Skip to main content

Sage Social Science Thesaurus

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

social science subjects > social research > philosophy and the social sciences > philosophy of science > history of positivism
... > social science subjects > business and management > organization studies > organization studies encyc > philosophy of organizations > philosophy of science > history of positivism
... > social science subjects > sociology > anthropology > research/theoretical frameworks > philosophy of science > history of positivism
... > social science subjects > politics and international relations > political science > political theory > empirical political theory > philosophy of social science > history of positivism
... > social science subjects > politics and international relations > political science > political theory > modern political theory > philosophy of social science > history of positivism
social science subjects > social research > philosophy and the social sciences > philosophy of social science > history of positivism

Preferred term

history of positivism  

Definition

  • Generally speaking, positivism is a label given to any philosophical position that embraces scientism, which is the view that all genuine knowledge is obtained by combining empirical observation and logical reasoning in a manner best exemplified by the natural sciences. The idea of a “positive philosophy” was first formulated in the early 19th century by Auguste Comte, but its best-known version is Vienna Circle logical positivism, developed in Germany and Austria in the mid 20th century. [Source: Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences; Positivism, History of]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/history_of_positivism

Download this concept:

RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD