This book gives a unique historical and interpretive analysis of a widely pervasive mode of thought that it describes as the legacy of positivism. Viewing Auguste Comte as a pivotal figure, it charts the historical origins of his positivism and follows its later development through John Stuart Mill and Émile Littré. It shows how epistemological shifts in positivism influenced parallel developments in the human and legal sciences, and thereby treats legal positivism and positivism as it is understood in the human sciences within a common framework.
This book gives a unique historical and interpretive analysis of a widely pervasive mode of thought that it describes as the legacy of positivism. Viewing Auguste Comte as a pivotal figure, it charts the historical origins of his positivism and follows its later development through John Stuart Mill and Emile Littre. It shows how epistemological shifts in positivism influenced parallel developments in the human and legal sciences, and thereby treats legal positivism and positivism as it is understood in the human sciences within a common framework.
Auguste Comte's doctrine of positivism was both a philosophy of science and a political philosophy designed to organize a new, secular, stable society based on positive or scientific, ideas, rather than the theological dogmas and metaphysical speculations associated with the ancien regime. This volume offers the most comprehensive English-language overview of Auguste Comte's philosophy, the relation of his work to the sciences of his day, and the extensive, continuing impact of his thinking on philosophy and especially secular political movements in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Contributors consider Comte’s reasons for establishing a Religion of Humanity as well as his views on domestic life and the arts in his positivist utopia. The volume further details Comte's attempt to apply his "positive method," first to social science and then to politics and morality, thereby defending the continuity of his career while also critically examining the limits of his approach.
Twenty-nine collected essays represent a critical history of Shakespeare's play as text and as theater, beginning with Samuel Johnson in 1765, and ending with a review of the Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1991. The criticism centers on three aspects of the play: the love/friendship debate.
Positivism needs further scrutiny. In recent years, there has been little consensus about the nature of positivism or about the precise forms its influence has taken on psychological theory. One symptom of this lack of clarity has been that ostensibly anti-positivist psychological theorizing is frequently found reproducing one or more distinctively positivist assumptions. The contributors to this volume believe that, while virtually every theoretically engaged psychologist today openly rejects positivism in both its 19th century and 20th century forms, it is indispensable to look at positivism from all sides and to appraise its role and importance in order to make possible the further development of psychological theory.
Groff defends 'realism about causality' through close discussions of Kant, Hilary Putnam, Brian Ellis and Charles Taylor, among others. In so doing she affirms critical realism, but with several important qualifications. In particular, she rejects the theory of truth advanced by Roy Bhaskar. She also attempts to both clarify and correct earlier critical realist attempts to apply realism about causality to the social sciences. By connecting issues in metaphysics and philosophy of science to the problem of relativism, Groff bridges the gap between the philosophical literature and broader debates surrounding socio-political theory and poststructuralist thought. This unique approach will make the book of interest to philosophers and socio-political theorists alike.
Presenting a critical history of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century, focusing on the transition from logical positivism in its first half to the "new philosophy of science" in its second, Stefano Gattei examines the influence of several key figures, but the main focus of the book are Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper. Kuhn as the central figure of the new philosophy of science, and Popper as a key philosopher of the time who stands outside both traditions. Gattei makes two important claims about the development of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century; that Kuhn is much closer to positivism than many have supposed, failing to solve the crisis of neopostivism, and that Popper, in responding to the deeper crisis of foundationalism that spans the whole of the Western philosophical tradition, ultimately shows what is untenable in Kuhn's view. Gattei has written a very detailed and fine grained, yet accessible discussion making exceptionally interesting use of archive materials.
This book lays bare the ideological and political character of the positivist rationality that has been the primary theoretical underpinning of educational research in the United States. These assumptions have expressed themselves in the form and content of curriculum, classroom social relations, classroom cultural artifacts, and the experiences and beliefs of teachers and students. Have existing radical critiques provided the theoretical building blocks for a new theory of pedagogy? The author attempts to move beyond the abstract, negative characteristics of many radical critiques, which are often based on false dualisms that fail to link structure and intentionally, content and process, ideology and hegemony, etc. He also is critical of the over-determined models of socialization and the abstract celebration of subjectivity that underlies much of the false utopianism of many radical perspectives. Professor Giroux begins to lay the theoretical groundwork for developing a radical pedagogy that connects critical theory with the need for social action in the interest of individual freedom and social reconstruction. Author note: Henry A. Giroux is Assistant Professor of Education at Boston University. He is the co-editor of Curriculum and Instruction: Alternatives in Education and The Hidden Curriculum and Moral Education.
From Kant to Kierkegaard, from Hegel to Heidegger, continental philosophers have indelibly shaped the trajectory of Western thought since the eighteenth century. Although much has been written about these monumental thinkers, students and scholars lack a definitive guide to the entire scope of the continental tradition. The most comprehensive reference work to date, this eight-volume History of Continental Philosophy will both encapsulate the subject and reorient our understanding of it. Beginning with an overview of Kant’s philosophy and its initial reception, the History traces the evolution of continental philosophy through major figures as well as movements such as existentialism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, and poststructuralism. The final volume outlines the current state of the field, bringing the work of both historical and modern thinkers to bear on such contemporary topics as feminism, globalization, and the environment. Throughout, the volumes examine important philosophical figures and developments in their historical, political, and cultural contexts. The first reference of its kind, A History of Continental Philosophy has been written and edited by internationally recognized experts with a commitment to explaining complex thinkers, texts, and movements in rigorous yet jargon-free essays suitable for both undergraduates and seasoned specialists. These volumes also elucidate ongoing debates about the nature of continental and analytic philosophy, surveying the distinctive, sometimes overlapping characteristics and approaches of each tradition. Featuring helpful overviews of major topics and plotting road maps to their underlying contexts, A History of Continental Philosophy is destined to be the resource of first and last resort for students and scholars alike.
