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Life
He argued that human thought passes through three ages (the religious, the philosophical, and the scientific) and tried to found a new science, and eventually a new religion, for the last one.
He was raised as a philosophical experiment, had a breakdown at twenty, worked his way out through poetry, and spent the rest of his life refining the case for liberty.
Connection
Auguste Comte positivism, embraced and then resisted John Stuart Mill — Mill corresponded extensively with Comte and initially embraced much of positivism's scientific ambition for the study of society, before breaking with him publicly over the Religion of Humanity, which Mill considered a strange and illiberal turn.
Ideas
Words
“Savoir pour prévoir, prévoir pour pouvoir.”
“Love as a principle, order as a basis, progress as a goal.”
“The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs.”
“It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.”
Key Moments
1824
Breaks with Saint-Simon
1851
Founds the Religion of Humanity
c. 1826-30
Mental crisis and recovery through poetry
1859
On Liberty published
1865-68
Elected MP for Westminster
Works
Course of Positive Philosophy
On Liberty
Utilitarianism