Antipositivist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who opposes the philosophy that focuses on social realities and scientific observation as the only valid sources of knowledge
2. An individual who rejects the notion that human behavior can be understood solely through empirical means
3. Someone who contests the belief that positivism is the sole approach to acquire knowledge about the social world

Etymology: Antipositivist is built from "anti-" plus "positivist," so its meaning follows directly from the word it opposes. "Positivist" traces to the French philosopher Auguste Comte, whose "positive philosophy" held that knowledge should rest on observable facts and scientific method rather than on theology or metaphysics. The "anti-" prefix, from Greek "anti" meaning "against" or "opposite," turns that doctrine into its opposite: a person who rejects the claim that social reality and scientific observation are the only legitimate sources of knowledge. The word therefore depends on a whole school of thought before it can exist. Comte's ideas gave rise to a movement, and later critics, including those who insisted that interpretation, meaning, or intuition matter as much as measurement, took up the label in opposition. Because the term is a straightforward compound rather than a word with a long independent history, its significance lies almost entirely in the doctrine it negates.

Synonyms: anti-positivist