Positivism

Question 1

Auguste Comte

Answer 1

• Considered first positivist
• Utopian socialist
• Coined term “altruism”
• Religion of Humanity

Question 2

Positivism

Answer 2

Positivism is a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information. Introspective and intuitional attempts to gain knowledge are rejected. Though the positivist approach has been a recurrent theme in the history of western thought from the Ancient (Egyptians) to the present day,[1] the concept was developed in the early 19th century by the philosopher and founding sociologist, Auguste Comte.[2]

Question 3

Comte’s Law of Three Stages

Answer 3

1. Theological Stage 1.Fetishism
2. Polytheism
3. Monotheism
4. Metaphysical or Abstract Stage
5. Positive Stage

Question 4

Emile Durkhiem

Answer 4

1. Suicide
2. Anomie
3. Positivism
4. Social Research

Question 5

Anti-Positivism

Answer 5

At the turn of the 20th century, the first wave of German sociologists formally introduced methodological antipositivism, proposing that research should concentrate on human cultural norms, values, symbols, and social processes viewed from a subjective perspective.

Question 6

Max Weber

Answer 6

• Wrote about protestant work ethic influencing onset of capitalism. Contrary to Marx’s materialism.
• Non-empiricist.
• First defined State as the institution with a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.
• Bureauracracy.

Question 7

Karl Popper

Answer 7

Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH FRS[1] FBA (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austro-British[2] philosopher and professor at the London School of Economics.[3] He is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century;[4][5] he also wrote extensively on social and political philosophy.

Popper is known for his attempt to repudiate the classical observationalist/inductivist form of scientific method in favour of empirical falsification. He is also known for his opposition to the classical justificationist account of knowledge which he replaced with critical rationalism, “the first non justificational philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy”.[6] As well, he is known for his vigorous defence of liberal democracy and the principles of social criticism that he came to believe made a flourishing “open society” possible.

He is not a positivist. Called this the Popper legend.

Question 8

Karl Popper on Darwin

Answer 8

For example, he famously stated “Darwinism is not a testable scientific theory, but a metaphysical research program — a possible framework for testable scientific theories.” He continued:

And yet, the theory is invaluable. I do not see how, without it, our knowledge could have grown as it has done since Darwin. In trying to explain experiments with bacteria which become adapted to, say, penicillin, it is quite clear that we are greatly helped by the theory of natural selection. Although it is metaphysical, it sheds much light upon very concrete and very practical researches. It allows us to study adaptation to a new environment (such as a penicillin-infested environment) in a rational way: it suggests the existence of a mechanism of adaptation, and it allows us even to study in detail the mechanism at work.[22]

Question 9

Marx?

Answer 9

Built on Positivism but not completely.