Comte

Comte accepts also Hume's definition of religion as anthropomorphism. This definition he needs in order to explain why it is that the positivistic view of the world has gained and is gaining strength only in the most recent times, for it is evident that previously science and philosophy were seeking for causes. Comte had a historical explanation of this fact; he showed that only as time passed did positivism quite naturally develop out of anthropomorphism. Comte's system of philosophy is a very fine one except for its foundation which is false. Comte lived through and felt through the post-Revolutionary hardships. Comte recognized, with the conservative and reactionary opponents of the Revolution, that the Revolution originated in the philosophy of enlightenment of the preceding age. Comte comprehended how incomplete and superficial were the Restoration and the reaction of Napoleon and the monarchy, and therefore he was for a far-reaching reform.