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In Sociology , Anthropology , and other Social Science s, the term positivism is closely connected to Naturalism and can be traced back to the philosophical thinking of Auguste Comte in the 19th Century . In Comte's view, positivism is an approach to understanding the world based on Science . Positivists believe that there is little if any difference between Social Science s and Natural Science s, as Societies operate according to Law s, as does nature. Structural anthropologist Edmund Leach described ''positivism'' during the 1966 Henry Myers Lecture as follows: Positivism PRINCIPLES Positivists are guided by five principles: # unity of Scientific Method - logic of inquiry is the same across all sciences (social and natural) # the goal of inquiry is to explain and predict. Most positivists would also say that the ultimate goal is to develop the Law Of General Understanding , by discovering necessary and sufficient conditions for any phenomenon (creating a perfect model of it). If the law is known, we can manipulate the conditions to produce the predicted result. # scientific Knowledge is testable. Research should be mostly Inductive , i.e. inductive logic is used to develop statements that can be tested ( Theory leads to Hypothesis which in turn leads to discovery and/or study of evidence). Research should be observable with Human Senses (arguments are not enough, belief is out of question). Positivists should prove their research using Logic Of Confirmation . # science does not equal Common Sense . Researchers must be careful not to let common sense bias their research. # relation of theory to practice - science should be as value-free as possible, and the ultimate goal of science is to produce knowledge, regardless of politics, morals, values, etc. involved in the research. Science should be judged by Logic :
POSITIVISTIC ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE REAL WORLD # Nature is orderly, there is an underlying causality and pattern. # We can know nature (discover and understand all causes, patterns, etc.). # Knowledge is always preferable to ignorance. # Natural phenomena have natural causes. # Knowledge comes through sensory experience. POSITIVISTS' SELF-CRITIQUE Positivists have themselves raised questions and doubts about positivism, questioning whether anyone can follow the ideal described above. The most often raised points are:
CONTEMPORARY THINKING Today, although most sociologists would agree that Scientific Method is an important part of sociology, extreme positivism is rare. Social scientists realize that it is extremely hard to create a law that would hold true in all cases when human behaviour is concerned, and that often while behaviour of groups may be sometimes explained and predicted with some Probability , it is much harder to explain the behaviour of each individuals. In some quarters of contemporary sociology, positivism has been replaced by a contrary view, Antipositivism . Most sociologists today operate somewhere between positivism and antipositivism, arguing that human Behavior is more complex than Animal Behavior or the movements of Planet s. Humans have Free Will , Imagination and Irrationality , so that our behavior is at best difficult to explain by rigid " Laws Of Society ". SEE ALSO |
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