• Positivism is a broad philosophy, and there are many different interpretations of the original Positivism Doctrine. However, whether dealing with Radical Positivism, Vienna Positivism, or Comte Positivism, the main ideology running through all of them is this: Knowledge that is not based on hard scientific fact, mathematical reasoning, or of logical deduction is inferior and lacks true substance or meaning in reality. That which lacks proof, at least on one level of existence, is meaningless and inapplicable. Also, positivists believe that the purpose of science is not only to explain our being and the world around us, but also to improve the lives of people, and mankind in general with each discovery. Also, according to a positivist's beliefs, a government should be comprised of the portion of the population best capable of manipulating sciences in order to increase the quality of life of humankind, and by no other barometer.
• However, it is untrue that all positivists are atheists, but rather agnostics. Positivists argue that because they have no hard definition of what any metaphysical supreme being is, they cannot utilize its existence to explain phenomena of nature, when there are scientific proofs which render metaphysics useless.
So, weird, freaky dude started Positivism anyway?.
• The original Positivist Doctrine was created by a French Philosopher and Mathematician, by the name of Auguste Comte. It first appeared in 1830, in the book "Course of Positive Philosophy" (actually, there are earlier recorded usages of "Positivism", but the philosophical guidelines on which Positivism was based developed fruition and recognition in this book). Comte, who was born into a Roman Catholic family, rejected his society's ideology early in life, and set about creating a philosophy wherein the use of science to improve and explain human life and nature's phenomena is the main goal of a society.