Brazilian Positivists

From Philosopedia

BRAZILIAN POSITIVISTS

The influence of Auguste Comte’s positivism has been substantial in Brazil. The flag carries one of Comte’s favorite slogans, “Order and Progress.”

Although Comte was anti-organized religion, he did not object to the establishment of a positivist version of the church in Brazil. Miguel Lemos and Raimundo Teixera Méndez led in founding the Apostolado Positivista do Brasil, which in all respects became a church, with temples, services, and dogma.

Elsewhere in Brazil, however, in the so-called School of Recife, positivism remained nonreligious and theoretical.

The Centro Positivista do Parana has been an associate member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. A Brazilian member is José Leite Lopes, professor emeritus of Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas.

{See the Encyclopedia of Unbelief, which cites such Brazilian positivists as Constant Botelho de Magalhaes (1836—1891), Luis Pereira Barreto (1840—1923), and Ruy Barbosa (1849—1923).)

(Also, see entry for Pedro Mendoça.}