1. people who believe in positivism, a philosophical system that holds that knowledge should be based on natural phenomena and their properties as verified through scientific methods
Usage: philosophy

Examples

• The positivists argued that only observable facts could form the basis of true knowledge.
• Auguste Comte and his followers were influential positivists in 19th-century philosophy.
• Legal positivists believe that law should be based on empirical evidence rather than moral principles.
• The positivists rejected metaphysical speculation in favor of scientific observation.
• Many positivists contributed to the development of sociology as a scientific discipline.
• The debate between positivists and interpretivists continues in social science methodology.