<P> Positivism also holds that society , like the physical world , operates according to general laws . Introspective and intuitive knowledge is rejected , as are metaphysics and theology because metaphysical and theological claims can not be verified by sense experience . Although the positivist approach has been a recurrent theme in the history of western thought , the modern sense of the approach was formulated by the philosopher Auguste Comte in the early 19th century . Comte argued that , much as the physical world operates according to gravity and other absolute laws , so does society , and further developed positivism into a Religion of Humanity . </P>
<P> Positivism also holds that society , like the physical world , operates according to general laws . Introspective and intuitive knowledge is rejected , as are metaphysics and theology because metaphysical and theological claims can not be verified by sense experience . Although the positivist approach has been a recurrent theme in the history of western thought , the modern sense of the approach was formulated by the philosopher Auguste Comte in the early 19th century . Comte argued that , much as the physical world operates according to gravity and other absolute laws , so does society , and further developed positivism into a Religion of Humanity . </P>
who is the person most closely associated with positivism
who is the person most closely associated with positivism
the philosopher Auguste Comte
the philosopher Auguste Comte