Positivism Essay - 978 Words

Positivism Positivism is a scientific approach to sociology (the science of society As Keat and Urry (social theory as science, 1975) note: Positivism is concerned only with observable phenomena. It involves establishing law-like relations between them through the careful accumulation of factual knowledge. This occurs by means of observation, experimentation, comparison and prediction. The terms sociology and positive philosophy (positivism) were both coined by Auguste Comte (the founder of Sociology), an educated philosopher, born on January 19th 1798 in Montpellier, France. He grew up and studied after a great period of change. There had been the French revolution, the Industrial†¦show more content†¦The three stages societies progress through are outlined below. Comte thought that society (and indeed the sciences) went through three distinct stages; Theological, Metaphysical and Positive. He thought when society had reached the end of the positivistic stage it would be Utopia where the world was ruled by experts in each field. The common person wouldnt need to make their own decisions as everything would be thought out for them.  · THEOLOGICAL: Military. (Middle Ages) - Natural phenomena explained as being the will of God/supernatural forces - The family is basic social unit  · METAPHYSICAL:Judicial (1300-1700) - Mysterious abstract forces employed to explain natural p Phenomena (e.g. a force in the object itself) - The state is social unit.  · POSITIVISTIC:Industrial (1800+) - The last and highest stage - Scientific method/invariant laws describe and explain all phenomena After the basic law of the three stages is Comtes theory of the hierarchy of sciences. As humans progress through the above stages each dependant on the preceding, so do the sciences (hence all sciences contribute to sociology) Starting with the purest and simplest and ascending in complexity.  · Mathematics  · Astronomy  · PhysicsShow MoreRelatedLogical Positivists Of Logical Positivism Essay1204 Words   |  5 PagesGiven the presentation by Professor David Baranov, the arguments surrounding logical positivism were yet to be settled. It was very clear that this theory was still a work in progress. For what it is worth, it was a good attempt with respect to the general presentation of the conceptual framework. Much effort was spent on highlighting keynote points, varying eras and the associated happenings, arguments from and by each major proponent of the concept and an in depth account on the subject matterRead MorePositivism vs Interpretivism Essay1575 Words   |  7 Pagesother with both being concerned surrounding reliability and study designs. 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