We prepared and selected 10 exercises on Positivism for you to prepare for your studies!
Easy level
Question 01
Who is considered the main thinker and precursor of positivism?
a) Zygmunt Bauman
b) Auguste Comte.
c) Karl Marx.
d) Max Weber.
i) Friedrich Nietzsche.
Auguste Comte, despite not having been the creator, was one of the first precursors of positivist thought.
Question 02
One of the main characteristics of the positivist current is:
a) The appreciation of subjectivity in the scientific process.
b) The use of Marxist trends in social analyses.
c) The observation of natural phenomena through a rationalist bias.
d) Defense of scientific knowledge as the only form of true knowledge.
e) None of the above.
According to positivists, science should be the basis of human thinking in the construction of answers to their doubts.
Question 03
About the "Law of the Three States", mark the correct order of the phases:
a) Metaphysical - Theological - Positive.
b) Metaphysical - Positive - Theological.
c) Positive - Theological - Metaphysical.
d) Theological - Metaphysical - Positive.
e) Theological - Positive - Metaphysical.
These three phases would happen for all societies, in exactly that order. However, for positivists, not all societies would pass from one to another in the same time interval.
Middle level
Question 04
About Positivism, check what is INCORRECT:
a) The Religion of Humanity, created by Comte, had the following guidelines: "Love as a principle and Order as a basis; Progress at last".
b) The positivist current promotes the appreciation of science, the human world and materialism.
c) According to the Law of Three States, every society would go through 3 phases: Theological, Metaphysical and Positive.
d) All true knowledge would need to go through the process of experimentation through scientific methods.
e) Positivist ideas were created during the medieval period in Europe, through the thinking of Auguste Comte.
Positivist ideas developed during the 19th century in Europe.
Question 05
Select the correct alternative about the Three States Law:
a) According to Comte, all societies would necessarily pass through the Theological and Metaphysical phases, but only Europeans would reach the Positive state.
b) In the Theological state, human beings seek explanations for their doubts through science.
c) In the Metaphysical state, human beings completely abandon mystical thinking, using only reason and scientific experimentation to find answers to their doubts.
d) In the Positive state, human beings completely abandon mystical thinking, using only reason and scientific experimentation to find answers to their doubts.
e) The Three States Law aims to develop a non-hierarchical or Eurocentric notion in the analysis of different societies around the world.
The Positive state, the last stage to be reached by a society, would be the moment of its apex.
Question 06
Select the alternative that best represents positivism:
a) Positivism, the scientific method developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 19th century, aims to main feature the method of dialectical historical materialism for understanding reality Social.
b) Positivist theories, highly respected in Europe during the 19th century, did not influence social thought Brazilian, because in that period it was difficult to disseminate ideas from another continent in a country as rural as the Brazil.
c) One of the main characteristics of positivist thinking was the concern with the neutrality of the scientist at the time of carrying out the research. This neutrality would be essential so that the result obtained through the applied methods was not contaminated by human subjectivity.
d) Positivism emerged in the midst of important historical events, such as the First and Second World Wars. This had an influence on how it can be applied in 21st century contexts, which are directly linked to such moments.
e) The positivists were against the idea of a universal science. According to these thinkers, each society ends up developing its methods within its specificities. Therefore, a European sociological thought should not be used in the analysis of a Latin American society, for example.
The positivists believed that it would be possible for scientists, through well-defined methods, to reach a total neutrality of their research object.
Hard level
Question 07
(AND EITHER) The philosopher Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857) fills his doctrine with an image of social progress in which science and politics must assume the aspect of a scientific action and politics must be studied in a scientific way (social physics). Since the French Revolution favored the integration of the people into social life, positivism has persisted in the program of a peaceful community. And the State, institution of the “absolute reign of law”, is the guarantee of order that prevents the potential return of revolutions and engenders progress.
Ruby, C. Introduction to political philosophy. São Paulo: Unesp, 1998 (adapted).
The characteristic of the positive State that allows it to guarantee not only order, but also the desired progress of nations, is to be:
a) Collective space, where the needs and desires of the population are realized through laws.
b) Scientific product of social physics, transcending and transforming the demands of reality.
c) Unifying element, organizing and repressing, if necessary, the actions of community members.
d) Necessary program, such as the French Revolution, which must therefore remain open to new insurrections.
e) Repressive agent, playing an important role in each revolution, by imposing at least a short period of order.
Positivists viewed the state as an institution that was supposed to set limits and "equalize" individuals. of a society, forcing them to follow the roles assigned to each one and thus seeking to maintain a order.
Question 08
(UFU) In the later part of his career, Comte drew up ambitious plans for the reconstruction of society. French society in particular, and humane societies in general, based on their point of view sociological. He proposed establishing a "religion of humanity" that would abandon faith and dogma in favor of a scientific foundation. Sociology would be at the center of this new religion.
GIDDENS, Anthony. Sociology. 4.ed. Porto Alegre: Artmed, 2005. P. 28.
Based on this assertion, Comte points to the role of Sociology as a fundamental science for understanding:
a) the idea of the revolution, as a solution to remedy the issues of social inequality.
b) the belief in the action of individuals, as a factor of intervention in reality.
c) moral consensus, as a solution to regulate and keep society united.
d) of the subjective elements of society, in view of social plurality.
The moral understanding of the norms for a society would be essential so that each individual could correctly perform his role and, thus, achieve an order that would lead to progress.
Question 09
(UEL) Order and progress are fundamental parts of Auguste Comte's Sociology. Based on Comtean ideas, mark the correct alternative.
a) The total social order is established according to the laws of nature, and possible existing deficiencies can be rectified through the rational intervention of human beings.
b) Freedom of opinion and difference between individuals are foundations of solidarity in the formation of social statics; this diversity yields advantages for evolution over homogeneity.
c) The development of the productive forces is the basis for progress and follows a straight line, without oscillations and, therefore, human interference is incapable of changing its direction or speed.
d) The progress of society, in accordance with natural laws, is the result of competition between individuals, based on the principle of justice that the fittest receive the greatest rewards.
e) The progress of society is the natural law of social dynamics and, considered in its phase intellectual, is expressed by the evolution of three basic and successive states: the domestic, the collective and the universal.
Positivism seeks to approximate social and natural analysis. Therefore, comparisons involving society and nature are common among its thinkers. The objective of the study of society according to positivists would be to find the natural laws that govern the behavior of a people/group, in the same way that there are laws that determine the actions of the nature.
question 10
(IFPR) Auguste Comte, French philosopher of the 19th century and founder of positivism, when explaining the evolution of humanity, defined the maturity of the spirit by the abandonment of all mythical and religious forms, thus opposing myth and reason and also indicating the inferiority of myth as a failed attempt to explain reality. By exalting science, however, positivism ended up generating the “scientific myth”, which was characterized by:
a) Conviction that the sciences would be the basis of the new religious thought.
b) Possibility of dismantling old scientific concepts by creating new ones.
c) Belief in science as the only possible way of knowing.
d) Valuing certain magical ritual practices when they led to self-knowledge.
Positivists believe that science is the only possible source of knowledge. Therefore, they developed ideas contrary to superstitions or even religions.
Keep studying:
- Positivism
- Auguste Comte
- Exercises on the Industrial Revolution
- Exercises on the French Revolution
SOUZA, Thiago. 10 exercises on positivism (with comments).All Matter, [n.d.]. Available in: https://www.todamateria.com.br/exercicios-positivismo/. Access at:
See too
- Auguste Comte
- Enem Sociology Questions
- Contemporary Philosophy
- Human Sciences and their Technologies: Enem
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