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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

positivism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈpɒzɪtɪvˌɪzm/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈpɑzɪtɪvˌɪzm/ (General-American)
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from French positivisme, from positif (“positive”). By surface analysis, positiv(e) + -ism.

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) A doctrine that states that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge can only come from positive affirmation of theories through strict scientific method, refusing every form of metaphysics.
    • History, and its literary expression, narrative, were not scientific, and so did not deserve the attention that true sciences did. Only science could yield positive knowledge—hence the passion for positivism, and the origin of the term. 2012, Lydia Pyne, Stephen J. Pyne, The Last Lost World, Penguin, →ISBN:
    • The goal of positivism is to construct an objective, empirical and systematic foundation for knowledge. Given the above five tenets, it follows that positivists would hold that the world is composed of ‘facts’, or ‘sense data’ (or ‘atoms’). 1980, David Held, Introduction to Critical Theory, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 164:
  2. (countable, uncountable) A school of thought in jurisprudence in which the law is seen as separated from moral values; i.e., the law is posited by lawmakers (people).

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
positivisms Number=Plur lexicographic

Antonyms

antipositivism

Deriveds

neopositivism · logical positivism · legal positivism · postpositivism

Relateds

positivist · Comtism

Synonyms

legal positivism

Translations (30)

es positivismo (philosophical doctrine) · sk pozitivizmus (philosophical doctrine) · hy պոզիտիվիզմ (philosophical doctrine) · kk позитивизм (philosophical doctrine) · uz pozitivizm (philosophical doctrine) · ko 실증주의 (philosophical doctrine) · gl positivismo (philosophical doctrine) · ru позитиви́зм (philosophical doctrine) · fi positivismi (philosophical doctrine) · ja 実証主義 (philosophical doctrine) · cs pozitivismus (philosophical doctrine) · cy positifiaeth (philosophical doctrine) · hi प्रत्यक्षवाद (philosophical doctrine) · vi chủ nghĩa thực chứng (philosophical doctrine) · ro pozitivism (philosophical doctrine) · fr positivisme (philosophical doctrine) · it positivismo (philosophical doctrine) · pt positivismo (philosophical doctrine) · crh pozitivizm (philosophical doctrine) · pl pozytywizm (philosophical doctrine) · cmn 實證主義 /实证主义 (philosophical doctrine) · de Positivismus (philosophical doctrine) · hi तथ्यवाद (philosophical doctrine) · tl pagkamakatahas (philosophical doctrine) · ca positivisme (philosophical doctrine) · sv positivism (philosophical doctrine) · tr pozitivizm (philosophical doctrine) · cs pozitivizmus (philosophical doctrine) · el θετικισμός (philosophical doctrine) · nl positivisme (philosophical doctrine)