160.3
Auguste Comte, Altruism and the Critique to Political Economy
and the Critique to Political Economy
Philippe Steiner
Université Paris – Sorbonne and Institut Universitaire de France
philippe.steiner@paris-sorbonne.fr
Altruism is now a current concept among economists and sociologists. When Comte coined that word in he wished to oppose a new spring of action to the selfish one that was, according to him and many other social observers, flourishing in the industrial society. While focusing his attention on the opposition between egoism and altruism, an opposition deemed to be the “great human issue”, Comte was not merely pursuing the elaboration of his own system of thought with the so-called “subjective approach” and the development of the religion of humanity at the heart of his Catéchisme positiviste (1852) and his Système de politique positive (1851-54). He was also pushing further the critique to political economy that he had exposed in the 47th lecture of his Cours de philosophie positive (1830-42).
Comte’s theory of altruism is a central point of his religious credo but it is also a critique to the political consequences of the spreading of political economy altruism that gave birth to a large debate. The topic is thus perfectly fitted to a history of the relations between sociology and economics.
The first considers how selfish behavior or egoism came to be considered as a major threat endangering the functioning of the industrial society, by Comte and those who were worried by the diffusion of egoism. Then, the second part summarizes the methodological critiques set forth in the Cours before connecting this critique to the economic content of the Système and the concept of altruism. The last part contrasts Spencer’s view of altruism to the one held by Comte and, how French political economists reacted, defending the moral value of their science.