The Legacy of Positivism 2005th Edition by Michael Singer (PDF)

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This book gives a unique historical and interpretive analysis of a widely pervasive mode of thought that it describes as the legacy of positivism. Viewing Auguste Comte as a pivotal figure, it charts the historical origins of his positivism and follows its later development through John Stuart Mill and Émile Littré. It shows how epistemological shifts in positivism influenced parallel developments in the human and legal sciences, and thereby treats legal positivism and positivism as it is understood in the human sciences within a common framework.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review ‘This work is a unique work of scholarship which merits high praise and acclaim in its field.’ – Larry Ridener, Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Pfeiffer University, USA About the Author MICHAEL SINGER holds degrees in mathematics (M.A., Cambridge University, and Ph.D., London University) and law (J.D., Stanford University). He has been a member of university faculties and published extensively in both mathematics and law. Since 1999 he has been a Senior Research Fellow at the School of Law, King’s College London.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Singer believes the legacy of positivism “is the substance of certain positivist ideas as they have become pervasively woven into modern thought” (viii) Contents:1) The Philosophy of Positivism2) The Structure of Positive Science3) Postivist Social Reorganization4) Comte and Mill5) The Critic and the Disciple6) The Structure of the Legacy of Positivism7) The Legacy of Positivism in the Autonomy of Law8) Aspects of the Legacy of Positivism in LawExcellent ten page introduction. Presents the key ideas in outline.One theme is the interaction between Comte and Mill. Mill was enthusiastic supporter of positivism, but not of Comte’s “Religon of Humanity”. Comte wanted to control humanity (he admired the Catholic Church), Mill trusted humanity to control itself.”Comte’s view of society and the individual is essentially that the individual continues to exist, but with virtually all opinions and moral sense societally engendered. This may appear a daunting and even chilling prospect. . . . Even the extreme degree of societal shaping and control of the individual that Comte demands is by no means unique in human experience.” (43) Think Robespierre (also French), Napoleon, Tsars, Prussia, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Mugabe, etc.,etc.. Also Sparta; and Athens executed Socrates. Therefore, we should mentally accept rule of experts? Wow! Remember the German camps proclaimed on the gate: “Work Makes Free”.Why does Comte demand such submission? He writes: “The positive approach will finally subject moral precepts to indisputable scientific proof. The scientific laws that result from genuine knowledge of our individual and social nature will allow us to make a precise, moral assessment, in private or public life, . . .of each affection, thought, action, or habit. Belief in these assessments will be as deep as any that the strictest scientific proofs inspire today.” (44) Note, science now “inspires”, not God. Astounding!”Comte. . .did not say that history was, or was reducible to, a kind of physics; but. . .of one complete and all-embracing pyramid of scientific knowledge; one method; one truth, one scale of rational, ‘scientific’ values. This naïve craving for unity and symmetry at the expense of experience”. (93) As Blake wrote: “Seeing with, not thru the Eye”. (See Paul Feyerabend – “Against Method”)Foundational is the theory vs observation paradox. “This awareness that our sense of the world is relative to our worldview is an uneasy one, because it threatens to trap us in the vicious circle to which Comte drew attention, ‘caught between the need to observe to in order to form a theory and the need to create a theory in order to observe.” (95) How one resolves this problem has profound consequences. Think of the conflict of Decarte and Pascal, belief in human ability to capture reality in the mind (Decarte), vs, the belief in the need for the human mind to capture reality in experience (Pascal).Another theme is the influence of mathematics. “A common view in Comte’s era was that scientific laws were ideally to be expressed in mathematical terms. . . . Bertrand Russell, recalling his youth in the intellectual context of the 1880’s, stated: “I liked to think of the applications of mathematics to the physical world, and I hoped that in time there would be a mathematics of human behavior as precise as the mathematics of machines.” (22) Think modern economics.Singer’s goal is to indicate how positivism controls the legal system, along with popular thought. Is this beneficial? Is this moral? “Every special department of science occupies itself with predicting events of a particular kind. . . . The object of legal science. . .is likewise to predict events. The particular kind of events it seeks to predict are the decisions of courts of Justice.” (126) Lawyers and Judges lust to be ‘scientists’. Facinating!The last sentence: “In sum, reliance on conclusions of the human sciences cannot be expected to work consistently to the benefit or detriment of any given socio-political goal”. (142)Singer wants the reader to become aware of the deep philosophical control of positivism, both in individuals and institutions. I think he does this. This writing is dense with analysis. However, Singer repeats and outlines the concepts regularly, which really helps.Includes thirty-eight pages of notes and references, a six page Bibliography, and a six page index. Written for scholars, but someone with background in positivism can benefit.

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