Positivism

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/positivism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the philosophical school?Positivism
2. What is the epistemological basis?Empiricism and scientific methodology
3. Who first explained positivism?Auguste Comte, a thinker from the early 1800s, wrote about it and said that science should guide our understanding of society.
4. How does positivism use the scientific method?It starts with careful observation, then makes a testable guess, tries experiments or more observations, and looks at the data to see if the guess is right.

Epistemology: The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.
Empirical Verification: The process of confirming a statement or theory through observation and experimentation.
Social Positivism: The application of scientific methods to study society and social phenomena.