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Towards a Reassessment of Comte's ‘Méthode Positive‘

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Larry Laudan
Larry Laudan*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
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Abstract

In this study of Auguste Comte's philosophy of science, an attempt is made to explicate his views on such methodological issues as explanation, prediction, induction and hypothesis. Comte's efforts to resolve the dual problems of demarcation and meaning led to the enunciation of principles of verifiability and predictability. Comte's hypothetico-deductive method is seen to permit conjectures dealing with unobservable entities.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , March 1971 , pp. 35 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © 1971 by The Philosophy of Science Association

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