Auguste Comte and spiritualism. Issue 5 (2nd September 2020) - Clauzade, Laurent
ABSTRACT: It is well known that Auguste Comte was a persistent opponent of spiritualism, which for him represented the very essence of a superannuated metaphysical philosophy. This article aims to show that this unquestionable opposition between Comtean positivism and the spiritualism of Victor Cousin and Théódore Jouffroy nevertheless covers problems and schemes of thought that are often similar. As a result, these two philosophies mirror each other, rather than being in a situation of radical strangeness. In arguing for this, the focus will be on three main questions, concerning the relationship of philosophy to the natural sciences, knowledge of the mind, and the philosophy of history. However, it was only with the renewal of the spiritualist school, and on the basis of Comte's last philosophy, that a kind of posthumous dialogue became possible. This is illustrated by Ravaisson's critique of Comte, which can be considered as a kind of spiritualist reappropriation of positivism.