An Inquiry Into the Theories of History: With Special Reference to the Principles of the Positive PhilosophyW. H. Allen and Company, 1862 - 441 pages |
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according admitted affirms alleged animal anti-theistic argument ascribed assumed belief causes and effects Comte Comte's conceived conception conclusion consistent constitution d'une deny Descartes distinct divine doctrine of chance doctrine of final essentiellement être existence explain expression fact fetichism final causes fixed and invariable fundamental heavenly bodies human mind hypothesis idea inconsistent inference inmost nature intellectual effect intelligence invariable law l'humanité Lucretius matter means ment Mill mode modes of production monotheism moral disorder motion natural laws naturelles nécessairement necessarily necessary law necessity noumenon object operation organization pheno phenomena phénomènes Philosophie Positive Physical cause Physical effect polytheism positive philosophy positive science positive verification positivism primary cause principle produce proof providential quelconque question reason relations resemblance scientific sensations Sir George Lewis social society spontaneous spontaneous order supposed supreme theism theistic theological theory of chance things thought tion true truth universe volitions
Popular passages
Page 117 - ... nee erit alia lex Romae, alia Athenis, alia nunc, alia posthac, sed et omnes gentes et omni tempore una lex et sempiterna et immutabilis continebit, unusque erit communis quasi magister et imperator omnium deus, ille legis huius inventor, disceptator, lator; cui qui non parebit, ipse se fugiet ac naturam hominis aspernatus hoc ipso luet maximas poenas, etiamsi cetera supplicia, quae putantur, effugerit" (Cicero, De re publica, III.xxii.33).
Page 117 - Neque est quaerendus explanator aut interpres ejus alius: nee erit alia lex Romae, alia Athenis, alia nunc, alia posthac, sed et omnes gentes, et omni tempore una Lex, et sempiterna, et immortalis continebit; unusque erit communis quasi magister, et imperator omnium DEUS.
Page 217 - The Law of Causation, the recognition of which is the main pillar of inductive science, is but the familiar truth, that invariability of succession is found by observation to obtain between every fact in nature and some other fact which has preceded it; independently of all consideration respecting the ultimate mode of production of phenomena, and of every other question regarding the nature of "Things in themselves.
Page 350 - It is thus that we are unable to rest satisfied with a * [The phenomenon is this : — When aware of a new appearance, we are unable to conceive that therein has originated any new existence, and are, therefore, constrained to think, that what now appears to us under a new form, had previously an existence under others, — others conceivable by us or not. These others (for they are always plural) are called its cause...
Page 27 - ... may be the political aspect of his own times, will never despair of the fortunes of the human race, but will act upon the conviction that prejudice, slavery, and corruption, must gradually give way to truth, liberty, and virtue ; and that, in the moral world, as well as in the material, the further our observations extend, and the longer they are continued, the more we shall perceive of order and of benevolent design in the universe.
Page 312 - the recognition of an ideal Exemplar for the Vertebrated Animals proves that the Knowledge of such a being as Man must have existed before Man appeared. For the Divine mind which planned the Archetype also foreknew all its modifications. The Archetypal idea was manifested in the flesh, under divers modifications, upon this planet, long prior to the existence of those animal species that actually exemplify it.
Page 415 - ... that the law of causality holds only between homogeneous things, ie things having some common property ; and cannot extend from one world into another, its opposite.
Page 26 - Rome, therefore, it was regarded as the mark of a good citizen, never to despair of the fortunes of the republic; so the good citizen of the world, whatever may be the political aspect of his own times, will never despair of the fortunes of the human race; but will act npon the conviction, that prejudice, slavery and corruption, must gradually give way to truth, liberty and virtue...
Page 431 - When we are able to comprehend why or how a thing is, the belief of the existence of that thing is not a primary datum of consciousness, but a subsumption under the cognition or belief which affords its reason.
Page 350 - We are utterly unable to construe it in thought as possible, that the complement of existence has been either increased or diminished. We cannot conceive, either, on the one hand, nothing becoming something, or, on the other, something becoming nothing. When God is said to create the universe out of nothing, we think this, by supposing, that he evolves the universe out of himself; and in like manner, we conceive annihilation, only by conceiving the creator to withdraw his creation from actuality...