Positivism – מילון אנגלי-אנגלי
positivism
n.
positiveness, definiteness; philosophical viewpoint that concentrates on definite fact and avoids speculation (founded by Auguste Comte)
Positivism
positivism
Noun
1. the form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience (not on intuition or revelation)
(synonym) logical positivism
(hypernym) empiricism, empiricist philosophy, sensationalism
(hyponym) Comtism
2. a quality or state characterized by certainty or acceptance or affirmation
(synonym) positivity
(hypernym) quality
(hyponym) positiveness
Positivism
(n.)
A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives. It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws, which are to be discovered by observation, experiment, and comparison. This philosophy holds all inquiry into causes, both efficient and final, to be useless and unprofitable.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
Positivism
Positivism In general, a philosophy based on physical phenomena and ignoring underlying antecedent causes; specifically, the system of Auguste Comte (1798-1857), miscalled the Religion of Humanity. He held that all speculative thought passes through three phases -- theological, metaphysical, positive: in the first, living beings having individual free will are regarded as the cause of phenomena; in the next, unverifiable abstractions are resorted to; positivism contents itself with a general description of phenomena. The universe is not composed of individuals with volition, but of an ordered organism -- humanity -- governed by necessary laws. The civilized community is a true organism, a great being, and should be an object of worship. In conformity with the last, Positivist churches continue to exist, with definite organization and procedure. As stated in Isis Unveiled (1:79), negativism might be a better term, since the system denies more than it affirms. Its rejection of individuals in favor of humanity certainly is a lapse into the rejected metaphysical stage of speculation, which Comte showed he had no true comprehension of. As a philosophy, holding that knowledge is based exclusively on the methods and discoveries of physical or positive science, it labors under great disadvantages. That speculation does pass through these and other stages is evident from the history of philosophy; but that positivism represents more than a passing phase is impossible to believe. It is one of the subtle forms of materialistic European philosophy so popular -- and among certain minds still in vogue -- during the 18th and 19th centuries.
