Positivism In philosophy generally any system that confines

Positivism In philosophy, generally, any system that confines itself to the data of experience and excludes a priori (knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori knowledge, which derives from experience alone) or metaphysical speculations. 1

�As a philosophical ideology and movement, Positivism first assumed its distinctive features in the work of Auguste Comte (1798– 1857). �It then developed through several stages known by various names, such as Empirio criticism, Logical Positivism, and Logical Empiricism, etc. 2

The basic affirmations of Positivism are: 1. That all knowledge regarding matters of fact is based on the “positive” data of experience; 2. That beyond the realm of fact is that of pure logic and pure mathematics, which were, in a later phase of Positivism, classified as purely formal sciences. 3

3. Strict adherence to the testimony of observation and experience is the all -important imperative of the Positivists. 4. In its basic ideological posture, Positivism is worldly, secular, antitheological, and anti-metaphysical. 4

Naturalism/ natural method • A theory that relates scientific method to philosophy by affirming that all beings and events in the universe are natural. • Consequently, all knowledge of the universe falls within the pale of scientific investigation. 5

�Usually naturalism denies the existence of truly supernatural realities. �Naturalists assert that nature is reality. There is nothing beyond, nothing “other than, ” no “other world” of being. 6

• Naturalism presumes that nature is in principle completely knowable. • There is in nature a regularity, unity, and wholeness that implies objective laws, without which the pursuit of scientific knowledge would be absurd. 7

• Naturalism has no ontological preference: dualism and monism, atheism and theism, idealism and materialism are all per se compatible with it. 8

Two positive results of bahaviourism 1. Development of neurosciences. 2. Development of behaviour therapy (behaviour modification), which focused on modifying observable behaviour, rather than on the thoughts and feelings of the patient (as in psychoanalysis). 9

Conclusion W. M. Smart, The origin of the earth. • Let us not then exalt the scientific method unduly as the close preserve of the scientist nor, which is much more important, as the only means by which we attempt to discover the secrets of nature. 10

• It is easy for a scientist to be a materialist if he sees only in the universe the apparently relentless (continuous) unfolding of natural law, and forgets that there are domains where the laws of physics are irrelevant 11

• But more and more scientists are realizing that they are exploring only one section of the great world of nature in all its manifold complexity; beauty, moral, conduct, spiritual values, religious experience, are all outside their domain, yet all come within man’s scrutiny when he attempts to interpret the universe as a whole and strives to discern purpose therein…” 12

Harris, Kelvin (1979), Education and Knowledge �The limitations of empiricism in human and social sciences can be manifested in different areas among them: �Derived conclusions could not be logically valid for generalization because there could be exceptions. 13

• Methodology of data collection is theory laden, that is, the investigator has preconceptions and motives, which influence his choice of methodology of investigation and this subsequently affects the outcome 14

• “The humanistic studies of Western man and the social analysis of Western society by a Western scientist are necessarily "Western" and cannot serve as models for the study of Muslims or of their society. ” Ismail Raji al-Faruqi (1977), "Islamizing the Social Sciences" 15