The Scientific Method and the Dialectical Method

In: Historical materialism: research in critical marxist theory, Band 11, Heft 1, S. 75-106

Abstract

Rather than assert that Karl Marx uniformly rejected then-contemporary positivist scientific discourse, it is contended that Marx's thought displays a partial acceptance of positivism. Several aspects of positivist thought that Marx repudiated are identified: positivism's tendency to universalize certain laws; the paradigm of predicative-theory naturalism; the presence of a priori concepts; & positivism's interest in the individual rather than social structure. Despite Marx's rejection of those aspects of positivist scientific discourse, it is asserted that Marx accepted multiple aspects of positivist thought including the reflexive force of abstraction & the use of multivariate, quantitative, & deductive analytical methods. Three models informed by sociological & positivist thought & by the scientific method that demonstrate the commensurability between positivism & Marx's thought are then presented. Future research is encouraged to investigate the connection between positivism & dialectical models in Marx's thought. 112 References. J. W. Parker