Auguste Comte and the Religion of Humanity: The Post-theistic Program of French Social Theory - Softcover

Wernick, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521023629 ISBN 13: 9780521023627

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2005

Synopsis

This book offers an exciting reinterpretation of Auguste Comte, the founder of French sociology. Andrew Wernick provides the first in-depth critique of Comte's concept of religion and its place in his thinking on politics, sociology and philosophy of science. He places Comte's ideas within the context of post-1789 French political and intellectual history, and of modern philosophy, especially postmodernism. Wernick relates Comte to Marx and Nietzsche as seminal figures of modernity and examines key features of modern and postmodern French social theory, tracing the inherent flaws and disintegration of Comte's system.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrew Wernick is Professor of Cultural Studies and Sociology at Trent University, Ontario, Canada. He is Director of the Center for the Study of Theory, Culture and Politics, and Director of the Graduate Program in Methodologies for the Study of Western History and Culture. His publications include Promotional Culture (1991), Shadow of Spirit: Religion and Postmodernism (with P Berry, 1993) and Images of Ageing (with M Featherstone, 1994).

Review:

'Mr Wernick's book on August Comte is brilliant. ... (He) succeeds admirably in placing Comte's religion in the context of his time and in the history of social theory in France. ... This book will give any reader pause to reflect on the distinctiveness of French social theory, the problem of defining a community, and the relationship between politics and religion in both its theistic and post-theistic forms.' Mary Pickering, San Jose State University, California

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0521023629
• ISBN 13: 9780521023627
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292