Article ID: CBB782716699

The Social Foundations of Positivism: The Case of Late-Nineteenth-Century Italy (2021)

unapi

What social conditions produce positivism? One position, common to both positivists and some of their major critics, suggests that positivism is an “ideology” or “worldview” of industrial capitalism. Positivism therefore resonates with the basic experience of capitalism for all social groups. Intellectuals draw on this experience in formulating positivist social science. A second position suggests that positivism is a strategy of distinction by which intellectuals attempt to accumulate symbolic capital against their rivals. This position suggests that positivism is a resource for establishing a social science that imitates the methodology of natural science. Our article argues for a third view focused on the internal structure of the intelligentsia as a social group. Positivism could emerge in both industrial capitalist and preindustrial contexts; however, the types of positivism differ in these two cases because the structure of the intelligentsia differs. In preindustrial contexts, such as nineteenth-century Italy, which is the focus of our analysis, positivists claim an ontological continuity between natural and social sciences. In industrial contexts, on the basis of which most theories of positivism rest, positivists claim a methodological similarity between natural and social sciences. We conclude our analysis by reflecting on the implications of our study for work on positivism and social ontology in the social sciences.

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Authors & Contributors
Leporiere, Lorenzo
Calamari, Elena
Leonardo Ciacci
Bulstrode, Jenny
Muti, Dario
Lalevee, Thomas
Concepts
Science and society
Positivism
Social sciences
Science and politics
Capitalism
Methodology of science; scientific method
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
18th century
20th century
Early modern
17th century
Places
Italy
France
United States
Switzerland
Portugal
Great Britain
Institutions
Harvard Business School
Antiquarian Horological Society
British Museum
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