This book is a radical reappraisal of positivism as a major movement in philosophy, science and culture. In examining positivist movement and its contemporary impact, I had the following goals. First, to provide a more precise and systematic definition of the notion of positivism. Second, to describe positivism as a trend of thought concerned not only with the theory of knowledge and philosophy of science, but also with problems of ethics, social, and political philosophy, and show that its representatives usually thought that the problems of the latter cannot be solved without solving the former first. Third, to examine the development of positivism as a movement which preserves a certain tradition and hence possesses some coherence, although the forms of this movement changed in different historical circumstances: it was born in the eighteenth century during the Enlightenment, took the form of social positivism in the nineteenth century, was transformed at the turn of the twentieth century with the emergence of empirio-criticism, and became logical positivism (or logical empiricism) in the twentieth century. Fourth, to reveal the external and internal factors of this evolution. Fifth, to disclose the relation of positivism to other trends of philosophy. Sixth, to determine the influence the positive mind had not only upon philosophy, but upon other cultural phenomena, such as the natural and social sciences, law, politics, arts, religion, and everyday life.
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Notion of Positivism
- Part One: Development
- CHAPTER 1. Early Positivism
- The Divorce between Philosophy and Science
- Hume’s Positivism
- Hume and Newton
- Impressions, Ideas, and Metaphysics
- Two Kinds of Knowledge
- Critical Analysis of Causality
- Certainty and Probability
- “Is” and “Ought”
- Moral Principles and Social Progress
- The Idea of Progress in the French Enlightenment
- CHAPTER 2. Classical or Social Positivism
- France after the Revolution
- Auguste Comte
- Plan of Positive Labors
- The Theological, Metaphysical, and Positive Mind
- The Hierarchy of Sciences
- Social Order and Social Progress
- Positive Polity and Positive Morality
- John Stuart Mill
- Mill and Comte: Allies and Opponents
- Logic and Methodology of Science
- Social and Natural Sciences
- Utility and Liberty
- The Positivist Movement in the Nineteenth Century
- CHAPTER 3. From Classical to Modern Positivism
- Reappraisal of Positivism at the End of the Nineteenth Century
- Mach’s Empiriocriticism
- Poincaré’s Conventionalism
- Duhem’s Hypothetism
- CHAPTER 4. Modern or Logical Positivism
- Revolution in Science and Philosophy
- The Vienna Circle and the Unity of Science Movement
- Moritz Schlick
- Philosophy as the Pursuit of Meaning
- Positivism and Realism
- Foundation of Knowledge
- Philosophy of Life and Ethics
- Rudolf Carnap
- Philosophy as Logical Analysis
- Formal and Empirical Sciences
- The Criterion of Empirical Significance
- The Structure of Scientific Knowledge
- The Probabilistic Appraisal of Hypotheses
- Scientific Humanism and Socialism
- Part Two: Impact
- CHAPTER 5. Positivism, Its Critics and Rivals
- Positivism and Two of Its Adversaries: Nietzsche and Heidegger
- Positivism, Marxism, and Critical Theory
- Positivism and Pragmatism
- Positivism and Critical Rationalism
- Positivism and the Analytic Tradition
- Positivism, Kuhn, and Postmodernism
- CHAPTER 6. The Impact of the Positive Mind OutsidePhilosophy
- Positivism’s Impact on the Natural and Social Sciences
- Positivism, Mathematics, and Physics
- Positivism’s Effect on Psychology
- A Positive Economics
- Positivism’s Influence on Sociology
- Positivism’s Impact on Political Science
- Positivism—The Postpositivism Debate: Constructivism
- The Positive Mind and Law
- Positivism and Politics
- Positivism’s Impact upon Literature, the Visual Arts, and Architecture
- The Positive Mind in Everyday Life: Positivism and Religion
- References
- Index
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