Barash R.E., Antonovski A.Yu. Apriorism of August Comte and Positivism of William Whewell: communicative dissent by substantial consensus. The Digital Scholar: Philosopher‘s Lab, 2018, Vol. 1, Issue 3, pp. 82-94.

Abstract

The article introduces the work by William Whewell “Auguste Comte and the Positivism.” It is maintained by the authors that the Comte's ideas are considered in this essay only as a pretext and an excuse to declare a general protest against the growing critical attitude relative to scientific and social life, and also both to the evolution of nature and science, and to the development of the social order. This work by Whewell can be called the last manifesto of the so-called “old European semantics” with its doctrine of “truth perfectionism”, which assumes the achievement of the final state in the development of science, in which the basic truths would be formulated forever.