Positivism in Human Geography Research Paper

Theory, Evolution, Criticism, and Application

Positivism is the philosophy developed by Auguste Comte who believed that the only authentic knowledge is scientific knowledge which is obtained only from the positive affirmation of theories using the experimental methods. This belief was proposed in the early 19th century as the opposite philosophy to Enlightenment thinkers. Comte observed that scientific method is replacing metaphysics because there is the circular dependence of theory and observations in science. Comte has become one of the leading thinkers of the social evolutionism. Today positivism has evolved into the stage of anthropological evolutionism – science and rational explanations for scientific phenomena being inter-dependent.

Comte’s belief

Positivism had gained its popularity in the 1950s when science was viewed as the numerical set of statements, and there was the need to demonstrate the logical structure of these statements. Positivism rejects classical metaphysics because it insists that at least some of the statements are testable and can be either confirmed or falsified; while the teleological statements are un-testable by nature. The key believes of positivism include the belief that science is cumulative and predominantly trans-cultural; belief that science is based on the specific results that are not associated with the personality of the investigator.

Essay: Are Managers Made or Born?

Introduction
The discussion of the matter whether managers are born or made continues to engross minds of many scientists, who conduct multiple types of research and surveys to get to the truth and answer the question. At the same time owners of large companies also ponder over this matter, dreaming about hiring a “super manager” to fulfill all of the tasks. Students, who study to become a manager with the primary goal to earn as much money as possible, also want to know the answer to reach their goals.

However, a clear answer stating that good managers are only born or they are only made has not been given yet. The majority of participants in the discussion are convinced that managers are gone, meaning that a person who does not have any education and experience in management cannot be a manager in any field of business. History of world business sometimes disproves the theory that all managers are made, and once in a while, the world of business is struck by the information about ordinary people who have become very successful managers. It is not necessary to look through the piles of newspapers and magazines to find a proper example, which Bill Gates certainly makes. Being a chairman of Microsoft Corporation now, Gates developed a version of programming language BASIC when he was a student at Harvard University. And in 1975 (his third year at the university) he and his friend Paul Allen already started their own company. There is no information in his biography about special training how to be a manager; however, Bill Gates became not only a successful manager but also a world leader in computer software. But, without the proper university education, Bill Gates could only be a computer genius not a chairman of Microsoft Co.