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696 be held entirely responsible for such acts. 'Good' is that which serves some useful purpose, not merely to mankind but to the universe. 'Evil' is the unjustifiable infliction of pain or injury on sentient creatures. Pain in itself is not an evil, but is merely a sensation which is feared and disliked. The problem of evil, although complex, may be solved upon recourse to scientific principles. Viewed scientifically, the universe is seen to be perfect and to contain no evil. Pain, which is commonly called evil, may in every case ultimately be proved to be necessary to human welfare. This conclusion, would, if adopted and applied scientifically, relieve human suffering, for scientific knowledge is the greatest preventive of pain.

There has been much controversy between the followers of Saint-Simon and the Comtists concerning the relation of Comte to Saint-Simon, the former holding that Comte was merely a disciple who had denied his master, the latter that Saint-Simon exercised no influence over the philosophy of Comte. The author takes the former position, and attempts to show that Saint-Simon had reached the general conception of Positivism before Comte, and that the relation of the two systems can be understood only in view of the personal relations of the two men. Comte met Saint-Simon in 1817, shortly after his expulsion from the École polytechnique. Attracted both by the personality of the older man and by the theories which Saint-Simon held even at that time, Comte fell under his influence and soon became his secretary and collaborator, a position which he occupied until 1825. Various letters written by Comte during this period not only attest his great admiration and friendship for Saint-Simon, but also acknowledge the latter's influence. During these years he wrote under his master's direction the third volume of L'Industrie, and aided in the production of La politique and L'organisation. At the same time Comte also conceived and partly carried out a work whose aim was to systematize, according to Positive methods, all the sciences, including those of mind and society. While Saint-Simon's ignorance of the special sciences precluded the possibility of his influence on the details of this work, yet his general conception of a synthesis of the human sciences, which he had held as early as 1808, was undoubtedly known to Comte. For five years Comte published all his writings under the patronage of Saint-Simon, not even demanding the appearance of his name in connection with that of his master. In 1822 he refused to continue this. Instead of accepting Comte's refusal, Saint-Simon delayed the appearance of a part of Le catechisme; and, when he finally published it, incorporated in it some work of Comte's without