Comte  .f*  It  is,  he  says,  ''the  synthetic  idealisation
of  our  existence,"  or  "that  state  of  perfect  unity
which  is  the  distinctive  mark  of  man's  existence,
both  as  an  individual  and  in  society,  when  all  the
constituent  parts  of  his  nature,  moral  as  well  as
physical,  are  made  habitually  to  converge  towards
one  common  unity."  Mr  J.  S.  Mill  accepted  M.
Comte's  view  on  this  subject,  and  gave  it  expres-
sion in  clear  and  simple  terms.  These  are  the
conditions  necessary  to  constitute  a  religion  in  the
positivist  sense  of  the  word,  as  stated  by  Mr  Mill :
"There  must  be  a  creed  or  conviction  claiming
authority  over  the  whole  of  human  life ;  a  belief,
or  set  of  beliefs,  deliberately  adopted,  respecting
human  destiny  and  duty,  to  which  the  believer  in-
wardly acknowledges  that  all  his  actions  ought  to
be  subordinate.  Moreover,  there  must  be  a  senti-
ment connected  with  this  creed,  or  capable  of  being
invoked  by  it,  sufficiently  powerful  to  give  it,  in
fact,  the  authority  over  human  conduct  to  which
it  lays  claim  in  theory."  According  to  this  doc-
trine, "if  a  person  has  an  ideal  object,  his  attach-


200  Anti-Theistic  Theories.
ment  and  sense  of  duty  towards  which  are  able  to
control  and  discipline  all  his  other  sentiments  and
propensities,  and  prescribe  to  him  a  rule  of  life,
that  person  has  a  religion."

Such  is  the  account  of  religion  given  by  M.
