Abstract

Auguste Comte developed his philosophy of science by carrying on an early modern and Enlightenment tradition of concern with the social organization of inquiry and the progress of knowledge. He transformed this tradition, however, under the influence of new, biological theories of mind that emerged in early nineteenth-century France. As foundation for his new philosophical system, he developed a natural philosophy based on a biologically-oriented view of nature as an integrated, hierarchical system of increasingly complex entities and phenomenal regularities. His philosophy of science, the result of incorporating science, intellect, and society within this natural philosophy, takes the form of what he refers to as his 'fundamental theory of human evolution'. The growth of science and knowledge is linked within this theory to the development of the human intellect and social evolution, while all three components exhibit a similar, developmental regularity. As a normative epistemology, he focuses on integrating science socially and conceptually, and bypasses rigorous articulation of a universal scientific method due to vexing problems with the context-dependence of scientific judgement. It is argued that this philosophy of science qualifies by contemporary standards as a social-evolutionary epistemology. It is argued that with this philosophy of science Comte advocated a naturalistic turn in the study of science that anticipated central aspects of contemporary versions of naturalistic philosophy of science and science studies. It is argued, finally, that his philosophy of science holds contemporary relevance and deserves a wide and serious consideration that it has not yet received