2 August Comte - positivism

Question 1

Key features of positivism

Answer 1

o A focus on science as a set of statements
o logical structure and coherence of these statements
o Which can be verified, confirmed, or falsified by the empirical observation of reality
o All things are ultimately (objectively) measurable
o Science rests on specific results that are dissociated from the investigator
o Science contains theories which are more or less 1:1 (representative) models of reality
o Science sometimes incorporates new ideas that are different from old ones
o Science is cumulative
o Scientific knowledge is predominantly universal
o Science involves the idea of the unity of science, basically one science – one truth – about one real world.

Question 2

August Comte

Answer 2

For him nothing was self-evident, or God given. For him every fact needed to be positively confirmed using rigorous scientific research methods, inspired by the natural sciences.
In his time, his ideas were very emancipatory, trying to overcome the conservative ideas of the church or the dominant feudal powers, who claimed a monopoly of what was seen as correct knowledge. Comte’s revolutionary idea, at that time was, that not God nor the Ruling Powers but empirical facts and observations should determine what is true.