Auguste Comte (1798-1857) was born and lived in France; he was a follower of Saint-Simon, but was divided in opinion with his teacher and began to develop his own philosophy.
Like many other social thinkers of the XIX century, Comte liked to predict, and this love naturally derived from the fatalistic interpretation of social laws. Today, some of his predictions look naive and ridiculous, others - thorough and visionary. The fundamental faith of Comte in the fact that the Religion of Humanity developed by him right up to the ritual details will become the religion of mankind was not confirmed.
According to the “Plan for the Scientific Work Necessary to Reorganize Society” developed by Comte, the capitalist class (the patriciate, the "concentrated strength of wealth") remains in sociology. The material force must belong to the industrialists (bankers, merchants, manufacturers, landowners). A rich patrician, under the leadership of the chief bankers, runs the sociocracy. The proletariat (the "scattered strength of the number") should surpass in 33 times the number of the patriciate. Comte took the petty bourgeoisie as a sharply negative phenomenon and wished it to disappear. Spiritual power in the socialocracy is carried out by the priests of the positivist church, bringing up both classes in the spirit of solidarity.
Comte spoke against individualism, against theories of non-interference of the state in private life. However, his project of strengthening the existing system is no better than liberal projects. Sociocracy is a barracks, where the proletarians exercise their "social function" under the vigilant supervision of the church and government.
Comte's views on the right and on the rights of the individual are very peculiar; he rejects both: "The word" right "must also be banished from the correct political language, as the word “reason" from a real philosophical speech. One of these two theological-metaphysical concepts, (the right) is as immoral and anarchic as the other (cause) is irrational and sophistical."
He regards the right as an authoritarian-theological concept based on the idea of the God-established power. The concept of "human rights" was put forward to fight against this theocratic authority (in the metaphysical period - essentially, in modern times. According to Comte, this concept of “human rights” fulfilled only a destructive role. When these human rights were tried in practice, "they immediately discovered their antisocial nature, seeking to perpetuate individualism."
Sociology should not have a concept of neither the right nor the rights of the individual: "In a positive state, not based on divine principles, the idea of right disappears irrevocably. Everyone has duties to everyone, but no one has rights as such ... In other words, no one has a right other than the right to always fulfill his duty. "
However, replacing the right with positive politics and religion, and the rights of the individual - with duties does not mean, according to the plan of Comte, any encroachments on capitalist property. Comte seeks to give a new, positivist basis for the private property of the capitalists.
Ultimately, according to Comte's projects, humanity will unite into 500 sociocracies, each of which is no larger than Belgium or Holland, since in a large state neither order nor progress is possible.
Comte condemned the aggressive wars, seeing a hostile survival of "military life" industry in them. Comte criticized colonialism and set the task of completely eliminating colonial oppression. According to Comte, as a result of the moral revival of humanity, the oppressed peoples will occupy a worthy place in the world union of socialocracy; then the wars will finally disappear.