ABSTRACT
As the chief characteristic of positive philosophy is the preponderance of the social point of view through the whole range of speculation, its efficiency for the purposes of practical life is involved in the very spirit of the system. This chapter explains the way in which the social mission of positivism connects itself with the spontaneous changes which are taking place in France, the center of the revolutionary movement. Thus, while the science of morals is made far more consistent by being placed in its true connection with the rest of our knowledge, the sphere of natural morality is widened by bringing human life, individually and collectively, under the direct and continuous influence of social feeling. The chapter describes the moral and mental reorganization of Western Europe as characterizing the second phase of the Revolution. A nation that has made no efforts to improve itself materially will take but little interest in moral or mental improvement.
