What is another word for positivism?

Pronunciation: [pˈɒzɪtˌɪvɪzəm] (IPA)

Positivism refers to a philosophical standpoint that emphasizes the use of scientific methods to study the natural world and reject metaphysical speculation. Other terms that can be used as synonyms for positivism include logical positivism, empiricism, and scientific realism. Logical positivism emphasizes the importance of logical analysis and verification in confirming theories, while empiricism stresses the role of observation and experience in determining knowledge. Scientific realism takes a realist stance, stating that science offers the best and most accurate understanding of the world. Other synonyms for positivism may include scientific method, naturalism, and rationalism. Ultimately, all these concepts uphold the importance of evidence-based knowledge and skepticism towards unproven ideas.

Synonyms for Positivism:

What are the hypernyms for Positivism?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

What are the opposite words for positivism?

Negativism and skepticism are two antonyms of the word 'Positivism.' Negativism is the belief that everything is wrong or bad; a disposition to look on the dark side, to doubt, or to be skeptical. On the other hand, skepticism is the tendency to doubt the truthfulness or value of something. It is characterized by a questioning and skeptical attitude or state of mind. These two antonyms describe the opposite outlook or perspective that positivism posits. While positivism emphasizes the importance of objectivity, empirical evidence, and hard facts, negativism and skepticism focus on the subjective, the speculative, and the subjective nature of knowledge.

Usage examples for Positivism

Its epistemological difficulties, always more or less in evidence, have since that day sufficed to discredit materialism, and to foster the growth of a critical and apologetic form of naturalism known as positivism or agnosticism.
"The Approach to Philosophy"
Ralph Barton Perry
In its critical phase, wherein it makes the general assertion that the natural sciences constitute the only possible knowledge, whatever be the nature of reality itself, it is called positivism, agnosticism, or simply naturalism.
"The Approach to Philosophy"
Ralph Barton Perry
This first takes the form of positivism, or the theory that only such nature as can be directly known can be really known.
"The Approach to Philosophy"
Ralph Barton Perry

Famous quotes with Positivism

  • Such evidence is not the only kind which produces belief; though positivism maintains that it is the only kind which ought to produce so high a degree of confidence as all minds have or can be made to have through their agreements.
    Chauncey Wright
  • The President's Proclamation is in direct contradiction of the legal positivism reigning in the legal profession, a positivism held no less tenaciously by conservatives than liberals, a positivism that denies all constitutional status to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The contrast between the President's Proclamation and this positivism reveals a profound alienation from the principles of the American Founding among our nation's intellectual elites.
    Harry V. Jaffa
  • If "safeguards of individual liberty" do not have "any intrinsic worth", then neither does individual liberty. And if individual liberty has no intrinsic worth, neither does individual life. It is impossible to imagine a more complete denial of President Bush's proclamation of the sanctity of human life, or of his assertion of an "essential human dignity attached to all persons by virtue of their very existence." This is not only legal positivism, it is nihilism. It is not only a denial of any moral foundation of constitutionalism, it is a denial of any moral foundation of political community
    Harry V. Jaffa
  • The President's proclamation is a mighty blow against the legal positivism that infects our legal establishment, and the moral relativism that pervades our society. But this can only be the beginning of a far greater struggle than that against the physical danger of terrorism. It means taking up once again the burden Lincoln bore, in reasserting the truth of the Declaration, against the "positive good" theory of slavery, and against the still more deadly theory that majorities, and not the difference between right and wrong, should decide the future of slavery.
    Harry V. Jaffa
  • Relativism, positivism, and nihilism — modern doctrines which mock wisdom and scorn virtue — have at the dawn of the twenty-first century come to dominate.
    Harry V. Jaffa

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