Ch. 5 Positivism and Hermeneutics Flashcards
Positivism
the idea that the social sciences can be studied with the same methodology as the physical sciences.
Prominent in Europe in the 19th cenury, important people: AUGUST COMTE and MIL
3 stages of Auguste Comte
STAGE 1 : theological state (animism, polytheism, monotheism)
STAGE 2: methaphysical stage (people start to think about forces, although they can’t be observed so it results in endless circles of “it is because it is”)
STAGE 3: positive stage (studying the universal law throught the use of reasoning. Looking for mechanical explanations to understand te world. The question is now not WHY for social sciences but HOW?)
What is the only way to reach the positive stage?
The only way is by borrowing principles and methods from natural sciences
“Positivists are METHODOLOGICAL MONISTS” what does this mean?
they believe there is only scientific method, and that it should be used in all of the sciencfes, both natural and social. They argue that human subjectivity is a remnant of our theological and methaphysical stage and it should be removed. We should study humans the same way you study all objects.
Hermeneutics
argues that there is a dualism according to which there are two distinct sciences (natural and social) which difffer in subject matter as well as their methodology.
Humans are subjects, not objects and they must be sutudied through an understanding of their inner psychic worlds.
Method of Verstehen
having a natural world descripion of you doesn’t tell me anything about what it is like to be you.
This method says that we must simply place ourselves in others’ shoes in order to undersstand better from a social perspective through the faculty of imagination.
Method of Eklaren
Opposite of method of verstehen.
It is the procedure followed by the natural sciences of seeking explanations through general laws.
What is the problem with the Verstehen method?
Subjectivity!!! intepreters will never be able to shake thier own preconceptions and presuppositions to their own situatedness in history. We cant leave behind our cultural baggage
