by Jez86 January 22, 2025
Get the Poesetivity mug.by evilbritishfoid January 29, 2026
Get the Positiving mug.A form of moralism emerging from positivist philosophy—the view that only scientific knowledge is genuine knowledge—where those who rely on other ways of knowing are treated as morally deficient. The positivist moralist insists that science is the only path to truth, and those who walk other paths are not just mistaken but irresponsible, lazy, or irrational. Knowledge gained through tradition, experience, intuition, or revelation is not just different but illegitimate, and those who claim such knowledge are not just wrong but blameworthy. Positivist moralism transforms a philosophical position about the nature of knowledge into a weapon for judging persons, using "unscientific" as a term of moral condemnation rather than descriptive classification.
Example: "He dismissed her grandmother's healing knowledge as 'unscientific'—not just different, but morally suspect. Positivist Moralism: using a theory of knowledge as a tool for character assassination."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026
Get the Positivist Moralism mug.A purity culture within communities committed to positivist views of knowledge—the belief that only scientific knowledge is genuine—where adherence to this principle becomes a test of virtue. Positivist puritanism demands that true members reject all non-scientific knowledge claims absolutely, never acknowledge value in other ways of knowing, never entertain questions that can't be scientifically answered. Members are judged by the purity of their commitment to science as the sole path to truth, and any deviation—any interest in philosophy, any respect for tradition, any acknowledgment of experiential knowledge—becomes grounds for exclusion. The result is a community that claims to value evidence and reason while being utterly closed to evidence about the limitations of science or the value of other approaches.
Example: "He was expelled from the group for suggesting that maybe poetry could tell us something science couldn't—Positivist Puritanism, where any deviation from scientism is heresy."
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal March 14, 2026
Get the Positivist Puritanism mug.A major philosophical movement during the 20th century. Its wide influence became deeply rooted in today's scientific practice, as well as in contemporary philosophy. Logical positivists were philosophers, scientists and mathematicians with varying philosophical ideas, although they shared the so-called "scientific world-view", which states that society's choices and beliefs should be based on science, and that true science produces knowledge strictly inferred from empirical data (i.e. what "appears to the senses" in some way). The most well-known group of logical positivists is the Vienna Circle.
The movement became dominant in philosophy during half of the 20th century, before losing its widespread popularity later on. Nowadays, though, logical positivism is increasingly studied in a more neutral manner, like any influential doctrine in the history of philosophy.
You are welcome to agree or disagree with the different views endorsed by logical positivists. What you are not invited to is parroting baloney spread by trolls or knowitalls on the Internet. Like the fact that logical positivism refutes itself. It’s not a fact, it’s a viewpoint coming essentially from philosopher Hilary Putnam and that criticized a doctrine (verificationism) already debated among the logical positivists themselves. If you share that view, read him plus some logical positivist papers (if you’re already familiar with the jargon), then think about it and be proud of yourself.
The movement became dominant in philosophy during half of the 20th century, before losing its widespread popularity later on. Nowadays, though, logical positivism is increasingly studied in a more neutral manner, like any influential doctrine in the history of philosophy.
You are welcome to agree or disagree with the different views endorsed by logical positivists. What you are not invited to is parroting baloney spread by trolls or knowitalls on the Internet. Like the fact that logical positivism refutes itself. It’s not a fact, it’s a viewpoint coming essentially from philosopher Hilary Putnam and that criticized a doctrine (verificationism) already debated among the logical positivists themselves. If you share that view, read him plus some logical positivist papers (if you’re already familiar with the jargon), then think about it and be proud of yourself.
The other day, I read a post from some random dude on the Internet. He enlightened me about how he refuted logical positivism by showing that it is itself meaningless. I'm amazed that dozens and dozens of well-trained philosophers/logicians during the 20th century never thought of that. Clearly, that guy is a f*****g genius.
by Carl_Napolitano March 11, 2019
Get the logical positivism mug.by snappy June 11, 2019
Get the Well positively ace mug.The central flaw in the idea that only verifiable, empirical statements are meaningful. The hard problem is that the core principle of positivism—"only statements verified by empirical observation are meaningful"—is itself not verifiable by empirical observation. It's a metaphysical claim about meaning, making it self-refuting. It tries to use philosophy to declare philosophy useless, like using a ladder to climb up and then kicking it away.
Example: "The old-school positivist declared ethics and art 'nonsense' because they couldn't be tested in a lab. The hard problem of positivism was that his own declaration was, by his own standard, nonsense. He was left silently judging everyone with a philosophy he claimed didn't exist."
by Abzugal January 30, 2026
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