Elements Of Positivism

Table of contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..2
Positivism………………………………………………………………………………3
The intellectual background ………………………………………………………….3
Rationalism……………………………………………………………………………..4
Empiricism………………………………………………………………………………4
Comte Auguste…………………………………………………………………………5
Elements of positivism…………………………………………………………………6
Weakness of positivism………………………………………………………………..6
Humanist alternative………………………………………………………………….6-7
Max Weber ……………………………………………………………………………..7
My view………………………………………………………………………………….7
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..8
Reference APA…………………………………………………………………………9

Introduction
The relationship between philosophy and what we now refer to as social science partakes in the history bearing some alikeness

Weakness of positivism
Positivism has only two weakness when dealing with human social life. Firstly positivism had to overcome the difference expressed in any number of various ways between “things human” and “things material”. It was apprehended that human is a different thing, the spiritual, the mental was a different phenomenon to the material. Another thing is that one can validate beliefs in gods, system of magic, legal codes, legends, public view, emotion, religious philosophies and poetry, in the same way one can regard the moon, gases, stars and chemicals (Hughes, 1980).
Humanist alternative
The alternative to positivism refers at least to the social science which was concerned to humanistic approaches. It rejected the view that human social life can be reduced to scientific method. Also emphasis the role of interpretation, moral commentary, understanding or some appropriate principle which is the only way of gaining knowledge to this matter. In the western intellectual development there has been a difference between mind and matter, while admitting the difference different schools of philosophy have interpreted it in various ways (Hughes,