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Positivism in Social Science

Positivism originated in Europe as a philosophy that knowledge is only factual and observable through the senses. It is associated with the scientific method. Auguste Comte was a key proponent and suggested that humanity progresses through theological, metaphysical, and positivist stages of understanding natural phenomena. In the positivist stage, phenomena are explained factually rather than through theological or metaphysical causes. Social science emphasizes social actors and structures while studying shared behaviors, interactions, and ideas within cultures over time. Various social science disciplines study different aspects of human societies.

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61 views

Positivism in Social Science

Positivism originated in Europe as a philosophy that knowledge is only factual and observable through the senses. It is associated with the scientific method. Auguste Comte was a key proponent and suggested that humanity progresses through theological, metaphysical, and positivist stages of understanding natural phenomena. In the positivist stage, phenomena are explained factually rather than through theological or metaphysical causes. Social science emphasizes social actors and structures while studying shared behaviors, interactions, and ideas within cultures over time. Various social science disciplines study different aspects of human societies.

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sunny
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Positivism in Social

Science
Positivism
 a philosophy developed in
Europe
 An epistemological doctrine that
the true knowledge is only about
the fact. The fact or the factual
is an object that can be
observed empirically with our
senses. The term ‘positive’
doesn’t mean normatively, but
descriptively. It means ‘the
factual’.
 comes from the French
word "positivisme", which
is derived from the root
word positif, and denotes
that something is
arbitrarily imposed on the
mind by sensory
experience.
 it came to be associated
with the scientific method
August Comte
 the proponent of
positivism.
 he suggested that
theology and
methaphysics are
flawed
 According to Comte
the history of mankind
develops in three
stages:
1. Theological Stage
2. Metaphysical Stage
3. Positivist Stage
Theological Stage
 Man searched the causes of natural
phenomena behind the empirical world
and found the superhuman forces like
idols (fetishism), gods (polytheism)
and God (monotheism).
 There was a progress of knowledge
from the knowledge of impersonal
forces to personal God.
 The social organization was
absolutism
 But this stage can be compared with
the infantile stage of human person.
Metaphysical Stage
 In this stage the natural forces were
not imagined as superhuman forces.
They were grasped with abstract
concepts like ‘cause’, ‘ether’ , ‘being’,
‘substance’ etc. There was no more
God in this stage, because God was
conceptualized as an abstract entity.
 The social organization was laws
oriented society
 This stage is comparable with the
stage of adolescence of human
person.
Positivist Stage
 Man explains the natural phenomena
factually, i.e. he doesn’t try to explain
them through theological or
metaphysical causes. So, the fall of an
apple is not cause by God or by the
‘primal cause’, but by ‘gravitation’. We
can observe neither God nor primal
cause. They are not facts. Only fact is
observable.
 The social organization is industrial
society
 In this stage the mankind reach the
stage of maturity of his knowledge.
The Science and the
Social Behind the
Study of Society
Science
 Science is often attributed as
natural or physical science. As
its name implies, this science is
concerned with the study of
nature—the physical and
natural behaviours and
phenomena without the social,
cultural, or human context.
Social Sciences
 social sciences revolve around the
behaviour of humans as a people
or human societies, its production,
and operations. This type of
science is also very concerned with
cultural and human contexts and
tries to explain how the world
works. Its main aim is to study the
complex and changing phenomena
that occur in human and social life
and their interactions with one
another.
Fundamental
What does Social Science emphasize?
Concepts
Social actors, and active, mindful, and conscious
Individual decision makers
Environment, social structures that provide the
Nature physical, biological, and social context of collective
actions or social phenomena
shared and collective actions, ideas and values that
Culture are exhibited by a particular group of people

Social patterns of behavior and interaction, which have


been institutionalized over time
Structure
decisions, activities and interactions made by
Action human beings
Social Science Discipline and Their
Etymologies
 Anthropology- "anthropos"(human),
"logos"(study of)
 Demography- "demos"(people),
"graphien"(description)
 Economics- "economy"(household
management)
 Linguistics- "Lingua" (tongue,
language)
 History- "histoire"(recorded and
documented events)
 Political Science-"politika", "polis"(affair
of the cities)
 Psychology-"psyche"(mind),
"logos"(study of)
 Sociology-"socius"(people together,
associate), "logos"(study of)
THANK
YOU

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