positivism
Positivism names the doctrine or method that limits knowledge to observable facts and the invariable relations among phenomena, setting aside ultimate causes and metaphysical speculation.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Definitions
- A philosophical doctrine or method under which the object of knowledge is phenomena given in experience and their fixed coexistences and sequences, while questions about efficient and final causes are treated as barren (the classic nineteenth-century contrast with metaphysical speculation).
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - As a typology label: a methodological strand (facts and empirical laws only), a social strand (science of society as a further grade of the sciences), or a religious strand (cult of humanity in place of a personal God), without collapsing into bare empiricism or utilitarianism.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In the history of ideas: Auguste Comte's system and the currents that took over the limit of knowledge to sense experience, induction and relations among phenomena (notably in nineteenth-century French and English circles).
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In didactic and publicistic talk: a loose label for "facts only, no metaphysics", often without separating scientific method from Comte's full system with the religion of humanity.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
Examples
- The seminar opened by separating methodological positivism from the religion of humanity: the first concerns criteria of knowledge, the second cult and organisation.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - Her handbook lined positivism up against metaphysics, marking where a description of laws of phenomena ends.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In the history of ideas course he stressed that Comte's positivism covers both a classification of the sciences and a project of positive religion.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - The columnist warned that a charge of positivism often works as a rhetorical shortcut when the real demand is only empirical proof.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - She weighed positivism against a priori speculation, asking where observation of relations among phenomena stops and talk of ultimate causes begins.
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Usage
Everyday English often treats positivism as a tag for "what can be measured or observed". Academic prose stays clearer when layers stay apart: a thesis that knowledge stops at experiential facts; the law of three stages (theological, metaphysical, positive); a hierarchy of the sciences; and the later project of a religion of humanity. State plainly which layer you mean. Otherwise the word melts into empiricism, scientism, utilitarianism and a mere dislike of speculation.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Webster 1913 under Positivism describes a system begun by M. Auguste Comte: only natural phenomena and their invariable relations of coexistence and succession; laws come from observation, experiment and comparison, while search for efficient and final causes is called useless. Positive philosophy points to Positivism; Positivist covers an adherent and an adjective. Skeat 1910 under POSITIVE derives positive from ME. positif, F. positif and L. positivus (root positus from ponere), and links the -ism form to Comte (1798-1857). Open lemmas supply the lexical facts; wording here is written separately.
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1910, open sourceThe Catholic Encyclopedia entry Positivism (G. M. Sauvage) gives Comte's dates: Montpellier, 19 January 1798; Paris, 5 September 1857. It treats as a historical law three stages: theological, metaphysical and positive. It orders the sciences as mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, sociology. It describes a religion with a "Great Being" (Humanity), a "Great Medium" (Space) and a "Great Fetish" (the Earth), and a split: Littré (method) versus Laffitte (method plus cult). The chief work named is Cours de philosophie positive (six volumes, 1830-1842).
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Editorial team; facts: G. M. Sauvage, Positivism, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1911 (Wikisource: Catholic Encyclopedia 1913), open sourceFrequent pairings are philosophical positivism, methodological positivism, Comte's positivism, critique of positivism, and defence of positivism. As a noun positivist labels someone who holds the view; positive serves as the related adjective in the older lexical family. Careful writers keep the lemma clear of metaphysics (speculation beyond phenomena), a priori speculation (knowledge claimed ahead of experience), and narrow empiricism (experience as source without Comte's full system). Borders still shift by author.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Word forms
Regular English noun, usually uncountable; the plural positivisms is rare and marks distinct kinds or historical versions of the stance.
word forms
| przypadek | forma |
|---|---|
| singular | positivism |
| plural | positivisms |
Word forms: Editorial team
Collocations
- philosophical positivism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - methodological positivism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - Comte's positivism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - critique of positivism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - defence of positivism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
Synonyms · Antonyms
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 (Positive philosophy: See Positivism), open sourcesource
Editorial team; facts: G. M. Sauvage, Positivism, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12 (denies the validity of metaphysical speculations), open sourceEtymology
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcealso
W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open sourcealso
G. M. Sauvage, Positivism, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1911 (Wikisource: Catholic Encyclopedia 1913), open sourceRelated words
- positivist , noun/adjective: person who holds positivism; also adjectival (Webster 1913 Positivist)
- positive , related adjective: from OE. positif, F. positif, L. positivus (Webster 1913 Positive; Skeat 1910 POSITIVE)
- positive philosophy , related phrase: Webster 1913 Positive philosophy points to Positivism
- metaphysics , related noun (contrastive): speculation beyond phenomena that positivism rejects as a criterion of knowledge
- pozytywizm , etymologically related Polish noun
Related entries
Questions and answers
What does positivism mean?
In philosophy it names the thesis that knowledge closes on phenomena and their empirical laws, without speculation about ultimate causes. In school typology it covers methodological, social and religious varieties (cult of humanity). Historically it names Comte's system and related currents. Outside campus talk it often means any "facts only" stance. Scope follows register.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)How does positivism differ from empiricism and from metaphysics?
Empiricism is a broad claim that experience sources knowledge; positivism (especially Comte's) adds three stages, a science hierarchy and often a religion of humanity. Metaphysics in the CE entry is what positivism denies as valid speculation. Webster 1913 calls search for efficient and final causes useless. Casual talk confuses all three with "facts alone".
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; G. M. Sauvage, Positivism, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12, open sourceWhere does the word positivism come from?
It joins English positive (from French positif and Latin positivus, tied to positus / ponere) to the -ism ending. Webster 1913 records Positive, Positivism and Positivist. Skeat 1910 under POSITIVE ties the doctrinal -ism to Comte and gives the years 1798 and 1857. The CE entry confirms those dates and the system outline. The English lemma follows that Latin-French path.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourceWhat are the word forms of positivism?
The noun is regular and usually uncountable: positivism. A plural positivisms is rare and marks distinct kinds or historical versions of the stance. Related forms include positivist (adherent and adjective) and positive.