Auguste Comte

Auguste Comte (1798–1857) was a French philosopher and sociologist, and the founder of positivism. Born in Montpellier, he once served as secretary to Saint-Simon. Between 1830 and 1842 he published the six-volume Course in Positive Philosophy, in which he proposed the hierarchy of the sciences and the law of three stages, and coined the term "sociology"; his influence on nineteenth-century thought was profound. The library holds seven of his works, including, besides the Course, A General View of Positivism and The Philosophy of Mathematics, showing that his research spanned philosophy, sociology, and scientific methodology. His writing is highly systematic, seeking to reorganize knowledge on positivist lines. He died in Paris in 1857.