Lecture by Professor Mary Pickering

Mary Pickering, who is completing Volume II of the first biography of Auguste Comte, will speak on his concepts of sociology and positivism, demonstrating their links to the social unrest of the nineteenth century. She will reveal her findings about his feminist proclivities, views of the emotions, Religion of Humanity, and epistemology. Having worked extensively in archives in France, England, and the United States for twenty-five years, she will also shed light on why his ideas attracted a wide following.