fully developed, no worthy co-operator
will be excluded, however humble his
sphere; whether limited to his family or town, or
extending to his country or to the whole West.
The education of Positivists will soon convince them
that such recompense for honourable conduct is
ample compensation for the imaginary hopes which
inspired their predecessors.
To live in others is, in the truest sense of the
word, life. Indeed the best part of our own life is
passed thus. As yet this truth has not been
grasped firmly, because the social point of view has
never yet been brought systematically before us.
But the religion of Humanity, by giving an esthetic
form to the Positivist synthesis, will make it
intelligible to minds of every class: and will
enable us to enjoy the untold charm springing
from the sympathies of union and of continuity
when allowed free play. To prolong our life
indefinitely in the Past and Future, so as to make
it more perfect in the Present, is abundant compensation
for the illusions of our youth which have
now passed away for ever. Science which deprived
us of these imaginary comforts, itself in its maturity
supplies the solid basis for consolation of a kind
unknown before; the hope of becoming incorporate
into the Great Being whose static and dynamic
laws it has revealed. On this firm foundation
Poetry raises the structure of public and private
worship; and thus all are made active partakers
of this universal life, which minds still fettered by
theology cannot understand. Thus imagination,
while accepting the guidance of reason, will exercise
a far more efficient and extensive influence
than in the days of Polytheism. For the priests
of Humanity the sole purpose of Science is to prepare
the field for Art, whether esthetic or industrial.
This object once attained, poetic study or composition
will form the chief occupation of our speculative
faculties. The poet is now called to his true
mission, which is to give beauty and grandeur
to human life, by inspiring a deeper sense of our
relation to Humanity. Poetry will form the basis
of the ceremonies in which the new priesthood will
solemnise more efficiently than the old, the most
important events of private life: especially Birth,
Marriage, and Death; so as to impress the family
as well as the state with the sense of this relation.
Forced as we are henceforth to concentrate all our
hopes and efforts upon the real life around us, we
shall feel more strongly than ever that all the
powers of Imagination as well as those of Reason,
Feeling, and Activity, are required in its service.
All the arts
may co-operate
in the service
of religion
Poetry once raised to its proper
place, the arts of sound and form,
which render in a more vivid way the
subjects which Poetry has suggested,
will soon follow. Their sphere, like that of Poetry,
will be the celebration of Humanity; an exhaustless
field, leaving no cause to regret the chimeras
which, in the present empirical condition of these
arts, are still considered indispensable. Music in
modern times has been limited almost entirely to
the expression of individual emotions. Its full
power has never been felt in public life, except in
the solitary instance of the Marseillaise, in which
the whole spirit of our great Revolution stands
recorded. But in the worship of Humanity, based
as it is on Positive education, and animated by
the spirit of Poetry, Music, as the most social of
the special arts, will aid in the representation of the
attributes and destinies of Humanity, and in the
glorification of great historical types. Painting
and Sculpture will have the same object; they
will enable us to realize the conception of Humanity
with greater clearness and precision than would be
possible for Poetry, even with the aid of Music.
The beautiful attempts of the artists of the sixteenth
century, men who had very little theological
belief, to embody the Christian ideal of Woman,
may be regarded as an unconscious prelude to the
representation of Humanity, in the form which of
all others is most suitable. Under the impulse of
these feelings, the sculptor will overcome the
technical difficulties of representing figures in
groups, and will adopt such subjects by preference.
Hitherto this has only been effected in bas-reliefs,
works which stand midway between painting and
sculpture. There are, however, some splendid
exceptions from which we can imagine the scope
and grandeur of the latter art, when raised to its
true position. Statuesque groups, whether the
figures are joined or, as is preferable, separate,
will enable the sculptor to undertake many great
subjects from which he has been hitherto debarred.
In Architecture the influence of Positivism will
be felt less rapidly; but ultimately this art like the
rest will be made available for the new religion.
The buildings erected for the service of God may
for a time suffice for the worship of Humanity, in
the same way that Christian worship was carried on
at first in Pagan temples as they were gradually
vacated. But ultimately buildings will be required
more specially adapted to a religion in which all
the functions connected with education and worship
are so entirely different. What these buildings
will be it would be useless at present to inquire.
It is less easy to foresee the Positivist ideal in
Architecture than in any other arts. And it must
remain uncertain until the new principles of education
have been generally spread, and until the
Positivist religion, having received all the aid that
Poetry, Music, and the arts of Form can give, has
become the accepted faith of Western Europe.
When the more advanced nations are heartily
engaged in the cause, the true temples of Humanity
will soon arise. By that time mental and moral
regeneration will have advanced far enough to
commence the reconstruction of all political institutions.
Until then the new religion will avail itself
of Christian churches as these gradually become
vacant.
Positivism is
the successor
of Christianity,
and surpasses
it
Art then, as well as Science, partakes
in the regenerating influence which
Positivism derives from its synthetic
principle of Love. Both are called to
their proper functions, the one to contemplate,
the other to glorify Humanity, in order that we
may love and serve her more perfectly. Yet while
the intellect is thus made the servant of the heart,
far from being weakened by this subordinate position,
it finds in it an exhaustless field, in which the
value of its labours is amply recognized. Each of
its faculties is called directly into play, and is
supplied with its appropriate employment. Poetry
institutes the forms of the worship of Humanity;
Science supplies the principles on which those
forms are framed, by connecting them with the
laws of the external world. Imagination, while
ceasing to usurp the place of Reason, yet enhances
rather than diminishes its original influence, which
the new philosophy shows to be as beneficial as
it is natural. And thus human life at last attains
that state of perfect harmony which has been so
long sought for in vain, and which consists in the
direction of all our faculties to one common purpose
under the supremacy of Affection. At the
same time all former efforts of Imagination and
Reason, even when they clashed with each other,
are fully appreciated; because we see that they
developed our powers, that they taught us the
conditions of their equilibrium, and made it manifest
that nothing but that equilibrium was wanting
to allow them to work together for our welfare.
Above all do we recognize the immense value of the
mediaeval attempt to form a complete synthesis,
although, notwithstanding all the results of Greek
and Roman civilization, the time was not yet ripe
for it. To renew that attempt upon a sounder
basis, and with surer prospects of success, is the
object of those who found the religion of Humanity.
Widely different as are their circumstances and
the means they employ, they desire to regard themselves
as the successors of the great men who conducted
the progressive movement of Catholicism.
For those alone are worthy to be called successors,
who continue or carry into effect the undertakings
which former times have left unfinished; the title
is utterly unmerited by blind followers of obsolete
dogmas, which have long ceased to bear any relation
to their original purpose, and which their very
authors, if now living, would disavow.
But while bearing in mind our debt to Catholicism,
we need not omit to recognize how largely
Positivism gains by comparison with it. Full
justice will be done to the aims of Catholicism, and
to the excellence of its results. But the whole
effect of Positivist worship will be to make men
feel clearly how far superior in every respect is the
synthesis founded on the Love of Humanity to
that founded on the Love of God.
Christianity satisfied no part of our nature fully,
except the affections. It rejected Imagination,
it shrank from Reason; and therefore its power
was always contested, and could not last. Even
in its own sphere of affection, its principles never
lent themselves to that social direction which the
Catholic priesthood, with such remarkable persistency,
endeavoured to give to them. The aim
which it set before men, being unreal and personal,
was ill-suited to a life of reality and of social
sympathy. It is true that the universality of this
supreme affection was indirectly a bond of union;
but only when it was not at variance with true
social feeling. And from the nature of the system,
opposition between these two principles was the
rule, and harmony the exception; since the Love
of God, even as viewed by the best Catholic types,
required in almost all cases the abandonment of
every other passion. The moral value of such a
synthesis consisted solely in the discipline which
it established; discipline of whatever kind being
preferable to anarchy, which would have given
free scope to all the lowest propensities. But notwithstanding
all the tender feeling of the best
mystics, the affection which to them was supreme
admitted of no real reciprocity. Moreover, the
stupendous nature of the rewards and penalties
by which every precept in this arbitrary system
was enforced, tended to weaken the character and
to taint our noblest impulses. The essential merit
of the system was that it was the first attempt to
exercise systematic control over our moral nature.
The discipline of Polytheism was usually confined
to actions: sometimes it extended to habits;
but it never touched the affections from which
both habits and actions spring. Christianity took
the best means of effecting its purpose that were
then available; but it was not successful, except
so far as it gave indirect encouragement to our
higher feelings. And so vague and absolute were
its principles, that even this would have been
impossible, but for the wisdom of the priesthood,
who for a long time saved society from the dangers
incident to so arbitrary a system. But at the close
of the Middle Ages, when the priesthood became
retrograde, and lost at once their morality and
their freedom, the doctrine was left to its own
impotence, and rapidly degenerated till it became
a chronic source of degradation and of discord.
But the synthesis based upon Love of Humanity
has too deep a foundation in Positive truth to be
liable to similar decline; and its influence cannot
but increase so long as the progress of our race
endures. The Great Being, who is its object,
tolerates the most searching inquiry, and yet does
not restrict the scope of Imagination. The laws
which regulate her existence are now known to us;
and the more deeply her nature is investigated, the
stronger is our consciousness of her reality and of
the greatness of her benefits. The thought of her
stimulates all the powers of Imagination, and
thus enables us to participate in a measure in the
universality of her life, throughout the whole
extent of Time and Space of which we have any
real knowledge. All our real intellectual results,
whether in art or science, are alike co-ordinated by
the religion of Humanity; for it furnishes the
sole bond of connexion by which permanent harmony
can be established between our thoughts and our
feelings. It is the only system which without
artifice and without arbitrary restriction, can
establish the preponderance of Affection over
Thought and Action. It sets forth social feeling
as the first principle of morality; without ignoring
the natural superiority in strength of the personal
instincts. To live for others it holds to be the
highest happiness. To become incorporate with
Humanity, to sympathize with all her former
phases, to foresee her destinies in the future, and
to do what lies in us to forward them; this is what
it puts before us as the constant aim of life. Self-love
in the Positive system is regarded as the great
infirmity of our nature: an infirmity which unremitting
discipline on the part of each individual
and of society may materially palliate, but will
never radically cure. The degree to which this
mastery over our own nature is attained is the
truest standard of individual or social progress,
since it has the closest relation to the existence of
the Great Being, and to the happiness of the elements
that compose it.
Inspired as it is by sincere gratitude, which
increases the more carefully the grounds for it are
examined, the worship of Humanity raises Prayer
for the first time above the degrading influence of
self-interest. We pray to the Supreme Being;
but only to express our deep thankfulness for her
present and past benefits, which are an earnest of
still greater blessings in the future. Doubtless it
is a fact of human nature, that habitual expression
of such feelings reacts beneficially on our moral
nature; and so far we, too, find in Prayer a noble
recompense. But it is one that can suggest to us
no selfish thoughts, since it cannot come at all
unless it come spontaneously. Our highest happiness
consists in Love; and we know that more
than any other feeling love may be strengthened
by exercise; that alone of all feelings it admits of,
and increases with, simultaneous expansion in all.
Humanity will become more familiar to us than
the old gods were to the Polytheists, yet without
the loss of dignity which, in their case, resulted
from familiarity. Her nature has in it nothing
arbitrary, yet she co-operates with us in the worship
that we render, since in honouring her we receive
back ‘grace for grace’. Homage accepted by
the Deity of former times laid him open to the
charge of puerile vanity. But the new Deity
will accept praise only where it is deserved, and
will derive from it equal benefit with ourselves.
This perfect reciprocity of affection and of influence
is peculiar to Positive religion, because in it alone
the object of worship is a Being whose nature is
relative, modifiable, and perfectible; a Being of
whom her own worshippers form a part, and the
laws of whose existence, being more clearly known
than theirs, allow her desires and her tendencies
to be more distinctly foreseen.
Superiority
of Positive morality
The morality of Positive religion
combines all the advantages of spontaneousness
with those of demonstration.
It is so thoroughly human in all its parts,
as to preclude all the subterfuges by which repentance
for transgression is so often stifled or evaded.
By pointing out distinctly the way in which each
individual action reacts upon society, it forces us
to judge our own conduct without lowering our
standard. Some might think it too gentle, and
not sufficiently vigorous; yet the love by which
it is inspired is no passive feeling, but a principle
which strongly stimulates our energies to the full
extent compatible with the attainment of that
highest good to which it is ever tending. Accepting
the truths of science, it teaches that we must
look to our own unremitting activity for the only
providence by which the rigour of our destiny can
be alleviated. We know well that the great
Organism, superior though it be to all beings
known to us, is yet under the dominion of inscrutable
laws, and is in no respect either absolutely
perfect or absolutely secure from danger. Every
condition of our existence, whether those of the
external world or those of our own nature, might
at some time be compromised. Even our moral
and intellectual faculties, on which our highest interests
depend, are no exception to this truth.
Such contingencies are always possible, and yet
they are not to prevent us from living nobly; they
must not lessen our love, our thought, or our efforts
for Humanity; they must not overwhelm us with
anxiety, nor urge us to useless complaint. But the
very principles which demand this high standard
of courage and resignation, are themselves well
calculated to maintain it. For by making us fully
conscious of the greatness of man, and by setting
us free from the degrading influences of fear, they
inspire us with keen interest in our efforts, inadequate
though they be, against the pressure of
fatalities which are not always beyond our power
to modify. And thus the reaction of these fatalities
upon our character is turned at last to a most
beneficial use. It prevents alike overweening
anxiety for our own interests and dull indifference
to them; whereas, in theological and metaphysical
systems, even when inculcating self-denial, there is
always a dangerous tendency to concentrate thought
on personal considerations. Dignified reaction
where modification of them is possible; such is the
moral standard which Positivism puts forward for
individuals and for society.
Catholicism, notwithstanding the radical defects
of its doctrine, has unconsciously been influenced
by the modern spirit; and at the close of the Middle
Ages was tending in a direction similar to that here
described, although its principles were inconsistent
with any formal recognition of it. It is only in
the countries that have been preserved from Protestantism
that any traces are left of these faint efforts
of the priesthood to rise above their own theories.
The Catholic God would gradually change into a
feeble and imperfect representation of Humanity,
were not the clergy so degraded socially as to be
unable to participate in the spontaneous feelings
of the community. It is a tendency too slightly
marked to lead to any important result; yet it is
a striking proof of the new direction which men’s
minds and hearts are unconsciously taking in
countries which are often supposed to be altogether
left behind in the march of modern thought. The
clearest indication of it is in their acceptance of the
worship of Woman, which is the first step towards
the worship of Humanity. Since the twelfth century,
the influence of the Virgin, especially in Spain
and Italy, has been constantly on the increase.
The priesthood have often protested against it,
but without effect; and sometimes they have
found it necessary to sanction it, for the sake of
preserving their authority. The special and privileged
adoration which this beautiful creation of
Poetry has received, could not but produce a
marked change in the spirit of Catholicism. It
may serve as a connecting link between the religion
of our ancestors and that of our descendants, the
Virgin becoming gradually regarded as a personification
of Humanity. Little, however, will be
done in this direction by the established priesthood,
whether in Italy or Spain. We must look to the
purer agency of women, who will be the means of
introducing Positivism among our Southern
brethren.
All the points, then, in which the morality of
Positive science excels the morality of revealed
religion are summed up in the substitution of Love
of Humanity for Love of God. It is a principle as
adverse to metaphysics as to theology, since it
excludes all personal considerations, and places
happiness, whether for the individual or for society,
in constant exercise of kindly feeling. To love
Humanity may be truly said to constitute the
whole duty of Man; provided it be clearly understood
what such love really implies, and what are
the conditions required for maintaining it. The
victory of Social Feeling over our innate Self-love
is rendered possible only by a slow and difficult
training of the heart, in which the intellect must
co-operate. The most important part of this
training consists in the mutual love of Man and
Woman, with all other family affections which precede
and follow it. But every aspect of morality,
even the personal virtues, are included in love of
Humanity. It furnishes the best measure of their
relative importance, and the surest method for laying
down incontestable rules of conduct. And thus
we find the principles of systematic morality to be
identical with those of spontaneous morality, a
result which renders Positive doctrine equally
accessible to all.
Rise of the
new Spiritual
power
Science, therefore, Poetry, and Morality,
will alike be regenerated by
the new religion, and will ultimately
form one harmonious whole, on which the destinies
of Man will henceforth rest. With women, to
whom the first germs of spiritual power are due,
this consecration of the rational and imaginative
faculties to the source of feeling has always existed
spontaneously. But to realize it in social life it
must be brought forward in a systematic form as
part of a general doctrine. This is what the
mediaeval system attempted upon the basis of
Monotheism. A moral power arose composed of
the two elements essential to such a power, the
sympathetic influence of women in the family, the
systematic influence of the priesthood on public
life. As a preliminary attempt the Catholic system
was most beneficial; but it could not last, because
the synthesis on which it rested was imperfect and
unstable. The Catholic doctrine and worship
addressed themselves exclusively to our emotional
nature, and even from the moral point of view their
principles were uncertain and arbitrary. The
field of intellect, whether in art or science, as well
as that of practical life, would have been left almost
untouched but for the personal character of the
priests. But with the loss of their political independence,
which had been always in danger from
the military tendencies of the time, the priesthood
rapidly degenerated. The system was in fact
premature; and even before the industrial era of
modern times had set in, the esthetic and metaphysical
growth of the times had already gone too
far for its feeble power of control; and it then
became as hostile to progress as it had formerly been
favourable to it. Moral qualities without intellectual
superiority are not enough for a true spiritual
power; they will not enable it to modify to any
appreciable extent the strong preponderance of
material considerations. Consequently it is the
primary condition of social reorganization to put
an end to the state of utter revolt which the intellect
maintains against the heart; a state which has
existed ever since the close of the Middle Ages
and the source of which may be traced as far back
as the Greek Metaphysicians. Positivism has at
last overcome the immense difficulties of this task.
Its solution consists in the foundation of social
science on the basis of the preliminary sciences, so
that at last there is unity of method in our conceptions.
Our active faculties have always been
guided by the Positive spirit: and by its extension
to the sphere of Feeling, a complete synthesis, alike
spontaneous and systematic in its nature, is constructed;
and every part of our nature is brought
under the regenerating influence of the worship
of Humanity. Thus a new spiritual power will
arise, complete and homogeneous in structure,
coherent and at the same time progressive; and
better calculated than Catholicism to engage the
support of women which is so necessary to its
efficient action on society.
Temporal
power will always
be necessary,
but its
action will be
modified by
the spiritual
Were it not for the material necessities
of human life, nothing further
would be required for its guidance
than a spiritual power such as is here
described. We should have in that
case no need for any laborious exertion;
and universal benevolence would be looked
upon as the sovereign good, and would become the
direct object of all our efforts. All that would be
necessary would be to call our reasoning powers,
and still more, our imagination into play, in order
to keep this object constantly in view. Purely
fictitious as such an hypothesis may be, it is yet an
ideal limit, to which our actual life should be more
and more nearly approximated. As an Utopia, it
is a fit subject for the poet: and in his hands it
will supply the new religion with resources far
superior to any that Christianity derived from
vague and unreal pictures of future bliss. In it
we may carry out a more perfect social classification,
in which men may be ranked by moral and
intellectual merit, irrespectively of wealth or position.
For the only standard by which in such a
state men could be tried would be their capacity
to love and to please Humanity.
Such a standard will of course never be practically
accepted, and indeed the classification in question
would be impossible to effect: yet it should always
be present to our minds; and should be contrasted
dispassionately with the actual arrangements of
social rank, with which power, even where accidentally
acquired, has more to do than worth. The
priests of Humanity with the assistance of women
will avail themselves largely of this contrast in
modifying the existing order. Positivist education
will fully explain its moral validity, and in
our religious services appeal will frequently be
made to it. Although an ideal abstraction, yet
being based on reality, except so far as the necessities
of daily life are concerned, it will be far more
efficacious than the vague and uncertain classification
founded on the theological doctrine of a
future state. When society learns to admit no
other Providence than its own, it will go so far in
adopting this ideal classification as to produce a
strong effect on the classes who are the best aware
of its impracticability. But those who press this
contrast must be careful always to respect the
natural laws which regulate the distribution of
wealth and rank. They have a definite social
function, and that function is not to be destroyed,
but to be improved and regulated. In order,
therefore, to reconcile these conditions, we must
limit our ideal classification to individuals, leaving
the actual subordination of office and position
unaffected. Well-marked personal superiority is
not very common; and society would be wasting
its powers in useless and interminable controversy
if it undertook to give each function to its best
organ, thus dispossessing the former functionary
without taking into account the conditions of
practical experience. Even in the spiritual hierarchy,
where it is easier to judge of merit, such a
course would be utterly subversive of discipline.
But there would be no political danger, and morally
there would be great advantage, in pointing out
all remarkable cases which illustrate the difference
between the order of rank and the order of merit.
Respect may be shown to be noblest without compromising
the authority of the strongest. St
Bernard was esteemed more highly than any of the
Popes of his time; yet he remained in the humble
position of an abbot, and never failed to show the
most perfect deference for the higher functionaries
of the Church. A still more striking example was
furnished by St Paul in recognizing the official
superiority of St Peter, of whose moral and mental
inferiority to himself he must have been well
aware. All organized corporations, civil or military,
can show instances on a less important scale
where the abstract order of merit has been adopted
consistently with the concrete order of rank.
Where this is the case the two may be contrasted
without any subversive consequences. The contrast
will be morally beneficial to all classes, at the
same time that it proves the imperfection to
which so complicated an organism as human society
must be ever liable.
Thus the religion of Humanity creates an intellectual
and moral power, which, could human
life be freed from the pressure of material wants,
would suffice for its guidance. Imperfect as our
nature assuredly is, yet social sympathy has an
intrinsic charm which would make it paramount,
but for the imperious necessities by which the
instincts of self-preservation are stimulated. So
urgent are they, that the greater part of life is
necessarily occupied with actions of a self-regarding
kind, before which Reason, Imagination, and
even Feeling, have to give way. Consequently
this moral power, which seems so well adapted for
the direction of society, must only attempt to act
as a modifying influence. Its sympathetic element,
in other words, women, accept this necessity without
difficulty; for true affection always takes the
right course of action, as soon as it is clearly
indicated. But the intellect is far more unwilling
to take a subordinate position. Its rash ambition
is far more unsettling to the world than the ambition
of rank and wealth, against which it so often
inveighs. It is the hardest of social problems to
regulate the exercise of the intellectual powers,
while securing them their due measure of influence;
the object being that theoretical power should be
able really to modify, and yet should never be permitted
to govern. For the nations of antiquity
this problem was insoluble; with them the intellect
was always either a tyrant or a slave. The
solution was attempted in the Middle Ages; but
without success, owing to the military and theological
character of the times. Positivism relies
for solving it on the reality which is one of its
principal features, and on the fact that Society
has now entered on its industrial phase. Based
on accurate inquiry into the past and future
destinies of man, its aim is so to regenerate our
political action, as to transform it ultimately into
a practical worship of Humanity; Morality being
the worship rendered by the affections, Science
and Poetry that rendered by the intellect. Such
is the principal mission of the Occidental priesthood,
a mission in which women and the working
classes will actively co-operate.
Substitution
of duties for
rights
The most important object of this
regenerated polity will be the substitution
of Duties for Rights; thus
subordinating personal to social considerations.
The word Right should be excluded from political
language, as the word Cause from the language of
philosophy. Both are theological and metaphysical
conceptions; and the former is as immoral and
subversive as the latter is unmeaning and sophistical.
Both are alike incompatible with the final
state; and their value during the revolutionary
period of modern history has simply consisted in
their solvent action upon previous systems.
Rights, in the strict sense of the word, are possible
only so long as power is considered as emanating
from a superhuman will. Rights, under all theological
systems, were divine; but in their opposition
to theocracy, the metaphysicians of the last
five centuries introduced what they called the
rights of Man; a conception, the value of which
consisted simply in its destructive effects. Whenever
it has been taken as the basis of a constructive
policy, its anti-social character, and its tendency
to strengthen individualism have always been
apparent. In the Positive state, where no supernatural
claims are admissible, the idea of Right
will entirely disappear. Every one has duties,
duties towards all; but rights in the ordinary
sense can be claimed by none. Whatever security
the individual may require is found in the general
acknowledgment of reciprocal obligations; and
this gives a moral equivalent for rights as hitherto
claimed, without the serious political dangers
which they involved. In other words, no one has
in any case any Right but that of doing his Duty.
The adoption of this principle is the one way of
realizing the grand ideal of the Middle Ages, the
subordination of Politics to Morals. In those
times, however, the vast bearings of the question
were but very imperfectly apprehended; its solution
is incompatible with every form of theology,
and is only to be found in Positivism.
The solution consists in regarding our political
and social action as the service of Humanity. Its
object should be to assist by conscious effort all
functions, whether relating to Order or to Progress,
which Humanity has hitherto performed spontaneously.
This is the ultimate object of Positive
religion. Without it all other aspects of that
religion would be inadequate, and would soon
cease to have any value. True affection does not
stop short at desire for good; it strains every
effort to attain it. The elevation of soul arising
from the act of contemplating and adoring Humanity
is not the sole object of religious worship. Above
and beyond this there is the motive of becoming
better able to serve Humanity; unceasing action
on our part being necessary for her preservation
and development. This indeed is the most distinctive
feature of Positive religion. The Supreme
Being of former times had really little need of
human services. The consequence was, that with
all theological believers, and with monotheists
especially, devotion always tended to degenerate
into quietism. The danger could only be obviated
when the priesthood had sufficient wisdom to take
advantage of the vagueness of these theories, and
to draw from them motives for practical exertion.
Nothing could be done in this direction unless
the priesthood retained their social independence.
As soon as this was taken from them by the usurpation
of the temporal power, the more sincere
amongst Catholics lapsed into the quietistic spirit
which for a long time had been kept in check. In
Positivism, on the contrary, the doctrine itself, irrespective
of the character of its teachers, is a direct
and continuous incentive to exertion of every kind.
The reason for this is to be found in the relative
and dependent nature of our Supreme Being, of
whom her own worshippers form a part.
Consensus of
the social organism
In this, which is the essential service
of Humanity, and which infuses a
religious spirit into every act of life,
the feature most prominent is co-operation of
effort; co-operation on so vast a scale that less
complicated organisms have nothing to compare
with it. The consensus of the social organism
extends to Time as well as Space. Hence the two
distinct aspects of social sympathy: the feeling
of Solidarity, or union with the Present; and of
Continuity, or union with the Past. Careful
investigation of any social phenomenon, whether
relating to Order or to Progress, always proves
convergence, direct or indirect, of all contemporaries
and of all former generations, within certain
geographical and chronological limits; and those
limits recede as the development of Humanity
advances. In our thoughts and feelings such
convergence is unquestionable; and it should be
still more evident in our actions, the efficacy of
which depends on co-operations to a still greater
degree. Here we feel how false as well as immoral
is the notion of Right, a word which, as commonly
used, implies absolute individuality. The only
principle on which Politics can be subordinated
to Morals is, that individuals should be regarded,
not as so many distinct beings, but as organs of
one Supreme Being. Indeed, in all settled states
of society, the individual has always been considered
as a public functionary, filling more or less
efficiently a definite post, whether formally
appointed to it or not. So fundamental a principle
has ever been recognized instinctively up to the
period of revolutionary transition, which is now
at length coming to an end; a period in which the
obstructive and corrupt character of organized
society roused a spirit of anarchy which, though
at first favourable to progress, has now become an
obstacle to it. Positivism, however, will place
this principle beyond reach of attack, by giving a
systematic demonstration of it, based on the sum
of our scientific knowledge.
Continuity of
the past with
the present
And this demonstration will be the
intellectual basis on which the moral
authority of the new priesthood will
rest. What they have to do is to show the dependence
of each important question, as it arises, upon
social co-operation, and by this means to indicate
the right path of duty. For this purpose all their
scientific knowledge and esthetic power will be
needed, otherwise social feeling could never be
developed sufficiently to produce any strong effect
upon conduct. It would never, that is, go further
than the feelings of mere solidarity with the
Present, which is only its incipient and rudimentary
form. We see this unfortunate narrowness of
view too often in the best socialists, who, leaving
the present without roots in the past, would carry
us headlong towards a future of which they have
no definite conception. In all social phenomena,
and especially in those of modern times, the participation
of our predecessors is greater than that
of our contemporaries. This truth is especially
apparent in industrial undertakings, for which the
combination of efforts required is so vast. It is our
filiation with the Past, even more than our connexion
with the Present, which teaches us that
the only real life is the collective life of the race;
that individual life has no existence except as an
abstraction. Continuity is the feature which distinguishes
our race from all others. Many of the
lower races are able to form a union among their
living members; but it was reserved for Man to
conceive and realize co-operation of successive
generations, the source to which the gradual growth
of civilization is to be traced. Social sympathy
is a barren and imperfect feeling, and indeed it is a
cause of disturbance, so long as it extends no
further than the present time. It is a disregard for
historical Continuity which induces that mistaken
antipathy to all forms of inheritance which is now
so common. Scientific study of history would
soon convince those of our socialist writers who are
sincere of their radical error in this respect. If
they were more familiar with the collective inheritance
of society, the value of which no one can seriously
dispute, they would feel less objection to
inheritance in its application to individuals or
families. Practical experience, moreover, bringing
them into contact with the facts of the case, will
gradually show them that without the sense of
continuity with the Past they cannot really understand
their solidarity with the Present. For, in
the first place, each individual in the course of his
growth passes spontaneously through phases corresponding
in a great measure to those of our historical
development; and therefore, without some
knowledge of the history of society, he cannot
understand the history of his own life. Again,
each of these successive phases may be found
amongst the less advanced nations who do not as
yet share in the general progress of Humanity;
so that we cannot properly sympathize with these
nations, if we ignore the successive stages of
development in Western Europe. The nobler
socialists and communists, those especially who
belong to the working classes, will soon be alive
to the error and danger of these inconsistencies,
and will supply this deficiency in their education,
which at present vitiates their efforts. With
women, the purest and most spontaneous element
of the moderating power, the priests of Humanity
will find it less difficult to introduce the broad
principles of historical science. They are more
inclined than any other class to recognize our
continuity with the Past, being themselves its
original source.
Necessity of
a spiritual
power to study
and teach these
truths, and
thus to govern
men by persuasion,
instead of
by compulsion
Without a scientific basis, therefore,
a basis which must itself rest on the
whole sum of Positive speculation, it
is impossible for our social sympathies
to develop themselves fully, so as to
extend not to the Present only, but
also and still more strongly to the
Past. And this is the first motive, a motive
founded alike on moral and on intellectual considerations,
for the separation of temporal from
spiritual power in the final organization of society.
The more vigorously we concentrate our efforts
upon social progress, the more clearly shall we feel
the impossibility of modifying social phenomena
without knowledge of the laws that regulate them.
This involves the existence of an intellectual class
specially devoted to the study of social phenomena.
Such a class will be invested with the consultative
authority for which their knowledge qualifies them,
and also with the function of teaching necessary for
the diffusion of their principles. In the minor
arts of life it is generally recognized that principles
should be investigated and taught by thinkers who
are not concerned in applying them. In the art
of Social Life, so far more difficult and important
than any other, the separation of theory from
practice is of far greater moment. The wisdom
of such a course is obvious, and all opposition to
it will be overcome, as soon as it becomes generally
recognized that social phenomena are subject to
invariable laws; laws of so complicated a character
and so dependent upon other sciences as to
make it doubly necessary that minds of the highest
order should be specially devoted to their interpretation.
But there is another aspect of the question of
not less importance in sound polity. Separation
of temporal from spiritual power is as necessary
for free individual activity as for social co-operation.
Humanity is characterized by the independence
as well as by the convergence of the
individuals or families of which she is composed.
The latter condition, convergence, is that which
secures Order; but the former is no less essential
to Progress. Both are alike urgent: yet in
ancient times they were incompatible, for the
reason that spiritual and temporal power were
always in the same hands; in the hands of the
priests in some cases, at other times in those of the
military chief. As long as the State held together,
the independence of the individual was habitually
sacrificed to the convergence of the body politic.
This explains why the conception of Progress
never arose, even in the minds of the most visionary
schemers. The two conditions were irreconcilable
until the Middle Ages, when a remarkable attempt
was made to separate the modifying power from
the governing power, and so to make Politics
subordinate to Morals. Co-operation of efforts
was now placed on a different footing. It was the
result of free assent rendered by the heart and
understanding to a religious system which laid
down general rules of conduct, in which nothing
was arbitrary, and which were applied to governors
as strictly as to their subjects. The consequence
was that Catholicism, notwithstanding its extreme
defects intellectually and socially, produced moral
and political results of very great value. Chivalry
arose, a type of life, in which the most vigorous
independence was combined with the most intense
devotion to a common cause. Every class in
Western Society was elevated by this union of
personal dignity with universal brotherhood. So
well is human nature adapted for this combination,
that it arose under the first religious system of
which the principles were not incompatible with
it. With the necessary decay of that religion, it
became seriously impaired, but yet was preserved
instinctively, especially in countries untouched by
Protestantism. By it the mediaeval system prepared
the way for the conception of Humanity;
since it put an end to the fatal opposition in which
the two characteristic attributes of Humanity,
independence and co-operation, had hitherto
existed. Catholicism brought unity into theological
religion, and by doing so, led to its decline;
but it paved the way long beforehand for the
more complete and more real principle of unity on
which human society will be finally organized.
But meritorious and useful as this premature
attempt was, it was no real solution of the problem.
The spirit and temper of the period were not ripe
for any definite solution. Theological belief and
military life were alike inconsistent with any permanent
separation of theoretical and practical
powers. It was maintained only for a few centuries
precariously and inadequately, by a sort of
natural balance or rather oscillation between
imperialism and theocracy. But the positive
spirit and the industrial character of modern times
tend naturally to this division of power; and
when it is consciously recognized as a principle,
the difficulty of reconciling co-operation with
independence will exist no longer. For in the
first place, the rules to which human conduct will
be subjected, will rest, as in Catholic times, but to
a still higher degree, upon persuasion and conviction,
instead of compulsion. Again, the fact of
the new faith being always susceptible of demonstration,
renders the spiritual system based on it
more elevating as well as more durable. The rules
of Catholic morality were only saved from being
arbitrary by the introduction of a supernatural
Will as a substitute for mere human authority.
The plan had undoubtedly many advantages;
but liberty in the true sense was not secured by it,
since the rules remained as before without explanation;
it was only their source that was changed.
Still less successful was the subsequent attempt
of metaphysicians to prove that submission to
government was the foundation of virtue. It was
only a return to the old system of arbitrary wills,
stripped of the theocratic sanction to which all its
claims to respect and its freedom from caprice
had been due. The only way to reconcile independence
with social union, and thereby to reach
true liberty, lies in obedience to the objective laws
of the world and of human nature; clearing these
as far as possible of all that is subjective, and thus
rendering them amenable to scientific demonstration.
Of such immense consequence to society
will it be to extend the scientific method to the
complex and important phenomena of human
nature. Man will no longer be the slave of man;
he yields only to external Law; and to this those
who demonstrate it to him are as submissive as
himself. In such obedience there can be no
degradation even where the laws are inflexible.
But, as Positivism shows us, in most cases they
are modifiable, and this especially in the case of
our mental and moral constitution. Consequently
our obedience is here no longer passive obedience:
it implies the devotion of every faculty of our
nature to the improvement of a world of which we
are in a true sense masters. The natural laws to
which we owe submission furnish the basis for our
intervention; they direct our efforts and give
stability to our purpose. The more perfectly they
are known, the more free will our conduct become
from arbitrary command or servile obedience.
True, our knowledge of these laws will very seldom
attain such precision as to enable us to do altogether
without compulsory authority. When the
intellect is inadequate, the heart must take its
place. There are certain rules of life for which it
is difficult to assign the exact ground, and where
affection must assist reason in supplying motives
for obedience. Wholly to dispense with arbitrary
authority is impossible; nor will it degrade us
to submit to it, provided that it be always regarded
as secondary to the uniform supremacy of external
Laws, and that every step in the development of
our mental and moral powers shall restrict its
employment. Both conditions are evidently
satisfied in the Positive system of life. The tendency
of modern industry and science is to make
us less dependent on individual caprice, as well as
more assimilable to the universal Organism.
Positivism therefore secures the liberty and dignity
of man by its demonstration that social phenomena,
like all others, are subject to natural laws, which,
within certain limits, are modifiable by wise action
on the part of society. Totally contrary, on the
other hand, is the spirit of metaphysical schemes
of polity, in which society is supposed to have no
spontaneous impulses, and is handed over to the
will of the legislator. In these degrading and
oppressive schemes, union is purchased, as in
ancient times, at the cost of independence.
In these two ways, then, Positive religion influences
the practical life of Humanity, in accordance
with the natural laws that regulate her existence.
First, the sense of Solidarity with the Present is
perfected by adding to it the sense of Continuity
with the Past; secondly, the co-operation of her
individual agents is rendered compatible with their
independence. Not till this is done can Politics
become really subordinate to Morals, and the
feeling of Duty be substituted for that of Right.
Our active powers will be modified by the combined
influence of feeling and reason, as expressed in
indisputable rules which it will be for the spiritual
power to make known to us. Temporal government,
whoever its administrators may be, will
always be modified by morality. Whereas in all
metaphysical systems of polity nothing is provided
for but the modes of access to government and the
limits of its various departments; no principles
are given to direct its application or to enable us
to form a right judgment of it.
Nutritive
functions of
Humanity, performed
by Capitalists,
as the
temporal
power
From this general view of the
practical service of Humanity, we
pass now to the two leading divisions
of the subject; with the view of
completing our conception of the
fundamental principle of Positive
Polity, the separation of temporal
from spiritual power.
The action of Humanity relates either to her
external circumstances, or to the facts of her own
nature. Each of these two great functions involves
both Order and Progress; but the first
relates more specially to the preservation of her
existence, the second to her progressive development.
Humanity, like every other organism, has
to act unceasingly on the surrounding world in
order to maintain and extend her material existence.
Thus the chief object of her practical life is to satisfy
the wants of our physical nature, wants which necessitate
continual reproduction of materials in sufficient
quantities. This production soon comes to depend
more on the co-operation of successive generations
than on that of contemporaries. Even in these
lower but indispensable functions, we work principally
for our successors, and the results that we
enjoy are in great part due to those that have gone
before us. Each generation produces more material
wealth than is required for its own wants; and
the use of the surplus is to facilitate the labour
and prepare the maintenance of the generation
following. The agents in this transmission of
wealth naturally take the lead in the industrial
movement; since the possession of provisions and
instruments of production gives an advantage
which can only be lost by unusual incapacity.
And this will seldom happen, because capital
naturally tends to accumulate with those who
make a cautious and skilful use of it.
Capitalists then will be the temporal chiefs of
modern society. Their office is consecrated in
Positive religion as that of the nutritive organs of
Humanity; organs which collect and prepare the
materials necessary for life, and which also distribute
them, subject always to the influence of a
modifying central organ. The direct and palpable
importance of their functions is a stimulus to
pride; and in every respect they are strongly influenced
by personal instincts, which are necessary
to sustain the vigour of their energies. Consequently,
if left to themselves, they are apt to abuse
their power, and to govern by the ignoble method
of compulsion, disregarding all appeals to reason
and to morality. Hence the need of a combination
of moral forces to exercise a constant check upon
the hardness with which they are so apt to use
their authority. And this leads us to the second
of the two great functions of Humanity.
These are
modified by
the cerebral
functions, performed
by the
spiritual
power
This function is analogous to that
of Innervation in individuals. Its
object is the advancement of Humanity,
whether in physical or still more
in intellectual and moral aspects. It
might seem at first sight restricted, as
in lower organisms, to the secondary office of assisting
the nutritive function. Soon, however, it
develops qualities peculiar to itself, qualities on
which our highest happiness depends. And thus
we might imagine that life was to be entirely given
up to the free play of reason, imagination, and
feeling, were we not constantly forced back by the
necessities of our physical nature to less delightful
occupations. Therefore this intellectual and moral
function, notwithstanding its eminence, can never
be supreme in our nature; yet independently of
its intrinsic charm, it forms our principal means,
whether used consciously or otherwise, in controlling
the somewhat blind action of the nutritive
organs. It is in women, whose function is analogous
to that of the affective organs in the individual
brain, that we find this modifying influence in its
purest and most spontaneous form. But the full
value of their influence is not realized until they
act in combination with the philosophic class;
which, though its direct energy is small, is as
indispensable to the collective Organism as the
speculative functions of the brain are to the individual.
Besides these two essential elements of
moral power, we find, when Humanity reaches her
maturity, a third element which completes the
constitution of this power and furnishes a basis
for its political action. This third element is the
working class, whose influence may be regarded
as the active function in the innervation of the
social Organism.
It is indeed to the working class that we look for
the only possible solution of the great human problem,
the victory of Social feeling over Self-love. Their
want of leisure, and their poverty, excludes them
from political power; and yet wealth, which is
the basis of that power, cannot be produced without
them. They are allied to the spiritual power by
the similarity of their tastes and of their circumstances.
Moreover, they look to it for systematic
education, of the importance of which not merely
to their happiness, but to their dignity and moral
culture, they are deeply conscious. The nature
of their occupations, though absorbing so large a
portion of their time, yet leaves the mind for the
most part free. Finding little in the specialities
of their work to interest them, they are the more
inclined to rise to general principles, provided
always that such principles combine utility with
reality. Being less occupied than other classes
with considerations of rank and wealth, they are
the more disposed to give free play to generous
feelings, the value and the charm of which is more
strongly impressed on them by their experience
of life. As their strength lies in numbers, they
have a greater tendency to union than capitalists,
who, having in their own hands a power which
they are apt to suppose resistless, have no such
motive for association. They will give their
energetic support to the priesthood in its efforts
to control the abuse of the power of wealth, and
in every respect they are prepared to accept and
enforce its moral influence. Being at once special
and general, practical and speculative, and at the
same time always animated by strong sympathies,
they form an intermediate link between the
practical and theoretical powers; connected with
the one by the need of education and counsel, and
with the other by the necessities of labour and
subsistence. The people represent the activity
of the Supreme Being, as women represent its
sympathy, and philosophers its intellect.
But in the organized action of these three organs
of innervation upon the organs of social nutrition,
it must be borne in mind that the latter are not
to be impeded in their functions. The control
exercised is to be of a kind that will ennoble them
by setting their importance in its true light. True,
we are not to encourage the foolish and immoral
pride of modern capitalists, who look upon themselves
as the creators and sole arbiters of their
material power, the foundations of which are in
reality due to the combined action of their predecessors
and contemporaries. They ought to be
regarded simply as public functionaries, responsible
for the administration of capital and the direction
of industrial enterprise. But at the same time
we must be careful not to underrate the immense
value of their function, or in any way obstruct its
performance. All this follows at once from the
policy of Separation of Powers. The responsibility
under which it is here proposed to place capitalists
is purely moral, whereas metaphysicians of the
revolutionary school have always been in favour
of political coercion. In cases where the rich
neglect their duty, the Positive priesthood will
resort in the first instance to every method of conviction
and persuasion that can be suggested by
the education which the rich have received in
common with other classes. Should this course
fail, there remains the resource of pronouncing
formal condemnation of their conduct; and
supposing this to be ratified by the working men
of every city, and the women of every family, its
effect would be difficult to withstand. In very
heinous cases it might be necessary to proceed to
the extreme length of social excommunication,
the efficacy of which, in cases where it deserved
and received general assent, would be even greater
than in the Middle Ages; the organization of the
spiritual power in those times being very imperfect.
But even in this case the means used for repression
are of a purely moral kind. The increasingly
rare cases that call for political measures belong
exclusively to the province of the temporal power.
Hereditary transmission of wealth has been
strongly condemned by metaphysical writers.
But it is after all a natural mode of transmission,
and the moral discipline above described will be
a sufficient check upon its worst abuses. When
the sense of Duty is substituted for the sense of
Right, it matters little who may be the possessor
of any given power, provided it be well used. Inheritance,
as Positivism shows, has great social
advantages, especially when applied to functions
which require no extraordinary capacity, and
which are best learnt in the training of domestic
life. Taking the moral point of view, we find that
men who have been always accustomed to wealth
are more disposed to be generous than those who
have amassed it gradually, however honourable
the means used. Inheritance was originally the
mode in which all functions were transmitted;
and in the case of wealth there is no reason why
it should not always continue, since the mere preservation
of wealth, without reference to its employment,
requires but little special ability. There
is no guarantee that, if other guardians of capital
were appointed, the public would be better served.
Modern industry has long ago proved the administrative
superiority of private enterprise in commercial
transactions; and all social functions that admit
of it will gradually pass into private management,
always excepting the great theoretic functions
in which combined action will ever be necessary.
Declaim as the envious will against hereditary
wealth, its possessors, when they have a good
disposition moulded by a wise education and a
healthy state of public opinion, will in many cases
rank amongst the most useful organs of Humanity.
It is not the class who constitute the moral force
of society, that will give vent to these idle complaints,
or at least they will be confined to those
individuals among them who fail to understand
the dignity and value of their common mission of
elevating man’s affections, intellect, and energies.
Women and
priests to have
their material
subsistence
guaranteed
The only cases in which the spiritual
power has to interfere specially for
the protection of material interests
fall under two principles, which are
very plainly indicated by the natural order of
society. The first principle is, that Man should
support Woman; the second, that the Active
class should support the Speculative class. The
necessity of both these conditions is evident;
without them the effective and speculative function
of Humanity cannot be adequately performed.
Private and public welfare are so deeply involved
in the influence exercised by Feeling over the
intellectual and active powers, that we shall do
well to secure that influence, even at the cost of
removing one half of the race from industrial
occupations. Even in the lowest tribes of savages
we find the stronger sex recognizing some obligations
towards the weaker; and it is this which
distinguishes human love, even in its coarser forms,
from animal appetite. With every step in the
progress of Humanity we find the obligation more
distinctly acknowledged, and more fully satisfied.
In Positive religion it becomes a fundamental
duty, for which each individual, or even society,
when it may be necessary, will be held responsible.
As to the second principle, it is one which has been
already admitted by former systems; and, in
spite of the anarchy in which we live, it has never
been wholly discarded, at least in countries which
have been unaffected by the individualist tendencies
of Protestantism. Positivism, however, while
adopting the principle as indispensable to the
theoretic functions of Humanity, will employ it
far more sparingly than Catholicism, the decay of
which was very much hastened by its excessive
wealth. If temporal and spiritual power are really
to be separated, philosophers should have as little
to do with wealth as with government. Resembling
women in their exclusion from political power,
their position as to wealth should be like that of
the working classes, proper regard being had to
the requirements of their office. By following
this course, they may be confident that the purity
of their opinions and advice will never be called
in question.
These two conditions then, Capitalists, as the
normal administrators of the common fund of
wealth, will be expected to satisfy. They must,
that is, so regulate the distribution of wages, that
women shall be released from work; and they
must see that proper remuneration is given for
intellectual labour. To exact the performance of
these conditions seems no easy task; yet until
they are satisfied, the equilibrium of our social
economy will remain unstable. The institution
of property can be maintained no longer upon the
untenable ground of personal right. Its present
possessors may probably decline to accept these
principles. In that case their functions will pass
in one way or another to new organs, until Humanity
finds servants who will not shirk their fundamental
duties, but who will recognize them as the first
condition of their tenure of power. That power,
subject to these limitations, will then be regarded
with the highest respect, for all will feel that the
existence of Humanity depends on it. Alike on
intellectual and on moral grounds, society will
repudiate the envious passions and subversive
views which are aroused at present by the unfounded
claims of property, and by its repudiation,
since the Middle Ages, of every real moral obligation.
Rich men will feel that principles like these, leaving
as they do so large a margin of voluntary action
to the individual, are the only method of escaping
from the political oppression with which they are
now threatened. The free concentration of capital
will then be readily accepted as necessary to its
social usefulness; for great duties imply great
powers.
Normal relation
of priests,
people, and
capitalists
This, then, is the way in which the
priests of Humanity may hope to
regenerate the material power of
wealth, and bring the nutritive
functions of society into harmony with the other
parts of the body politic. The contests for which
as yet there are but too many motives will then
cease; the People without loss of dignity will
give free play to their natural instincts of respect,
and will be as willing to accept the authority of
their political rulers as to place confidence in their
spiritual guides. They will feel that true happiness
has no necessary connexion with wealth; that it
depends far more on free play being given to their
intellectual, moral, and social qualities; and that
in this respect they are more favourably situated
than those above them. They will cease to aspire
to the enjoyments of wealth and power, leaving
them to those whose political activity requires
that strong stimulus. Each man’s ambition will
be to do his work well; and after it is over, to
perform his more general function of assisting the
spiritual power, and of taking part in the formation
of Public Opinion, by giving his best judgment
upon passing events. Of the limits to be observed
by the spiritual power the People will be well
aware; and they will accept none which does not
subordinate the intellect to the heart, and guarantee
the purity of its doctrine by strict abstinence from
political power. By an appeal to the principles
of Positive Polity, they will at once check any
foolish yielding on the part of philosophers to
political ambition, and will restore the temporal
power to its proper place. They will be aware
that though the general principles of practical
life rest upon Science, it is not for Science to
direct their application. The incapacity of
theorists to apply their theories practically has
long been recognized in minor matters, and it will
now be recognized as equally applicable to political
questions. The province of the philosopher is
education; and as the result of education, counsel:
the province of the capitalist is action and authoritative
direction. This is the only right distribution
of power; and the people will insist on maintaining
it in its integrity, seeing, as they will, that without
it the harmonious existence of Humanity is impossible.
We are not
yet ripe for the
normal state.
But the revolution
of 1848
is a step towards
it
From this view of the practical
side of the religion of Humanity taken
in connexion with its intellectual and
moral side, we may form a general
conception of the final reorganization
of political institutions, by which
alone the great Revolution can be brought to a
close. But the time for effecting this reconstruction
has not yet come. There must be a previous reconstruction
of opinions and habits of life upon
the basis laid down by Positivism; and for this
at least one generation is required. In the interval
all political measures must retain their provisional
character, although in framing them the final state
is always to be taken into account. As yet nothing
can be said to have been established, except the
moral principle on which Positivism rests, the
subordination of Politics to Morals. For this is
in fact implicitly involved in the proclamation of
a Republic in France; a step which cannot now
be recalled, and which implies that each citizen
is to devote all his faculties to the service of Humanity.
But with regard to the social organization,
by which alone this principle can be carried into
effect, although its basis has been laid down by
Positivism, it has not yet received the sanction of
the Public. It may be hoped, however, that the
motto which I have put forward as descriptive of
the new political philosophy, Order and Progress,
will soon be adopted spontaneously.
First revolutionary
motto,
Liberty and
Equality
In the first or negative phase of the
Revolution, all that was done was
utterly to repudiate the old political
system. No indication whatever was
given of the state of things which was to succeed
it. The motto of the time, Liberty and Equality,
is an exact representation of this state of things,
the conditions expressed in it being utterly contradictory,
and incompatible with organization
of any kind. For obviously, Liberty gives free
scope to superiority of all kinds, and especially
to moral and mental superiority; so that if a
uniform level of Equality is insisted on, freedom
of growth is checked. Yet inconsistent as the
motto was, it was admirably adapted to the destructive
temper of the time; a time when hatred of
the Past compensated the lack of insight into the
Future. It had, too, a progressive tendency, which
partly neutralized its subversive spirit. It inspired
the first attempt to derive true principles of polity
from general views of history; the memorable
though unsuccessful essay of my great predecessor
Condorcet13. Thus the first intimation of the
future influence of the historical spirit was given
at the very time when the anti-historical spirit
had reached its climax.
The long period of reaction which succeeded
the first crisis gave rise to no political motto of any
importance. It was a period for which men of
any vigour of thought and character could not
but feel secret repugnance. It produced, however,
a universal conviction that the metaphysical
policy of the revolutionists was of no avail for
constructive purposes. And it gave rise to the
historical works of the Neo-Catholic school, which
prepared the way for Positivism by giving the first
fair appreciation of the Middle Ages.
Second motto,
Liberty
and Order
But the Counter-revolution, begun
by Robespierre, carried to its full
length by Bonaparte, and continued
by the Bourbons, came to an end in the memorable
outbreak of 1830. A neutral period of eighteen
years followed, and a new motto, Liberty and
Public Order, was temporarily adopted. This
motto was very expressive of the political condition
of the time; and the more so that it arose spontaneously,
without ever receiving any formal
sanction. It expressed the general feeling of the
public, who, feeling that the secret of the political
future was possessed by none of the existing
parties, contented itself with pointing out the two
conditions essential as a preparation for it. It
was an improvement on the first motto, because
it indicated more clearly that the ultimate purpose
of the revolution was construction. It got rid of
the anti-social notion of Equality. All the moral
advantages of Equality without its political danger
existed already in the feeling of Fraternity, which,
since the Middle Ages, has become sufficiently
diffused in Western Europe to need no special
formula. Again, this motto introduced empirically
the great conception of Order; understanding it
of course in the limited sense of material order at
home and abroad. No deeper meaning was likely
to be attached to the word in a time of such mental
and moral anarchy.
Third motto,
Order and
Progress
But with the adoption of the Republican
principle in 184814, the utility
of this provisional motto ceased.
For the Revolution now entered upon its Positive
phase; which indeed, for all philosophical minds,
had been already inaugurated by my discovery of
the laws of Social Science. But the fact of its
having fallen into disuse is no reason for going
back to the old motto, Liberty and Equality,
which, since the crisis of 1789, has ceased to be
appropriate. In the utter absence of social convictions,
it has obtained a sort of official resuscitation;
but this will not prevent men of good
sense and right feeling from adopting spontaneously
the motto Order and Progress, as the principle of
all political action for the future. In the second
chapter I dwelt at some length upon this motto,
and pointed out its political and philosophical
meaning. I have now only to show its connexion
with the other mottoes of which we have been
speaking, and the probability of its adoption.
Each of them, like all combinations, whether in
the moral or physical world, is composed of two
elements; and the last has one of its elements in
common with the second, as the second has in
common with the first. Moreover, Liberty, the
element common to the two first, is in reality
contained in the third; since all Progress implies
Liberty. But Order is put foremost, because
the word is here intended to cover the whole field
that properly belongs to it. It includes things
private as well as public, theoretical as well as
practical, moral as well as political. Progress is
put next, as the end for which Order exists, and
as the mode in which it should be manifested. This
conception, for which the crisis of 1789 prepared
the way, will be our guiding principle throughout
the constructive phase of the Western Revolution.
The reconciliation of Order and Progress, which
had hitherto been impossible, is now an accepted
fact for all advanced minds. For the public this
is not yet the case; but since the close of the
Counter-revolution in 1830, all minds have been
tending unconsciously in this direction. The
tendency becomes still more striking by contrast
with an opposite movement, the increasing identity
of principles between the reactionary and the
anarchist schools.
Provisional
policy for the
period of transition
But even if we suppose accomplished
what is yet only in prospect, even if
the fundamental principle of our
future polity were accepted and
publicly ratified by the adoption of this motto,
yet permanent reconstruction of political institutions
would still be premature. Before this can
be attempted, the spiritual interregnum must be
terminated. For this object, in which all hearts
and minds, especially among the working classes
and among women, must unite their efforts with
those of the philosophic priesthood, at least one
generation is required. During this period governmental
policy should be avowedly provisional;
its one object should be to maintain what is so
essential to our state of transition, Order, at home
and abroad. Here, too, Positivism suffices for
the task; by explaining on historical principles
the stage that we have left, and that at which we
shall ultimately arrive, it enables us to understand
the character of the intermediate stage.
Popular dictatorship
with
freedom of
speech
The solution of the problem consists
in a new revolutionary government,
adapted to the Positive phase of the
Revolution, as the admirable institutions
of the Convention were to its negative phase.
The principal features of such a government would
be perfect freedom of speech and discussion, and
at the same time political preponderance of the
central authority with proper guarantees for its
purity. To secure perfect freedom of discussion,
various measures would be taken. All penalties
and fines which at present hamper its action would
be abolished, the only check left being the obligation
of signature. Again, all difficulties in the way of
criticizing the private character of public men,
due to the disgraceful legislation of the psychologists,
would be removed. Lastly, all official
grants to theological and metaphysical institutions
would be discontinued; for while these remain,
freedom of instruction in the true sense cannot be
said to exist. With such substantial guarantees
there will be little fear of reactionary tendencies
on the part of the executive; and consequently
no danger in allowing it to take that ascendency
over the electoral body which, in the present state
of mental and moral anarchy, is absolutely necessary
for the maintenance of material order. On
this plan the French assembly would be reduced
to about two hundred members; and its duty only
would be to vote the budget proposed by the
finance committee of government, and to audit
the accounts of the past year. All executive or
legislative measures would come within the province
of the central power; the only condition
being that they should first be submitted to free
discussion, whether by journals, public meetings,
or individual thinkers, though such discussion
should not bind the government legally. The
progressive character of the government thus
guaranteed, we have next to see that the men who
compose it shall be such as are likely to carry out
the provisional and purely practical purpose with
which it is instituted. On Positive principles,
it is to the working classes that we should look for
the only statesmen worthy of succeeding to the
statesmen of the Convention. Three of such men
would be required for the central government.
They would combine the functions of a ministry
with those of monarchy, one of them taking the
direction of Foreign affairs, another of Home affairs,
the third of Finance. They would convoke and
dissolve the electoral power on their own responsibility.
Of this body the majority would in a
short time, without any law to that effect, consist
of the larger capitalists; for the office would be
gratuitous, and the duties would be of a kind for
which their ordinary avocations fitted them.
Changes would occasionally be necessary in the
central government; but since it would consist
of three persons, its continuity might be maintained,
and the traditions of the previous generation,
as well as the tendencies of the future, and
the position actually existing, might all be represented.
Such a government, though of course retaining
some revolutionary features, would come as near
to the normal state as is at present practicable.
For its province would be entirely limited to
material questions, and the only anomaly of
importance would be the fact of choosing rulers
from the working classes. Normally, this class
is excluded from political administration, which
falls ultimately into the hands of capitalists. But
the anomaly is so obviously dependent simply on
the present condition of affairs, and will be so
restricted in its application, that the working
classes are not likely to be seriously demoralized
by it. The primary object being to infuse morality
into practical life, it is clear that working men,
whose minds and hearts are peculiarly accessible
to moral influence, are for the present best qualified
for political power. No check meantime is placed
on the action of the capitalists; and this provisional
policy prepares the way for their ultimate
accession to power, by convincing them of the
urgent need of private and public regeneration,
without which they can never be worthy of it.
By this course, too, it becomes easier to bring the
consultative influence of a spiritual power to bear
upon modern government. At first such influence
can only be exercised spontaneously; but it will
become more and more systematic with every
new step in the great philosophical renovation on
which the final reorganization of society is based.
The propriety of the provisional policy here
recommended is further illustrated by the wide
scope of its application. Although suggested by
the difficulties peculiar to the position of France,
it is equally adapted to other nations who are
sufficiently advanced to take part in the great
revolutionary crisis. Thus the second phase of
the Revolution is at once distinguished from the
first, by having an Occidental, as opposed to a
purely National, character. And the fact of the
executive government being composed of working
men, points in the same direction; since of all
classes working men are the most free from local
prejudices, and have the strongest tendencies,
both intellectually and morally, to universal union.
Even should this form of government be limited
for some years to France, it would be enough to
remodel the old system of diplomacy throughout
the West.
Such are the advantages which the second
revolutionary government will derive from the
possession of systematic principles; whereas the
government of the Convention was left to its
empirical instincts, and had nothing but its progressive
instincts to guide it.
A special report was published in 1848 by the
Positivist Society15, in which the subject of provisional
government will be found discussed in
greater detail.
Positive
Committee for
Western Europe
Quiet at home and peace abroad
being secured, we shall be able, notwithstanding
the continuance of mental
and moral anarchy, to proceed actively
with the vast work of social regeneration, with
the certainty of full liberty of thought and expression.
For this purpose it will be desirable to
institute the philosophical and political association
to which I alluded in the last volume of my Positive
Philosophy (published in 1842), under the title of
Positive Occidental Committee16. Its sittings would
usually be held in Paris, and it would consist, in
the first place, of eight Frenchmen, seven Englishmen,
six Germans, five Italians, and four Spaniards.
This would be enough to represent fairly the
principal divisions of each population. Germany,
for instance, might send a Dutchman, a Prussian,
a Swede, a Dane, a Bavarian, and an Austrian.
So, too, the Italian members might come respectively
from Piedmont, Lombardy, Tuscany, the
Roman States, and the two Sicilies. Again,
Catalonia, Castille, Andalusia, and Portugal would
adequately represent the Spanish Peninsula.
Thus we should have a sort of permanent
Council of the new Church. Each of the three
elements of the moderating power should be
admitted into it; and it might also contain such
members of the governing class as were sufficiently
regenerated to be of use in forwarding the general
movement. There should be practical men in
this council as well as philosophers. Here, as
elsewhere, it will be principally from the working
classes that such practical co-operation will come;
but no support, if given sincerely, will be rejected,
even should it emanate from the classes who are
destined to extinction. It is also most important
for the purposes of this Council that the third
element of the moderating power, women, should
be included in it, so as to represent the fundamental
principle of the preponderance of the heart over
the understanding. Six ladies should be chosen
in addition to the thirty members above mentioned:
of these, two would be French, and one from each
of the other nations. Besides their ordinary
sphere of influence, it will be their special duty
to disseminate Positivism among our Southern
brethren. It is an office that I had reserved for
my saintly colleague, who, but for her premature
death, would have rendered eminent service in
such a Council.
While material order is maintained by national
governments, the members of the Council, as
pioneers of the final order of society, will be carrying
on the European movement, and gradually terminating
the spiritual interregnum which is now
the sole obstacle to social regeneration. They
will forward the development and diffusion of
Positivism, and make practical application of its
principles, in all ways that are honourably open
to them. Instruction of all kinds, oral or written,
popular or philosophic, will fall within their province;
but their chief aim will be to inaugurate
the worship of Humanity so far as that is possible.
And already a beginning is possible, so far at least
as the system of commemoration is concerned.
Politically they may give a direct proof of the
international character of the Positive system,
by bringing forward several measures, the utility
of which has long been recognized, but which have
been neglected for want of some central authority
placed beyond the reach of national rivalry.
Occidental
navy
One of the most important of such
measures would be the establishment
of a Western naval force, with the twofold object
of protecting the seas, and of assisting geographical
and scientific discovery. It should be recruited
and supported by all five branches of the Occidental
family, and would thus be a good substitute for
the admirable institution of maritime Chivalry
which fell with Catholicism. On its flag the
Positivist motto would naturally be inscribed, and
thus would be for the first time publicly recognized.
International
coinage
Another measure, conceived in the
same spirit, would soon follow, one
which has long been desired, but which, owing to
the anarchy prevalent throughout the West since
the decline of Catholicism, has never yet been
carried out. A common monetary standard will
be established, with the consent of the various
governments, by which industrial transactions
will be greatly facilitated. Three spheres made
respectively of gold, silver, and platinum, and each
weighing fifty grammes, would differ sufficiently
in value for the purpose. The sphere should have
a small flattened base, and on the great circle
parallel to it the Positivist motto would be inscribed.
At the pole would be the image of the immortal
Charlemagne, the founder of the Western Republic,
and round the image his name would be
engraved, in its Latin form, Carolus; that name,
respected as it is by all nations of Europe alike,
would be the common appellation of the universal
monetary standard.
Occidental
school
The adoption of such measures
would soon bring the Positivist Committee
into favour. Many others might be
suggested, relating directly to its fundamental
purpose, which need not be specially mentioned
here. I will only suggest the foundation, by
voluntary effort, of an Occidental School, to serve
as the nucleus of a true philosophic class. The
students would ultimately enter the Positivist
priesthood; they would in most instances come
from the working class, without, however, excluding
real talent from whatever quarter. By
their agency the septennial course of Positive
teaching might be introduced in all places disposed
to receive it. They would besides supply voluntary
missionaries, who would preach the doctrine
everywhere, even outside the limits of Western
Europe, according to the plan hereafter to be
explained. The travels of Positivist workmen
in the ordinary duties of their calling, would
greatly facilitate this work.
A more detailed view of this provisional system
of instruction will be found in the second edition
of the Report on the Subject of a Positive School,
published by the Positivist Society in 184917.
Flag for the
Western Republic
There is another step which might
be taken, relating not merely to the
period of transition, but also to the
normal state. A flag suitable to the Western
Republic might be adopted, which, with slight
alterations, would also be the flag for each nation.
The want of such a symbol is already instinctively
felt. What is wanted is a substitute for the old
retrograde symbols, which yet shall avoid all
subversive tendencies. It would be a suitable
inauguration of the period of transition which
we are now entering, if the colours and mottoes
appropriate to the final state were adopted at
its outset.
To speak first of the banner to be used in religious
services. It should be painted on canvas. On
one side the ground would be white; on it would
be the symbol of Humanity, personified by a
woman of thirty years of age, bearing her son in
her arms. The other side would bear the religious
formula of Positivists: Love is our Principle,
Order is our Basis, Progress our End, upon a ground
of green, the colour of hope, and therefore most
suitable for emblems of the future.
Green, too, would be the colour of the political
flag, common to the whole West. As it is intended
to float freely, it does not admit of painting; but
the carved image of Humanity might be placed
at the banner-pole. The principal motto of
Positivism will, in this case, be divided into two,
both alike significant. One side of the flag will
have the political and scientific motto, Order and
Progress: the other, the moral and esthetic motto,
Live for Others. The first will be preferred by
men; the other is more especially adapted to
women, who are thus invited to participate in
these public manifestations of social feeling.
This point settled, the question of the various
national flags becomes easy. In these the centre
might be green, and the national colours might
be displayed on the border. Thus, in France,
where the innovation will be first introduced, the
border would be tricolour, with the present arrangement
of colours, except that more space should be
given to the white, in honour of our old royal flag.
In this way uniformity would be combined with
variety; and, moreover, it would be shown that
the new feeling of Occidentality is perfectly compatible
with respect for the smallest nationalities.
Each would retain the old signs in combination
with the common symbol. The same principle
would apply to all emblems of minor importance.
The question of these symbols, of which I have
spoken during the last two years in my weekly
courses of lectures, illustrates the most immediate
of the functions to which the Positive Committee
will be called. I mention it here, as a type of its
general action upon European society.
Without setting any limits to the gradual increase
of the Association, it is desirable that the central
nucleus should always remain limited to the
original number of thirty-six, with two additions,
which will shortly be mentioned. Each member
might institute a more numerous association in
his own country, and this again might be the parent
of others. Associations thus affiliated may be
developed to an unlimited extent; and thus we
shall be able to maintain the unity and homogeneity
of the Positive Church, without impairing
its coherence and vigour. As soon as Positivism
has gained in every country a sufficient number
of voluntary adherents to constitute the preponderating
section of the community, the regeneration
of society is secured.
The numbers assigned above for the different
nations, only represent the order in which the
advanced minds in each will co-operate in the
movement. The order in which the great body
of each nation will join it, will be, as far as we can
judge from their antecedents, somewhat different.
The difference is, that Italy here takes the second
place, and Spain the third, while England descends
to the last. The grounds for this important
modification are indicated in the third edition of
my Positive Calendar. They will be discussed
in detail in the fourth volume of this Treatise18.
Colonial and
foreign Associates
of the
Committee, the
action of which
will ultimately
extend to the
whole human
race
From Europe the movement will
spread ultimately to the whole race.
But the first step in its progress will
naturally be to the inhabitants of our
colonies, who, though politically independent
of Western Europe, still
retain their filiation with it. Twelve
colonial members may be added to the Council;
four for each American Continent, two for India,
two for the Dutch and Spanish possessions in the
Indian Ocean.
This gives us forty-eight members. To these
twelve foreign associates will gradually be added,
to represent the populations whose growth has
been retarded; and then the Council will have
received its full complement. For every nation
of the world is destined for the same ultimate conditions
of social regeneration as ourselves, the
only difference being that Western Europe, under
the leadership of France, takes the initiative. It
is of great importance not to attempt this final
extension too soon, an error which would impair
the precision and vigour of the renovating movement.
At the same time it must never be forgotten
that the existence of the Great Being remains
incomplete until all its members are brought into
harmonious co-operation. In ancient times social
sympathy was restricted to the idea of Nationality;
between this and the final conception of Humanity,
the Middle Ages introduced the intermediate
conception of Christendom, or Occidentality;
the real bearing of which is at present but little
appreciated. It will be our first political duty to
revive that conception, and place it on a firmer
basis, by terminating the anarchy consequent on
the extinction of Catholic Feudalism. While
occupied in this task, we shall become impressed
with the conviction that the union of Western
Europe is but a preliminary step to the union of
Humanity; an instinctive presentiment of which
has existed from the infancy of our race, but which
as long as theological belief and military life were
predominant, could never be carried out even in
thought. The primary laws of human development
which form the philosophical basis of the
Positive system, apply necessarily to all climates
and races whatsoever, the only difference being
in the rapidity with which evolution takes place.
The inferiority of other nations in this respect is
not inexplicable; and it will now be compensated
by a growth of greater regularity than ours, and
less interrupted by shocks and oscillations. Obviously
in our case systematic guidance was impossible,
since it is only now that our growth is complete
that we can learn the general laws common to it
and to other cases. Wise and generous intervention
of the West on behalf of our sister nations who are
less advanced, will form a noble field for Social
Art, when based on sound scientific principles.
Relative without being arbitrary, zealous and yet
always temperate; such should be the spirit of
this intervention; and thus conducted, it will
form a system of moral and political action far
nobler than the proselytism of theology or the
extension of military empire. The time will come
when it will engross the whole attention of the
Positive Council; but for the present it must remain
secondary to other subjects of greater
urgency.
The first to join the Western movement will
necessarily be the remaining portion of the White
race: which in all its branches is superior to the
other two races. There are two Monotheist
nations, and one Polytheist, which will be successively
incorporated. Taken together, the three
represent the propagation of Positivism in the
East.
The vast population of the Russian empire was
left outside the pale of Catholic Feudalism. By
virtue of its Christianity, however, notwithstanding
its entire confusion of temporal and spiritual power,
it holds the first place among the Monotheistic
nations of the East. Its initiation into the
Western movement will be conducted by two
nations of intermediate position; Greece, connected
with Russia by the tie of religion; and Poland,
united with her politically. Though neither of
these nations is homogeneous in structure with
Russia, it would cause serious delay in the propagation
of Positivism should the connexion be altogether
terminated.
The next step will be to Mohammedan Monotheism;
first in Turkey, afterwards in Persia.
Here Positivism will find points of sympathy of
which Catholicism could not admit. Indeed
these are already perceptible. Arab civilization
transmitted Greek science to us: and this will
always secure for it an honourable place among
the essential elements of the mediaeval system,
regarded as a preparation for Positivism.
Lastly, we come to the Polytheists of India;
and with them the incorporation of the White
race will be complete. Already we see some
spontaneous tendencies in this direction. Although
from exceptional causes Theocracy has been preserved
in India, there exist real points of contact
with Positivism; and in this respect the assistance
of Persia will be of service. It is the peculiar
privilege of the Positive doctrine that, taking so
complete a view of human development, it is
always able to appreciate the most ancient forms
of social life at their true worth.
In these three stages of Positivist propagation,
the Council will have elected the first half of its
foreign associates; admitting successively a Greek,
a Russian, an Egyptian, a Turk, a Persian and
finally, a Hindoo.
The Yellow race has adhered firmly to Polytheism.
But it has been considerably modified in all
its branches by Monotheism, either in the Christian
or Mohammedan form. To some extent, therefore,
it is prepared for further change; and a sufficient
number of adherents may soon be obtained for
Tartary, China, Japan, and Malacca to be represented
in the Council.
With one last edition the organization of the
Council is complete. The black race has yet to
be included. It should send two representatives;
one from Hayti, which had the energy to shake
off the iniquitous yoke of slavery, and the other
from central Africa, which has never yet been
subjected to European influence. European pride
has looked with contempt on these African tribes,
and imagines them destined to hopeless stagnation.
But the very fact of their having been left to
themselves renders them better disposed to receive
Positivism, the first system in which their Fetichistic
faith has been appreciated, as the origin from which
the historic evolution of society has proceeded.
It is probable that the Council will have reached
its limit of sixty members, before the spiritual
interregnum in the central region of Humanity
has been terminated. But even if political reconstruction
were to proceed so rapidly in Europe
as to render all possible assistance to this vast
movement, it is hardly conceivable that the five
stages of which it consists can be thoroughly
effected within a period of two centuries. But
however this may be, the action of the Council
will become increasingly valuable, not only for
its direct influence on the less advanced nations,
but also and more especially, because the proofs
it will furnish of the universality of the new religion
will strengthen its adherents in the Western family.
Conclusion.
Perfection of
the Positivist
ideal
But the time when Positivism can
be brought into direct contact with
these preliminary phases is far distant,
and we need not wait for it. The
features of the system stand out already with
sufficient clearness to enable us to begin at once
the work of mental and social renovation for
which our revolutionary predecessors so energetically
prepared the way. They however were
blinded to the Future by their hatred of the Past.
With us, on the contrary, social sympathy rests
upon the historical spirit, and at the same time
strengthens it. Solidarity with our contemporaries
is not enough for us, unless we combine it with
the sense of Continuity with former times; and
while we press on toward the Future, we lean upon
the Past, every phase of which our religion holds
in honour. So far from the energy of our progressive
movement being hampered by such feelings,
it is only by doing full justice to the Past, as no
system but ours can do consistently, that we can
obtain perfect emancipation of thought; because
we are thus saved from the necessity of making
the slightest actual concession to systems which
we regard as obsolete. Understanding their nature
and their purpose better than the sectaries who
still empirically adhere to them, we can see that
each was in its time necessary as a preparatory
step towards the final system, in which all their
partial and imperfect services will be combined.
Comparing it especially with the last synthesis by
which the Western family of nations has been directed,
it is clear even from the indications given in
this prefatory work, that the new synthesis is more
real, more comprehensive, and more stable. All
that we find to admire in the mediaeval system is
developed and matured in Positivism. It is the
only system which can induce the intellect to
accept its due position of subordination to the
heart. We recognize the piety and chivalry of
our ancestors, who made a noble application of
the best doctrine that was possible in their time.
We believe that were they living now, they would
be found in our ranks. They would acknowledge
the decay of their provisional phase of thought,
and would see that in its present degenerate state
it is only a symbol of reaction, and a source of
discord.
And now that the doctrine has been shown to
rest on a central principle, a principle which appeals
alike to instinct and to reason, we may carry our
comparison a step further, and convince all clear-seeing
and honest minds that it is as superior
to former systems in its influence over the emotions
and the imagination, as it is from the practical
and intellectual aspect. Under it, Life, whether
private or public, becomes in a still higher sense
than under Polytheism, a continuous act of worship
performed under the inspiration of universal
Love. All our thoughts, feelings, and actions flow
spontaneously to a common centre in Humanity,
our Supreme Being; a Being who is real, accessible,
and sympathetic, because she is of the same nature
as her worshippers, though far superior to any one
of them. The very conception of Humanity is a
condensation of the whole mental and social
history of man. For it implies the irrevocable
extinction of theology and of war; both of which
are incompatible with uniformity of belief and
with co-operation of all the energies of the race.
The spontaneous morality of the emotions is
restored to its due place; and Philosophy, Poetry,
and Polity are thereby regenerated. Each is
placed in its due relation to the others, and is
consecrated to the study, the praise, and the
service of Humanity, the most relative and the
most perfectible of all beings. Science passes
from the analytic to the synthetic state, being
entrusted with the high mission of founding an
objective basis for man’s action on the laws of the
external world and of man’s nature; a basis which
is indispensable to control the oscillation of our
opinions, the versatility of our feelings, and the
instability of our purposes. Poetry assumes at
last its true social function, and will henceforth
be preferred to all other studies. By idealizing
Humanity under every aspect, it enables us to
give fit expression to the gratitude we owe to her,
both publicly and as individuals; and thus it
becomes a source of the highest spiritual benefit.
But amidst the pleasures that spring from the
study and the praise of Humanity, it must be
remembered that Positivism is characterized
always by reality and utility, and admits of no
degeneration into asceticism or quietism. The
Love by which it is inspired is no passive principle;
while stimulating Reason and Imagination, it
does so only to give a higher direction to our
practical activity. It was in practical life that
the Positive spirit first arose, extending thence to
the sphere of thought, and ultimately to the moral
sphere. The grand object of human existence is
the constant improvement of the natural Order
that surrounds us: of our material condition
first; subsequently of our physical, intellectual,
and moral nature. And the highest of these
objects is moral progress, whether in the individual,
in the family, or in society. It is on this that
human happiness, whether in private or public
life, principally depends. Political art, then,
when subordinated to morality, becomes the most
essential of all arts. It consists in concentration
of all human effort upon the service of Humanity
in accordance with the natural laws which regulate
her existence.
The great merit of ancient systems of polity, of
the Roman system especially, was that precedence
was always given to public interests. Every
citizen co-operated in the manner and degree
suited to those early times. But there were no
means of providing proper regulation for domestic
life. In the Middle Ages, when Catholicism
attempted to form a complete system of morality,
private life was made the principal object. All
our affections were subjected to a most beneficial
course of discipline, in which the inmost springs
of vice and virtue were reached. But owing to
the inadequacy of the doctrines on which the system
rested, the solution of the problem was incoherent.
The method by which Catholicism controlled the
selfish propensities was one which turned men
away from public life, and concentrated them on
interests which were at once chimerical and
personal. The immediate value of this great
effort was, that it brought about for the first time
a separation between moral and political power,
which in the systems of antiquity had always been
confounded. But the separation was due rather
to the force of circumstances than to any conscious
efforts; and it could not be fully carried out,
because it was incompatible with the spirit of the
Catholic doctrine and with the military character
of society. Woman sympathized with Catholicism,
but the people never supported it with enthusiasm,
and it soon sank under the encroachments of the
temporal power, and the degeneracy of the priesthood.
Positivism is the only system which can renew
this premature effort and bring it to a satisfactory
issue. Combining the spirit of antiquity with
that of Catholic Feudalism, it proposes to carry
out the political programme put forward by the
Convention.
Positive religion brings before us in a definite
shape the noblest of human problems, the permanent
preponderance of Social feeling over Self-love.
As far as the exceeding imperfection of our
nature enables us to solve it, it would be solved
by calling our home affections into continuous
action; affections which stand half-way between
self-love and universal sympathy. In order to
consolidate and develop this solution, Positivism
lays down the philosophical and social principle
of separation of theoretical from practical power.
Theoretical power is consultative; it directs
education, and supplies general principles. Practical
power directs action by special and imperative
rules. All the elements of society that are excluded
from political government become guarantees for
the preservation of this arrangement. The priests
of Humanity, who are the systematic organs of the
moderating power, will always find themselves supported,
in their attempts to modify the governing
power, by women and by the people. But to be
so supported, they must be men who, in addition
to the intellectual power necessary for their mission,
have the moral qualities which are yet more necessary;
who combine, that is, the tenderness of
women with the energy of the people. The first
guarantee for the possession of such qualities is
the sacrifice of political authority and even of
wealth. Then we may at least hope to see the
new religion taking the place of the old, because
it will fulfil in a more perfect way the mental and
social purposes for which the old religion existed.
Monotheism will lapse like Polytheism and
Fetichism, into the domain of history; and will,
like them, be incorporated into the system of
universal commemoration, in which Humanity
will render due homage to all her predecessors.
Corruption of
Monotheism
It is not, then, merely on the ground
of speculative truth that Positivists
would urge all those who are still halting between
two opinions, to choose between the absolute and
the relative, between the fruitless search for
Causes and the solid study of Laws, between submission
to arbitrary Wills and submission to
demonstrable Necessities. It is for Feeling still
more than for Reason to make the decision; for
upon it depends the establishment of a higher
form of social life.
Monotheism in Western Europe is now as
obsolete and as injurious as Polytheism was
fifteen centuries ago. The discipline in which
its moral value principally consisted has long since
decayed; and consequently the sole effect of its
doctrine, which has been so extravagantly praised,
is to degrade the affections by unlimited desires,
and to weaken the character by servile terrors.
It supplied no field for the Imagination, and
forced it back upon Polytheism and Fetichism,
which, under Theology, form the only possible
foundation for poetry. The pursuits of practical
life were never sincerely promoted by it, and they
advanced only by evading or resisting its influence.
The noblest of all practical pursuits, that of social
regeneration, is at the present time in direct
opposition to it. For by its vague notion of
Providence, it prevents men from forming a true
conception of Law, a conception necessary for
true prevision, on which all wise intervention
must be based.
Sincere believers in Christianity will soon cease
to interfere with the management of a world,
where they profess themselves to be pilgrims and
strangers. The new Supreme Being is no less
jealous than the old, and will not accept the servants
of two masters. But the truth is, that the
more zealous theological partisans, whether
royalists, or aristocrats, or democrats, have now
for a long time been insincere. God to them is
but the nominal chief of a hypocritical conspiracy,
a conspiracy which is even more contemptible
than it is odious. Their object is to keep the
people from all great social improvements by
assuring them that they will find compensation
for their miseries in an imaginary future life.
The doctrine is already falling into discredit among
the working classes everywhere throughout the
West, especially in Paris. All theological tendencies,
whether Catholic, Protestant, or Deist, really
serve to prolong and aggravate our moral anarchy,
because they hinder the diffusion of that social
sympathy and breadth of view, without which
we can never attain fixity of principle and regularity
of life. Every subversive scheme now
afloat has either originated in Monotheism or has
received its sanction. Even Catholicism has lost
its power of controlling revolutionary extravagance
in some of its own most distinguished members.
It is for the sake of Order therefore, even more
than of Progress, that we call on all those who
desire to rise above their present disastrous state
of oscillation in feeling and opinion, to make a
distinct choice between Positivism and Theology.
For there are now but two camps: the camp of
reaction and anarchy, which acknowledges more
or less distinctly the direction of God: the camp
of construction and progress, which is wholly
devoted to Humanity.
The Being upon whom all our thoughts are
concentrated is one whose existence is undoubted.
We recognize that existence not in the Present
only, but in the Past, and even in the Future:
and we find it always subject to one fundamental
Law, by which we are enabled to conceive of it as
a whole. Placing our highest happiness in universal
Love, we live, as far as it is possible, for others;
and this in public life as well as in private; for
the two are closely linked together in our religion;
a religion clothed in all the beauty of Art, and yet
never inconsistent with Science. After having
thus exercised our powers to the full, and having
given a charm and sacredness to our temporary
life, we shall at last be for ever incorporated into
the Supreme Being, of whose life all noble natures
are necessarily partakers. It is only through the
workers of Humanity that we can feel the inward
reality and inexpressible sweetness of this incorporation.
It is unknown to those who being still
involved in theological belief, have not been able
to form a clear conception of the Future, and have
never experienced the feeling of pure self-sacrifice.
THE END
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
