positivism
nounUK /ˈpɒzɪtɪvˌɪzm/ · US /ˈpɑzɪtɪvˌɪzm/
Etymology Borrowed from French positivisme, from positif (“positive”). By surface analysis, positiv(e) + -ism.
1
Human sciences, Philosophy, Sciences A doctrine that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method, refusing every form of metaphysics.
- The goal of positivism is to construct an objective, empirical and systematic foundation for knowledge. Given the above five tenets, it follows that positivists would hold that the world is composed of ‘facts’, or ‘sense data’ (or ‘atoms’).1980, David Held, Introduction to Critical Theory, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 164:
- History, and its literary expression, narrative, were not scientific, and so did not deserve the attention that true sciences did. Only science could yield positive knowledge—hence the passion for positivism, and the origin of the term.2012, Lydia Pyne, Stephen J. Pyne, The Last Lost World, Penguin, →ISBN:
2
Law A school of thought in jurisprudence in which the law is seen as separated from moral values; i.e., the law is posited by lawmakers (people).
- Derived terms
- legal positivism, logical positivism, neopositivism, postpositivism
- Related terms
- positivist, Comtism