noun
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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
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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
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the quality of being definite, certain, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of positivism
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Our positivism, our optimism, our hope in a better future is second to none. I think that’s what you’re seeing in those numbers, even as our community feels totally attacked.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
When your congregation zealously overestimates the epistemological functionality of empiricism in the work of logical positivism, you trap the conversation of science and consciousness in your lethally boring Vienna wagon-Circling.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2024
He looked skeptically upon the heroic positivism he encountered in his science and philosophy classes there but found solace in the books of Friedrich Nietzsche.
From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 2022
Comte believed that humanity would struggle to transition to positivism, as religions provided comforting and meaningful structure and rituals.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
Richard Congreve described The Spanish Gypsy as ‘a mass of positivism.’
From The Age of Tennyson by Hugh Walker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
