School · 1798 CE–1857 CE
Positivism
Positivism is approaches that gave scientific observation, lawlike explanation, and public knowledge priority over speculative metaphysics.
Shared questions
- What counts as legitimate knowledge once science becomes the model of inquiry?
Internal disagreements
- Whether philosophy should unify the sciences, analyze their methods, or retain a critical role beyond empirical description.
Key texts
- Course of Positive Philosophy · 1830–1842 — Comte's six volumes set out the law of three stages and the hierarchy of the sciences.
- System of Positive Polity · 1851–1854 — The later work turns positivism into a religion of humanity, which divided his readers from Mill onward.