positivism
n. a family of philosophical positions holding that all meaningful propositions must be reducible to sensory experience and observation and thus that all genuine knowledge is to be built on strict adherence to empirical methods of verification. Positivism first became an explicit position in the work of French thinkers Auguste Comte and Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (1760–1825), although it is implicit to varying degrees in most earlier forms of empiricism. Its effect is to establish science as the model for all forms of valid inquiry and to dismiss the truth claims of religion, metaphysics, and speculative philosophy. Positivism, particularly logical positivism, was extremely influential in the early development of psychology and helped to form its commitment to empirical methods. It continues to be a major force in contemporary psychology. See also Machian positivism. —positivist
adj.