Positivism is a mid-19th-century philosophical theory developed by Auguste Comte. It states that scientific knowledge, based on logical explanations of every concept and the positive affirmation (or proof) of the theories using scientific methods, is the only authentic knowledge.
It is a scientist's ideological view, but it is a point of view that has also been shared by technocrats. Comte and the technocrats were both, in fact, of the opinion that the necessary progress can only be achieved through the application of scientific theories and logical methods.
Comte saw the scientific method as a worthy replacement for metaphysics and a new concept in the history of thought. He is known as the first true sociologist in the world and went on to become one of the leading philosophers involved in the establishment of the movement called social evolutionism. Ordem e Progresso (translated as Order and Progress) has also been derived from Comte's Positivism. It is now the national motto of Brazil.
It is a scientist's ideological view, but it is a point of view that has also been shared by technocrats. Comte and the technocrats were both, in fact, of the opinion that the necessary progress can only be achieved through the application of scientific theories and logical methods.
Comte saw the scientific method as a worthy replacement for metaphysics and a new concept in the history of thought. He is known as the first true sociologist in the world and went on to become one of the leading philosophers involved in the establishment of the movement called social evolutionism. Ordem e Progresso (translated as Order and Progress) has also been derived from Comte's Positivism. It is now the national motto of Brazil.
