1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910824798803321

Autore

Wernick Andrew

Titolo

Auguste Comte and the religion of humanity : the post-theistic program of French social theory / / Andrew Wernick

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge ; ; New York, : Cambridge University Press, 2001

ISBN

1-107-11858-1

1-139-17598-X

1-283-34213-8

9786613342133

1-139-15977-1

1-139-15521-0

0-511-04902-1

0-511-15434-8

0-511-01348-5

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (viii, 281 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

194

Soggetti

Positivism - History - 19th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 08 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-274) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Auguste Comte and the Religion of Humanity The Post-Theistic Program of French Social Theory; Title; Copyright; In memory of my father, Abram Joseph Wernick; Contents; Acknowledgments; I Introduction: rethinking Comte; The project of Positive Religion; Comte, Nietzsche, Marx; Comte and the canon; Order of exposition; 2 The system and its logic (1): from positive philosophy to social science; The two Comtes; Positive philosophy and social science; Positivity from Bacon to Comte; Science and truth; Science and non-science; Science and practice

3 The system and its logic (2): from sociology to the subjective synthesisSociology and its object; The transcendence of the social; The subjective synthesis; The logic of the system; 4 Religion and the crisis of industrialism; The troubles of industrialism; The question of religion; The subjective dimension; Ego and solidarity; Continuity and death; 5 Love and the social body; Love and the social tie; Love and the psyche;



Love and the other; 6 The path to perfection; The question of violence; Humanity and Nature; Systematic fetishism and I' amour universel; 7 Humanity as 'le vrai Grand-Être'

Faith after 'God'The meaning(s) of 'I'Humanité'; The Collective subject; The divine status of Humanity; From religion to politics; Sociolatry and the death of the social; 8 Socio-theology after Comte; The second death of God; Althusser: Humanism without Humanity; Baudrillard: the end of the social; Nancy: community without communion; Politics, transcendence and the social; References; Primary sources; Secondary sources; Index

Sommario/riassunto

This 2001 book offers an exciting reinterpretation of Auguste Comte, the founder of French sociology. Following the development of his philosophy of positivism, Comte later focused on the importance of the emotions in his philosophy resulting in the creation of a new religious system, the Religion of Humanity. Andrew Wernick provides the first in-depth critique of Comte's concept of religion and its place in his thinking on politics, sociology and philosophy of science. He places Comte's ideas in the context of post-1789 French political and intellectual history, and of modern philosophy, especially postmodernism. Wernick relates Comte to Marx and Nietzsche as seminal figures of modernity and examines key features of modern and postmodern French social theory, tracing the inherent flaws and disintegration of Comte's system. Wernick offers original and fascinating insights in this rich study which will attract a wide audience from sociologists and philosophers to cultural theorists and historians.