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1. When possible, thequotations are from the translations made by English positivists inthe 19th century. Page reference is given first to the French text,and, in the case of theCourse of Positive Philosophy, thenumber of the lesson is given too; then follows the reference to theEnglish translation. For instance (1830 (56), v. 2, 466; E., v. 2, 522) refers to the passage of the 56th lesson which is in the secondvolume of the french edition, p. 466, the translation of which is inthe second volume of the english edition, p. 522. The same conventionsare used for all Comte’s works.

2. Comte uses “material”in a wide sense, refering to temporal power, in contradistinction tospiritual power. Furthermore, he uses here a term which is difficultto translate: “légiste”; today,“lawyer” means rather “avocat”. As a matter offact, kings used thoselégistes in order to enlargetheir power against medieval aristocraty; such was for instanceLeibniz’s function at the Hannover Court.

3. After the creation ofthe religion of Humanity, Comte, according to the context, capitalizesor do not capitalize the word.

4. See the first letter Millsent to Comte (India House, London, 8 nov 1841). Mill wrote inFrench:

C’est dans l’année 1828, Monsieur, que j’ai lu pour lapremière fois votre traité dePolitiquePositive et cette lecture a donné à toutes mesidées une forte secousse, qui, avec d’autres causes, maisbeaucoup plus qu’elles, a déterminé ma sortiedéfinitive de la section Benthamiste…

Of course, there may have been some flattery going on.

5. See, for example,H. Taine, in hisLe positivisme anglais, étude sur StuartMill (1864). Note also that the distinction W. Dilthey drewbetweenNaturwissenschaft andGeisteswissenschaftarose in a critical discussion of Mill’s theory of moral sciences (thelast part of theSystem of Logic). Dilthey considers this,with some reason, a positivist conception. (SeeS. Mesure,Dilthey et la fondation des sciences historiques,Paris: PUF, 1990.) It might be surprising that Mill was considered apositivist on the continent. One may ask if thisinterpretation is correct, but that is a separate matter.