Positivism

Central Tenents

Although numerous attempts have since been made to identify the central tenets of positivism, the following are generally accepted as its main characteristics.

1.
Phenomenalism. Knowledge must be based on experience, on what observers can perceive with their senses. This perception must be achieved without the subjective activity of cognitive processes; it must be “pure experience” with an empty consciousness.
2.
Nominalism. Any abstract concepts used in scientific explanation must also be derived from experience; metaphysical notions about which it is not possible to make any observations have no legitimate existence except as names or words. Hence, the language used to describe observations must be uncontaminated by any theoretical notions.
3.
Atomism. The objects of experience, of observation, are regarded as discrete, independent atomic impressions of events, which constitute the ultimate and fundamental elements of the world. Insofar as these atomic impressions are formed into generalizations, they do not refer to abstract objects in the world, only regularities among discrete events.
4.
General laws. Scientific theories are regarded as a set of highly general lawlike statements; establishing such general laws is the aim of science. These laws summarize observations by specifying simple relations or constant conjunctions between phenomena. Explanation is achieved by subsuming individual cases under appropriate laws. These laws are general in scope, in that they cover a broad range of observations, and are universal in form, in that they apply, without exception, across time and space.
5.
Value judgments and normative statements. “Facts” and “values” must be separated as values do not have the status of knowledge. Value statements have no empirical content that would make them susceptible to any tests of their validity based on observations.
6.
Verification. The truth or falsity of any scientific statement can be settled with reference to an observable [Page 837]state of affairs. Scientific laws are verified by the accumulation of confirming evidence.
7.
Causation. There is no causality in nature, only regularities or constant conjunctions between events, such that events of one kind are followed by events of another kind. Therefore, if all we have are regularities between types of events, then explanation is nothing more than locating an event within a wider ranging regularity.

Varities of Positivism

According to Halfpenny (1982), it is possible to identify 12 varieties of positivism. However, following Outhwaite (1987), these can be reduced to 3. The first was formulated by August Comte (1798–1857) as an alternative to theological and metaphysical ways of understanding the world. He regarded all sciences as forming a unified hierarchy of related levels, building on mathematics at the lowest level, followed by astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and, finally, sociology.

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