Positivism
definition
a philosophy that states that every valid assertion can be scientifically verified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof
Hence positivism rejects theism (belief in a god/s) and speculation/intuition about origins, being etc.
founded by Auguste Comte
considered to be founder of sociology
Empiricism
a theory that knowledge comes from sensory experience
positivism emphasizes the need for empirical evidence - verified data received from the senses - therefore positivism is based on empiricism
Empiricism emphasises the roles of experience and evidence and is the basis of the scientific method
hypothesis and theories must be tested in light of actual observations of the natural world, rather than being accepted on the basis of a priori reasoning or intuition
contrasts with rationalism
rationalism - the view that considers reason in itself as a source of knowledge independent of experience
Comte believed that sociology would benefit society through politics based on scientific conclusions in the same way as it has benefited from science and technology
Comte started applying the methods of science to the study of society - hence credited with founding sociology - the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society
according to Comte, like the physical world, society functions according to general laws
therefore, knowledge of society needs to be based on facts, structured observation, experimentation and analysis of data
towards the end of the 1800s and beginning of 1900s, some leading scientists took this positivist approach (Ernst March and Friedrich Ostwald)
ended up rejecting atomic theory because atoms could not be accounted for empirically
associated with the Vienna Circle
small group of philosophers, scientists and mathematicians that met regularly at the University of Vienna betweed the mid 1920s and mid 1930s to investigate the methods and language of science
the school of philosophy was responsible for the establishment and refinement of logical positivism
verifiability
the significance of a statement exclusively depends on measurement
whatever cannot be conceivably measured or solved logically was considered a waste of time and effort
however, by the 1930s, positivism started losing its appeal
physics at the beginning of the 20th century was showing limitations of such a strict approach that emphasised measurements and verification and excluded anything else
Einstein
mathematically confirmed the existence of atoms and revolutionized science through statistics and probability
supported the work of Planck and Boltzmann and showed that reasonable assumptions had a role in science
Planck and Boltzmann would never have come up with their theories if they had taken a positivist approach
Werner Heisenberg
uncertainty principle
it is not possible to measure simultaneously both the position and the momentum of a particle
highlighted the limitations of measurement and verification as being the sole criteria for scientific conclusions
although an empirical-based approach is what the scientific method is all about, positivism as a philosophical approach is highly problematic in the natural sciences
an empirical approach based on quantitative research is very much what scientific inquiry is about. It has its place in social research, particularly when questionnaires and random surveys are analysed statistically to draw meaningful results
however, in situations involving human subjects, non-empirical approaches can gain valuable insights that empirical methods will miss
nowadays positivism as a philosophical approach has gone out of favour and has largely given way to post-positivist ideas
Thomas Kuhn is considered a post-positivist since his views on science emphasized that research and knowledge are subjected to bias and are very much influenced by current knowledge
Karl Popper - post-positivist
his concept of paradigm shifts indicates the changing nature of scientific knowledge
he argues that it is not only individual theories, but sometimes entire worldviews that may occasionally need to shift to accommodate evidence
emphasizes role of falsification rather than verification in the acquisition of knowledge - he never treated the results of scientific inquiry as final and immutable, irrespective of the fact that they were obtained by a rigorous, empirical approach
critical realism
like the positivist, a critical realist recognises an objective reality independent of the researcher
a critical realist recognizes that even relying on empirical evidence has its limitations
observations can be inaccurate
all theory is subject to future revision
objectivity remains the ideal - it can only be approximated
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