Look up: Positivism

1. 
   Positivism
   In regard to sociology, the view that the study of the social world should be conducted according to the principles of natural science. A positivist approach to sociology holds that objective knowledge can be produced through careful observation, comparison and experimentation.
   Found on http://www.polity.co.uk/giddens5/student
   
   
2. 
   positivism
   [n] - the form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience (not on intuition or revelation) 2. [n] - a quality or state characterized by certainty or acceptance or affirmation
   Found on http://www.webdictionary.co.uk/definitio
   
   
3. 
   Positivism
   a means to understand the world based on science
   Found on http://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/wps/media/obj
   
   
4. 
   positivism
   Theory that confines genuine knowledge within the bounds of science and observation. The theory is associated with the French philosopher Auguste Comte and empiricism. Logical positivism developed...
   Found on http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/site/
   
   
5. 
   Positivism
   This paradigm assumes that human behaviour is determined by external stimuli and that it is possible to use the principles and methods traditionally employed by the natural scientist to observe and measure social phenomena.
   Found on http://www.bath.ac.uk/e-learning/gold/gl
   
   
6. 
   Positivism
   in its looser sense has come to mean an approach to social enquiry that emphasizes the discovery of laws of society, often involving an empiricist commitment to naturalism and quantitative methods. The word has become almost a term of abuse amongst social and cultural researchers, losing its philosophical connotations where its meaning is both more ...
   Found on http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~hsstcfs/glos
   
   
7. 
   Positivism
   Pos'i·tiv·ism noun A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives . It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws , which are to be discovered by observation, ...
   Found on http://www.encyclo.co.uk/webster/P/132
   
   
8. 
   positivism
   logical positivism noun the form of empiricism that bases all knowledge on perceptual experience (not on intuition or revelation)
   Found on http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?
   
   
9. 
   Positivism
   `Positivism` is a philosophy 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. It was developed by Auguste Comte (widely regarded as the first sociologist ) in the middle of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, logical positivism--a stricter and more logical version of Comte's basic thesis--sprang up in Vienna...
   Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism
   
   
10. 
    Positivism
    • (n.) A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives. It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws, which are ...
    Found on http://thinkexist.com/dictionary/meaning
    
    
11. 
    Positivism
    in philosophy, generally, any system that confines itself to the data of experience and excludes a priori or metaphysical speculations. More ... [36 related articles]
    Found on http://www.britannica.com/eb/a-z/p/99
    
    
12. 
    positivism
    positivism (po'zitivizum) , philosophical doctrine that denies any validity to speculation or metaphysics. Sometimes associated with empiricism, positivism maintains that metaphysical questions are unanswerable and that the only knowledge is scientific knowledge. The basic tenets of positivism a...
    Found on http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0
    
    
13. 
    Positivism
    First associated with the doctrine of Auguste Comte that the highest form of knowledge is simple description presumably of sensory phenomena. The doctrine was based on an evolutionary 'law of three stages', believed by Comte to have been discovered by him in 1822 but anticipated by Turgot in 1750. The three stages were the theological, in which an...
    Found on http://www.ditext.com/runes/p.html