O positivemo is chaintheoretical inspired by idealinprogress continuum of humanity. Positivist thought postulates the existence of a continuous and progressive march and that humanity tends to constantly progress. Progress, which is a historical fact, must always be reinforced, according to what AugusteComte, creator of positivism, called SciencesPositives. Positive Sciences would have its strongest expression in Sociology, science of which Comte is considered the founder.
Positivism also incorporated, in Comte's theory, political elements and gained, in the works of JohnstuartMill, one more scope ethical and moral. This ended up reinforcing the mold of a positivist political theory, founded on order and knowledge to achieve the progress.
This theory resonated in Brazilian politics, more specifically at the beginning of the period of FirstRepublic, because the marshal Deodoro da Fonseca (Brazil's first president) and other politicians who participated in the government had strong positivist influences.
Read too: Learn more about the revolution that influenced positivist thinking
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History of Positivism and 19th Century Sociology
O positivism it was one chainphilosophical that was born in France, in the nineteenth century, derived from the thought illuminist. It can be said that its founder was the philosopher and also the creator of sociology, AugusteComte (1798 – 1857). Another important name for positivism is JohnstuartMill (1806 – 1873), who adapted positivist thinking to the utilitarianismmoralEnglish, that would have arisen with Jeremy Bentham, jurist, philosopher and professor of Mill. With the adaptation to utilitarianism, positivism gained a tone more focused on moral philosophy, outlining the ethical precepts of Mill's theory.
Other factors that marked positivism were The RevolutionIndustrial and the crisessocial that occurred as a direct result of this revolution and the population explosion major European urban centers, brought about by the rapid emergence of many industries. During this period, the hunger and the social inequalityspreadurban centers, at the same time as the old medieval paradigms and the Ancien Régime were progressively surpassed.
Scared by a new and complex society, intellectuals found it difficult to understand this newmodelSocial, completely different from anything that had happened so far. THE positivist theory and the Sociology these were Comte's proposals for understanding the new organization that so frightened thinkers and changed people's lives.
Auguste Comte bet on progressmoraland scientific society through social order and the development of science. The thinker established a kind of hierarchy of the seven great sciences: Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Morals, Biology and Sociology, the latter two being superior.
The philosopher believed that sociology should be based on Sciencesgivesnature, especially in Biology and Physics, which try to to discover and decode natural laws. O sociologist should do an analogous work in society: to discoverand decode social laws. The sociologist should be an observant scientist, relying on the content of his analysis and the facts.
The stage in which humanity found itself was the one of greatest evolution, according to the LawFromThreeStates, of Comte, which establishes three distinct classifications: o statetheological (first and least developed), the statemetaphysical (second and intermediate) and the statepositive (last and best). The positive state occurred, according to Comte, from the moment humanity started prioritizing science as a source of reliable knowledge.
The positivist method also gave rise to a theoryhistoriographic, inspired by the ideas of the Count of saintSimon (1760-1825), French philosopher for whom humanity would continually progress, always going forward and never regressing. According to positivist historiography, the progresshistoricshouldto beconstantlymeasured, based only on facts that are constantly recorded.
At the Brazil, positivism strongly influenced the military and politicians linked to marshalManuelDeodorantgivesFonseca, who in 1889 deposed the Emperor Dom Pedro II and he became the first president of Brazil, implementing an attempt to make a policy based on positivism, with the cultivation and imposition of social order to achieve progress.
Still in the 19th and 20th centuries, the term positivism gained other meanings, with the emergence of the legal positivism, under the law, and the logical positivism, among the philosophers of language, which would be a belief that the logical analysis of language would be the way to solve all philosophical problems.
See too: Learn about another doctrine developed in the same context as positivism
Characteristics of positivism
→ DPhilosophical Outrina Based on Theories and Laws
The most remote aspiration of positivism is found in Enlightenment movement, strongly admired by Comte. Supportedor of the French Revolution, Auguste Comte was in favor of the p.essay republican, but he believed that chaos and anarchy, prevalent in some periods of revolution and post-revolution, were impediments to the accelerated march of progress.
→ sociological doctrine
First of all, positivism was a sociological doctrine that was based on the Law of Three States. THE ScienceSocial it would be in the last and most advanced stage of human development, accompanied by biology. This gave positivism the status of a doctrine strongly anchored in thoughtscientific.
→ political doctrine
THE order, O rigor it's the effort by organization are fundamental characteristics of the positivist doctrine. Hence the motto printed on the flagBrazilian, designed during the beginning of the republican era in Brazil.
→ Commitment to science and industrialization
Positivist thinking guarantees that the progress of humanity, in addition to being closely linked to the positive sciences, is also related to boosting the industrialization and of the technology.
→ Positive Religion
With the overcoming of the theological period and religions based on myths and the existence of a supernatural world, Comte affirmed the need for a new kind of religion, based not on something above nature, but on nature itself and on the human capacity to unravel the mysteries of that nature through science. Roughly speaking, we can say that, in positive religion, the figure of God is replaced by science.
Positivism in Brazil - "Order and Progress"
“Order and Progress” are influences of positivist thought.
O motto in Wowflag is positivist, because the First Brazilian Republic (1889-1930) was a political period strongly inspired by the theory formulated by Auguste Comte. Both the first president, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, and part of the Parliament, were republicans. French-born republican thought was based on freedomindividual and on responsibilitymoral, fruit of that freedom. Individual freedom and, above all, moral responsibility are fundamental precepts of positivism, as they are valuable pillars for progress.
Despite the strong inspiration at the beginning of the republic, the positivism in Brazil did not last, and the motto stamped on our flag did not hold. Brazilian politics, which went through successive attacks against democracy and repressed the freedom of citizens, lost, even before the end of the First Republic (which became a coronelista regime maintained by the vote of halter), the positivist ideals so dear to French republicans.
Coin with a portrait of the first president of Brazil, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca.
Summary
Positivism emerged with Auguste Comte, in the nineteenth century;
It marked the beginning of sociology;
It was a political, moral and philosophical theory;
It was based on science and social order;
Discipline, rigor and order were necessary for moral and social growth;
It inspired the Proclamation of the Brazilian Republic.
*Image credit: nadiia_photo / Shutterstock
by Francisco Porfirio
Sociology Professor
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/sociologia/positivismo.htm
