positivism

American  

[poz-i-tuh-viz-uhm] / ˈpɒz ɪ təˌvɪz əm /

noun

1. the state or quality of being positive; definiteness; assurance.

2. a philosophical system founded by Auguste Comte, concerned with positive facts and phenomena, and excluding speculation upon ultimate causes or origins.

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positivism British  

/ ˈpɒzɪtɪˌvɪzəm /

noun

1. a strong form of empiricism, esp as established in the philosophical system of Auguste Comte, that rejects metaphysics and theology as seeking knowledge beyond the scope of experience, and holds that experimental investigation and observation are the only sources of substantial knowledge See also logical positivism

2. Also called: legal positivism.  the jurisprudential doctrine that the legitimacy of a law depends on its being enacted in proper form, rather than on its content Compare natural law

3. the quality of being definite, certain, etc

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positivism Cultural  

1. An approach to philosophy frequently found in the twentieth century. Positivists usually hold that all meaningful statements must be either logical inferences or sense descriptions, and they usually argue that the statements found in metaphysics, such as “Human beings are free” or “Human beings are not free,” are meaningless because they cannot possibly be verified by the senses.

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Other Word Forms

• nonpositivistic adjective
• positivist adjective
• positivistic adjective
• positivistically adverb
• unpositivistic adjective

Etymology

Origin of positivism

First recorded in 1850–55; positive + -ism

Example Sentences

Comte believed that humanity would struggle to transition to positivism, as religions provided comforting and meaningful structure and rituals.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

But there are other, more interesting questions to ask: what is Miss World’s place now, in the era of body positivism and fourth-wave feminism?

From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2019

Then there was Musil the philosophical scientist, interested in probability theory and logical positivism, as well as in the workings of the mind and the soul.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2019

For the recordings, Harrison’s signature slide-guitar sound was in full flower, adorning the LP with buoyancy and positivism.

From Salon • Mar. 29, 2019

To deny this trait to philosophy seems to many to be the suicide of philosophy; to be a systematic adoption of skepticism or agnostic positivism.

From Creative Intelligence Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude by Bode, Boyd H.

Related Words

• anticipation
• certainty
• confidence
• elation
• enthusiasm
• expectation
• happiness
• idealism
• trust