Positivism (philosophy) - New World Encyclopedia

Positivism is a family of philosophical views characterized by a highly favorable account of science and what is taken to be the scientific method. Articles About Citethispage Feedback Positivism(philosophy) FromNewWorldEncyclopediaJumpto:navigation,search Previous(Positivepsychology)Next(Positronemissiontomography) Positivismisafamilyofphilosophicalviewscharacterizedbyahighlyfavorableaccountofscienceandwhatistakentobethescientificmethod.Assuch,thepositionissomewhatcircularbecause,accordingtomostversionsofpositivism,thereisanidentifiablescientificmethodthatisunderstoodtobeunitaryandpositivistic,butallthreeofthoseclaims—thatthereisanidentifiableandspecifiablescientificmethod,thatthereisjustonesuchmethod,andthatitispositivistic—aretendentiousandnowhighlydisputed.Nevertheless,positivismcametodesignateaphilosophicalmovementthatbecamepowerfulinallWesterncountriestowardtheendofthenineteenthcenturyandwellintothefirsthalfofthetwentieth.Moreover,positivistsattemptedtoimportthemethodofscienceintophilosophy,sothatphilosophyshouldbecome"scientific."Anothercharacteristicofpositivismwastheattempttoeliminateanymetaphysicalcomponentfromphilosophy. Contents 1Majorfiguresinpositivism 2Positivismofthe1950s 3Criticismandrejectionofpositivism 4References 5Externallinks 5.1Generalphilosophysources 6Credits AsNiccolaAbbagnanohasputit:Thecharacteristicthesesofpositivismarethatscienceistheonlyvalidknowledgeandfactstheonlypossibleobjectsofknowledge;thatphilosophydoesnotpossesamethoddifferentfromscience;andthatthetaskofphilosophyistofindthegeneralprinciplescommontoallthesciencesandtousetheseprinciplesasguidestohumanconductandasthebasisofsocialorganization.Positivism,consequently,deniestheexistenceorintelligibilityofforcesorsubstancesthatgobeyondfactsandthelawsascertainedbyscience.Itopposesanykindofmetaphysicsand,ingeneral,anyprocedureofinvestigationthatisnotreducibletoscientificmethod(Abbagnano,"Positivism,"414). Majorfiguresinpositivism PositivismhasrootsintheworkofBritishphilosopherFrancisBaconandtheotherBritishempiricists—Locke,Berkeley,andespeciallyDavidHume.Inthenineteenthcentury,theBritishutilitarians,JeremyBenthamandJohnStuartMill,alsoespousedpositivism.Theculturalbackgroundofpositivismwastheindustrialrevolutionoftheeighteenthcenturyandafter,withtheaccompanyingoptimismthattechnologyandsciencewouldbringaboutsocialprogress,andthatscienceandthemethodofsciencewasthesource,orground,ofgenuineknowledge. Theterms"positivism"and"positivephilosophy"wereintroducedbyFrenchphilosopherClaude-HenriSaint-Simon(1760-1825)torefertoascientificapproachtotheworld.ForSaint-Simon,theimplicationsofthisextendedtosocial,political,educational,andreligiousaffairs.Hehadthegoalofbringingaboutreformsineachofthoseareas. FrenchphilosopherAugusteComte(1789-1857)—forsevenyearsastudentandcollaboratorofSaint-Simon—popularizedandsystematizedtheterms"positivism"and"positivephilosophy."Comtearguedthatsocietiesprogressfromatheologicalstagetoametaphysicalone,andthentoascientificstagewhereinthepositivistic,scientificoutlookandmethodaredominant.Comteisalsowidelyregardedashavingbeenthefirsttruesociologist. FrenchcriticandphilosopherHippolyteTaine(1828-1893),alongwithFrenchphilosopherandlinguistÉmileLittré(1801-1881),"wasthespokesmanforComteanpositivisminthesecondhalfofthenineteenthcentury"(Reese,"Positivism,"596). ArgentinephilosopherAlejandroKorn(1860-1936)appliedpositivisminArgentina,holdingthattheArgentineexperienceafterindependencerepresentedanArgentinianpositivism. Brazil'snationalmotto,OrdemeProgresso("OrderandProgress")wastakenfromComte'spositivism,whichwasalsoinfluentialinPoland.Positivismwasalsothemostevolvedstageofsocietyinnow-defunctanthropologicalevolutionism,thepointwherescienceandrationalexplanationforscientificphenomenadevelops. Inthelatterpartofthenineteenthcentury,themostimportantandinfluentialpositivistwasErnstMach.Mach'spositivisminsciencebecameoneofthetwomaininfluencesonthemembersoftheViennaCircleandonwhatbecameLogicalPositivism. ByfarthestrongestandmostinfluentialdevelopmentofpositivisminWesternphilosophycamewiththeViennaCircleandtheLogicalPositivists(alsoknownasLogicalEmpiricists).TheycombinedthepositivismtheyhadlearnedprimarilyfromMachwiththepowerfullogicthathadbeendevelopedbyGottlobFregetocreateapositivismthatwasexpressedinlogicalform.Thisbecamesodominantthattoday,whentheterm"positivism"isused,itusuallymeansLogicalPositivismoraformofanalyticpositivismthathasgrownoutoftheworkoftheViennaCircleandtheLogicalPositivists. Positivismofthe1950s Bythe1950s,thepositivismoftheViennaCircleandtheLogicalPositivists—itspopularizationcamelargelythroughA.J.Ayer'swidelyreadandhighlyinfluentialbook,Language,Truth,andLogic—becamethedominantformoftheviewinAmericaandmuchoftheWesternWorld.Thatview,asitwasdevelopedbyCarnap,Hempel,andmanyothers,cametobeknowntoitscriticsasthe"receivedview"—thattermwasintroducedbyHilaryPutnam. Keyfeaturesthe"receivedview"weresetforthbyIanHacking: Afocusonscienceasaproduct,alinguisticornumericalsetofstatements; Aconcernwithaxiomatization,thatis,withdemonstratingthelogicalstructureandcoherenceofthesestatements; Aninsistenceonatleastsomeofthesestatementsbeingtestable,thatisamenabletobeingverified,confirmed,orfalsifiedbytheempiricalobservationofreality;statementsthatwould,bytheirnature,beregardedasuntestableincludedtheteleological;(Thuspositivismrejectsmuchofclassicalmetaphysics.) Thebeliefthatscienceismarkedlycumulative; Thebeliefthatscienceispredominantlytranscultural; Thebeliefthatsciencerestsonspecificresultsthataredissociatedfromthepersonalityandsocialpositionoftheinvestigator; Thebeliefthatsciencecontainstheoriesorresearchtraditionsthatarelargelycommensurable; Thebeliefthatsciencesometimesincorporatesnewideasthatarediscontinuousfromoldones; Thebeliefthatscienceinvolvestheideaoftheunityofscience,thatthereis,underlyingthevariousscientificdisciplines,basicallyonescienceaboutonerealworld. Bytheendofthetwentiethcentury,nearlyeveryoneofthoseclaimsorbeliefshadbeenseverelycriticizedorputintoquestion,somuchsothattheycanberegardednowasbeinguntenable,oratleastinneedofmanyqualificationsandcaveats. Positivismhasalsobeendepictedas"theviewthatalltrueknowledgeisscientific,"(Bullock&Trombley)andthatallthingsareultimatelymeasurable.Becauseofits"closeassociationwithreductionism,"positivismandreductionisminvolvetheviewthat"entitiesofonekind…arereducibletoentitiesofanother"(ibid.),suchassocietiestonumbers,ormentaleventstochemicalevents.Italsoinvolvesthecontentionthat"processesarereducibletophysiological,physicalorchemicalevents"(ibid.),andeventhat"socialprocessesarereducibletorelationshipsbetweenandactionsofindividuals"(ibid.),orthat"biologicalorganismsarereducibletophysicalsystems"(ibid.).Thisispreciselywheremanysocialandenvironmentalthinkers,historians,philosophers,andecofeminists,forexample,partcompanywithscienceandroundlycondemnthesimplisticapproachofsciencewhenitisinappropriatelyappliedintheinherentlymorecomplexsocialsphere.Butindoingso,theyadoptanessentiallyanti-sciencestance. Criticismandrejectionofpositivism Today,amongmostphilosophers,positivismisdead,oratleastasdeadasaphilosophicalstanceormovementeverbecomes,butitisstillaliveamongmanyscientistsandotherswhoarenotwell-versedin,orknowledgeableabout,whathasoccurredintechnicalphilosophysincethe1950s.Thedemiseofpositivismcameformanyreasons,amongthemthatnospecificationofthepositivistverificationprinciplecouldeverbefoundthatwouldwithstandcriticalinvestigation.Asecondreasonwasthegrowingrealizationthatthereisnotoneidentifiablescientificmethod,andpossiblynorigidlyspecifiablescientificmethodatall.Moreover,thenotionthatthereissomeunityofthescienceshasalsobeenmuchcriticizedtoday. Thedemiseofpositivismdoesnotmeanthatanythinggoesinscience,oranyotherarenaofhumanknowledgeorinvestigation(despitetheclaimsofFeyerabend),orthatthereisnodistinctionbetweengenuinescienceandpseudoscience.Butthereisnolongeranyphilosophically,logically,ormethodologicallyrigorousbasisonwhichsuchadistinctioncanbeconstructed.Inaddition,ithasbeenshown(byKarlPopperandothers)thatmetaphysicscannotbeeliminated,evenfromscienceitself. References Abbagnano,Nicola,trans.byNinoLangiulli."Positivism,"pp.414-419inTheEncyclopediaofPhilosophy.PaulEdwards,ed.,Vol.6.MacMillanPublishingCompany,1973.ISBN978-0028949505 Bell,Wendell.FoundationsofFuturesStudies:HumanScienceforaNewEra:History,Purposes,Knowledge.NewBrunswick,NJ:TransactionPublishers,2003.ISBN978-0765805393 Bullock,Alan,StephenTrombley,andOliverStallybrass.TheFontanaDictionaryofModernThought.FontanaPress,2000.ISBN978-0006863830 Hacking,Ian.ScientificRevolutions.NewYork:OxfordUniv.Press,1981.ISBN978-0198750512 Reese,William."Positivism,"pp.596,597inDictionaryofPhilosophyandReligion:EasternandWesternThought.PrometheusBooks,1996.ISBN978-1573926218 Suppe,Frederick(1977).TheStructureofScientificTheories.UniversityofIllinoisPress,1977.ISBN978-0252006555 Externallinks AlllinksretrievedJune13,2019. AGeneralViewofPositivismbyAugusteComte. Positivism,CatholicEncyclopedia. Legalpositivism,StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy. 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