Philosophy of Positivism - Research Paper Example

? Positivism s s According to Auguste Comte, who is well known for his sociology theories d scientific knowledge as the most appropriate one which comes by following strictly scientific methods through positive approach towards all aspects of work. He further believed that this scientific study should be limited to only those pieces of data which can be objectively observed and explained on the basis of scientific methods because motives, feelings, emotions and other qualitative parameters can never be measured and hence should not be included in Sociology (Positivism, 2012). Positivism is often considered in scientist ideology context and is widely an attractive topic for technocrats who strictly follow scientific methods to resolve any problem and it was first systematically theorized by Comte, who has replaced qualitative parameters into quantitative numbers and has thus evolved a new topic in the history of Social sciences. Although, theory of Carl Marx widely known as Marxism is also viewed from Positivism approach but proponents of Marxism reject it to be related to Positivism and view Positivism as separate state of thought totally different from Marxism. The reason for this difference is the fact that Positivism only deals with numbers, facts, figures and data in quantity and does not take other factors such as reasons, analysis, evaluation and judgments into account (Macionis, 2012). Proponents of Positivism follow the methods of factual science i.e. they consider laws on the basis of Mathematics and then generalize it with the backing of Statistical data and then analyze the information into systematic, knowledgeable form. According to the supporters of Positivism, mental processes are similar to natural one's and thoughts generates in the mind in the same way as natural process occurs. Empathy and intuition are rejected as unscientific since they are qualitative behaviors.  Positivist historical knowledge was considered to be furnishing on actual facts and figures and historians were not allowed to make additions according to their own opinions and observations. They gathered a lot of raw data but were unable to generalize in law or theory forms due to the fact that Positivism is only a matter of quantitative information. This is why Collingwood believes that Positivism cannot deal with important issues and this is the major criticism of the theory of Positivism (Collingwood, 1994). If we see from Idealism perspective, then according to Tosh it is based on two fundamental concepts; everything that a persons experiences is in some way or the other related to everything else, and a person should have knowledge about the origins and progress of an entity to understand it thoroughly. Idealism basically analyzes the mental states of human beings in the context of history and then furnish different laws and presents judgments. In this way not only quantitative parameters are considered but also feelings, emotions and other non measurable features are also taken into account. Since, Idealism allows history to be taken into action, it has a broader horizon than Positivism and this, in my view, provides the theory of Idealism an edge over the theory of Positivism (Vincent, 2000). But both of these theories are subject to several limitations. The most potent problem of Positivism is its approach to generate knowledge only through scientific means without giving weight-age to opinions. The second main problem of Positivism is reliance only on existing facts and figures without including any personal judgments or opinions which creates lack of analysis. Thirdly, Positivism also ignores uniqueness of event as it does not verify events on the basis of prior happenings. The historians of Positivism theories either ignore the uniqueness of event or place it in wrong pool of thoughts. If we look at the theory of Positivism deeply, then according to Mill, Comte has divided Positivism into three stages or sub-categories which include theological, metaphysical and positive. Mill further added that Comte believes there is no concept of Human Knowledge based on theories and analysis as anyone can make contributions on the basis of facts and figures. According to Comte, like earth operates under the laws of motion and gravity, society can also be formulated under certain laws and regulations which should be strictly followed by all Human beings (J.S.Mill). Comte has divided his theory into the following three stages: 1) The first stage is Theological in which Human Beings keep faith in super natural aspects to strengthen their belief and try to explain certain facts which they cannot otherwise. In this stage, human beings try to believe in what they cannot see and what is known as faith. They replace their rational and logical thinking with faith and accept the existence of Doctrine and supreme power. Also, they start following the rules and regulations formulated by that supreme power and try to form themselves as a collective group with similar faiths and state of thoughts. 2) The second stage is Metaphysical which explains human rights to be most important ones. The main theme of this stage is humans’ posses several rights that should be respected by all and every Human Being should be treated equally under the umbrella of these rights. This stage also entails the rise and fall of democracies and dictatorships and try to formulate certain strategies which encourage these rights to be fulfilled under different political scenarios.  3) The final stage of Comte's theory is positive stage. The basic idea of this stage is that Individual rights should be given preference over all rule and laws of one person and there should be equality and justice while taking Individual rights into account. But these rights are fulfilled only when the prior rights such as Human and Society rights are met and the stage at which Individual rights are met is regarded as Positive stage where there is equality, justice and most importantly there is Positivism in the society at large. He further elaborates that this stage is totally different from the above two stages and there is no difference of power among the Human Beings and everyone is equal and none should be given any type of preference over other and a person can achieve anything he wants only on the basis of his individual free will rights. These all stages depend on one another and neither can be achieved without fulfilling the preceding one i.e. the individual rights can only be met when the Human Rights are defined and followed. Positivism is taken as a state of thought that "all true knowledge is scientific" and everything can ultimately be measured and converted into quantity, Therefore, this view also has some close strings attached with Reductionism point of view according to which species of one type can transform into another type, like state of thoughts can transform into chemical events and members of society can transform into quantitative parameters or personality of a person can be written in numbers. Furthermore, Comte has always tried to formulate Human behavior in terms of measurable parameters which can not only be changed but also be removed. He supports his point of view by giving the examples of law of motion, gravity and other universal laws where the results can not only be measured but also be changed. From his point of view, Human beings should strictly follow these rules by retaining healthy thoughts in mind and should try to eliminate negative aspects from their life. According to Comte, with the help of Positivism every Human Being can eventually eliminate all suppressing and depressing thoughts of mind just as medicine eliminates diseases. Although proponents of Positivism explains and support Comte point of view but the topic has gained enough weight-age in the recent year and has become one of the leading debatable topic of social sciences. The debate is constantly going on between Positivist and Anti positivist, and the writers from both sides do not debate directly on the same page and rarely speak to one another. To make this issue even more complex, few scholars have explicitly stated their commitments, and their opinions judged from theories and practices which are totally against Positivist approach. One scholar has described this debate in the category of perceptual development of the "other", where the opponents describes the cons of theories more than what actually is inside the theory and then connect it to their approach by creating more homogeneity between the two different theories. The debate is still going on and has uplifted itself towards one of the leading topic in the history of Social Sciences. However, the majority of articles published in contemporary American sociology and science related journals tend to be Positivist. The reason might be the trustworthiness of Positivist methodologies which are totally based on scientific and quantitative parameters which seems to be rated higher than that of any other methodologies. Due to their scientific approach, Positivist research related articles seem as more authentic than that of any other leading thought in Sociology Thus, it is better to conclude that it is not a topic of debate but Positivism and Anti Positivism are two different thoughts of mind in which one is backed by facts, figures, reliability and verification while the other includes a philosophical critique of scientism. Works Cited Collingwood, R. (1994, September 25). The Idea of History. Retrieved November 5, 2013, from victorian web: http://www.victorianweb.org/philosophy/comte.html. J.S.Mill. (n.d.). August Comte and Positivism. Retrieved November 3, 2013, from Marxists: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/help/mach1.html Macionis, J. (2012). Sociology. Boston: Pearson. Positivism. (2012, February 22). Retrieved November 8, 2013, from Marxists Internet Archive: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/help/mach1.html Vincent, D. B. (2000). British Idealism and Political Theory. Edinburgh University Press. Read More