positivists
Evidence-based belief advocates
Positivists are adherents of positivism—the philosophical view that genuine knowledge comes only from observable, measurable phenomena and scientific method, rejecting metaphysics and theology as sources of truth.
The term often appears in academic contexts: The positivists dismissed ethical claims as unverifiable.
In legal theory, positivists hold that law is what legislatures enact, not what morality demands.
Logical empiricism's founding collective
- empiricistsPhilosophers favoring sensory knowledge
- sociologistsExperts studying human societies
- secularistsAdvocates for nonreligious governance
- materialistsPrioritizers of physical possessions
A.J. Ayer · scientism · naturalists · reductionists · determinists
Attentive watching or remark
- empirical evidenceProof from measurable observation
- verificationProving something accurate
- measurementDetermining size or amount
- experimentationSystematic testing of ideas
sensory experience · induction · falsifiability · hypothesis testing · controlled study · replicability · statistical analysis · operationalization
Bogus methodology posing as factual
- meaninglessnessLack of significance
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- scientismOvervaluing empirical methods alone
- overreachExceed one's capacity
Overvaluing empirical methods alone
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- physicalismAll is matter
- instrumentalismTheories as useful tools
- conventionalismAdherence to accepted standards
Vienna Circle
Logical empiricism's founding collective
- empiricistsPhilosophers favoring sensory knowledge
- sociologistsExperts studying human societies
- secularistsAdvocates for nonreligious governance
A.J. Ayer · materialists · scientism · naturalists · reductionists · determinists
observation
Attentive watching or remark
- empirical evidenceProof from measurable observation
- verificationProving something accurate
- measurementDetermining size or amount
experimentation · sensory experience · induction · falsifiability · hypothesis testing · controlled study · replicability · statistical analysis · operationalization · objectivity
pseudoscience
Bogus methodology posing as factual
- meaninglessnessLack of significance
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- scientismOvervaluing empirical methods alone
scientism
Overvaluing empirical methods alone
- reductionismExplaining wholes through parts
- physicalismAll is matter
- instrumentalismTheories as useful tools
- Epistemologistsempiricists, rationalists, constructivists, instrumentalists, conventionalists
- believersbeliever, believers, adherent, devotee, theist
- revolutionariesrevolutionaries, revolutionary, rebel, rebels, Lenin
- freethinkersfreethinker, freethinkers, secularists, rationalist, rationalists
- realistspragmatists
positivistsmystics
Spiritual insight seekers
idealists · metaphysicians · transcendentalists · rationalists · phenomenologists
positivistssupernaturalists
Believers in non-material forces
spiritualists · idealists · occultists · transcendentalists · theists
positivistsexistentialists
Authenticity-focused philosophical school adherents
postmodernists · deconstructionists · constructivists · relativists · humanists