Term
List positivism’s three stages of human history and name the man who developed this |
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Definition
Compte's 3 stages of Human History
- Theological Stage
- Metaphysical Stage
- Scientific Stage
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Term
In Positivism, what is Compte's first Stage of Human History?
What is seen as the cause of events?
Who holds the power?
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Definition
Theological Stage:
Humans believed gods were the cause of events;
Power was exercised by those who understood and controlled the gods. |
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Term
In Positivism, what is Compte's second Stage of Human History?
What is seen as the cause of events?
Who holds the power? |
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Definition
Metaphysical Stage
Those in the educated classes no longer believed that the Gods control human affairs, but do maintain a belief in unseen forces; essences which do influence the events in human life.
Power is exercised by those who understand those hidden truths. |
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Term
In Positivism, what is Compte's third Stage of Human History?
What is seen as the cause of events?
Who holds the power? |
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Definition
Scientific Stage
Both Gods and Metaphysics have been discarded, in favor of observable and mathematical Newtonian Science.
Since these are the real cause of human events, those informed by science are able to act for the genuine benefit of humanity rather than power.
Power should be exercised by scientists; especially social scientists and psychologists.
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Term
| Explain why positivism is a modernist philosophy. |
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Definition
Compte saw Stage 3, the Scientific Stage, as the modern stage.
This self-conscious reflection on how the modern world differs from the ancient world is what makes positivm modernist. |
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Term
| What are the two special problems that attempts to apply the protoscientific/scientific framework onto the history of psychology runs into? |
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Definition
| Two problems: One problem, was folk psychology. Folk psychology is the psychology of the regular people. The understandings that regular people have about psychology; not correct. |
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Term
| What are the protoscientific/scientific frameworks? |
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Definition
| Pre-scientific framework: Doesn't have leadership/codes of ethics, membership dues, journals, associations, etc. For many disciplines which we consider “scientific disciplines” today, went from proto-scientific to scientific during the 17th century. Alchemy became chemistry, astrology became astronomy, etc. Psychology doesn't go from proto-science to science until the late 19th century (after 1850s). |
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Term
| How does one illustrate a difference between psychology and natural sciences like Astronomy and Chemistry, and the difference between psychology and the other social sciences like Anthropology? |
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Definition
Unlike natural sciences, Psychology constantly fights a battle against folk psychology, because unlike the natural sciences, where science took over, folk psychology stayed around after psychology became scientific.
Social scientists care more about their history than do other scientists. Difference between other social sciences and psychology: Other social sciences such as anthropology don't wish to change that which they observe. Psychology studies not only behaviors, but how they change, and what causes them to change, even manipulating that change at times. |
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