Examples of “positivism” in a Sentence

noun A philosophical doctrine holding that genuine knowledge can only come from science and strict scientific method, and that rejects all forms of metaphysics.

• Positivism insists that claims count as knowledge only once they have been tested scientifically.
• Critics of positivism argue that it dismisses questions science cannot directly answer.
• Her thesis traces the influence of positivism on nineteenth-century social science.

noun A school of legal thought holding that law is set by lawmakers and kept separate from questions of morality.

• Legal positivism treats a rule as law simply because it was properly enacted, not because it is morally right.
• Students of positivism learn to distinguish what the law says from what it ought to say.
• The judge's reasoning reflected positivism rather than any appeal to natural justice.