Why did Auguste Comte reject metaphysical explanations based on ultimate causes?

Auguste Comte rejected metaphysical explanations because he viewed them as fruitless "pseudoexplanations" that relied on abstract notions—such as essences, vital forces, or final causes—rather than empirical evidence.12

Within his law of three stages, Comte argued that the metaphysical stage was an imperfect, transitional phase of human intellectual development. He maintained that questions regarding ultimate reality, absolute beginnings, or first causes are fundamentally unanswerable by human reason. Because these inquiries lead only to speculation rather than verifiable knowledge, Comte concluded that they should be abandoned in favor of the "positive" stage.12

In this scientific stage, the goal of knowledge is not to uncover hidden essences, but to observe phenomena and formulate descriptive laws based on the relationships between them. By prioritizing empirical observation and the scientific method, Comte sought to replace abstract, unverifiable theories with knowledge that is relative to human experience and social context.12