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📚 Philosophy of facts 💪 Confident attitude
positivism

positivism

1 8.9
A confident attitude that accepts things without much doubt
  • noun
  • /ˈpɒzɪtɪvɪzəm/
  • Formal
translation icon : positivismo
  • The scientist's refusal to consider any alternative explanations reflected her strict adherence to positivism.
  • logical positivism

Examples

  • So if positivism still does attract your sympathies, this is not going to be helpful or effective for you.

  • Nevertheless, unless we remain under the sway of positivism, we can see that it remains a form of knowledge.

    Academic text (1994)

  • You say, "And his science is a little bit of extreme positivism, by the way."

    Blog text (2)

  • Its positivism means that it will always lack an orientation to determine what is truly relevant.

    Academic text (1995)

  • "Theory" today, of course, is as guilty as the positivism of yesterday for dampening the effect of mood.

    Academic text (2007)

  • All this activity, although we did not realize it at the time, was under the fundamental protection of a British positivism that held that there was reality in a written text.

    Academic text (2005)

  • There is more than a trace in it of what Owen Barfield has called RUP, "the residue of unresolved positivism."

    Academic text (1992)

  • The more moderate pragmatism had overwhelmed theory to the extent that people spoke of "the end of ideology." The naked positivism of behavioralism, however, fostered a reaction.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The corruption and shortsighted politics of the era contrasted starkly with the exalted ideal of public life espoused by positivism (Haring 1968, 138-141).

    Academic text (1992)

  • His unwavering positivism helped motivate the team to tackle even the toughest challenges with confidence.

Synonyms

dogmatism
vspositivism
3 7.5

A tendency to say your ideas are always right and ignore evidence

is confident acceptance that may assert ideas without the same closed refusal
positivity
vspositivism
1 4.2

Being sure about what you say or believe

is more accepting and can include dogmatic affirmation
positiveness
vspositivism
4.5

Being sure that something is true

is confident acceptance that affirms rather than always rejects others' views

Antonyms

uncertainty
296 4.0

Not being sure about what will happen or what to do

skepticism
  • US
124 5.1

A feeling of doubt about an idea or claim when there is not enough proof

Compounds

logical positivism
  • Formal
9.9

A view in philosophy that says only knowledge from science and observation counts, rejecting ideas that cannot be tested

How Assertive

dogmatism
3 7.5
positivism
  • Formal
1 8.9
confidence
419 1.9

Surface Forms

positivism singular
positivisms plural

Morphology

positivism = positive (transparent) = positive + ism

Standard noun formation from the adjective 'positive' with '-ism' yielding the quality or state of being positive, which learners can readily infer.

Etymology

Positivism comes from positive, which comes from the Latin positus meaning 'placed' and later 'certain'. So positivism as an attitude means being confident and sure about things.