The legacy of positivism / Michael Singer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Singer, Michael, 1942-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Positivism.

Physical Description:

xviii, 193 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

This book gives a unique historical and interpretative analysis of a widely pervasive mode of modern 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 describes his development of the idea of a positive science encompassing the range from the physical to the social and moral sciences. It shows how Comte's philosophy linked to his proposals for social reorganization, how these proposals influenced the later development of positivism through John Stuart Mill and Emile Littre, and how the ideas that Littre set down sharply diverged from Comte's but nonetheless have developed into the legacy of positivism. It also demonstrates that 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.

Contents:

Part I The Positivism of Auguste Comte

1 The Philosophy of Positivism 3

i Comte and his works 3

ii The origins of positivist philosophy 7

iii The law of three stages 11

iv The evolution of scientific thought 15

2 The Structure of a Positive Science 19

i Juridical and scientific laws 19

ii The epistemology of a positive science 22

iii Laws and causes 24

iv The predictive power of science 26

3 Positivist Social Reorganization 32

i Order and progress 32

ii The theory of social reorganization 35

iii The practice of social reorganization 38

iv Society and the individual 40

v Positivist morality in theory and practice 43

Part II The Development of Positivism Through Mill and Littre

4 Comte and Mill 51

i Harmony and discord 51

ii Mill's empiricism 55

iii Mill's theory of induction 60

iv Comte's epistemology 65

v Differences over induction 67

5 The Critic and the Disciple 72

i Mill as critic 72

ii Littre as disciple 77

6 The Structure of the Legacy of Positivism 84

i Positivism as creed: diversions from the legacy 84

ii The received view of the legacy 90

iii The legacy in method 93

iv The legacy in structured explanation 96

v The legacy in scientific autonomy 97

vi The legacy regarding benefit to humanity 100

vii The legacy in prescriptive human science 102

viii The legacy in moral non-science 107

Part III The Legacy of Positivism in Law

7 The Legacy of Positivism in the Autonomy of Law 113

ii Law in Comte's positivism 117

iii The claim of law as a science 122

8 Aspects of the Legacy of Positivism in Law 128

i From the legacy of positivism to legal positivism 128

ii Law and morality in adjudication under legal positivism 135

iii The human sciences in law 138.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 143-186) and index.

ISBN:

1403994021

OCLC:

60514942