Friedrich Engels and Positivism: An Attempt at Classification

Hans A. Frambach ()
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Hans A. Frambach: Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal

A chapter in 200 Years of Friedrich Engels, 2022, pp 63-76 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter discusses, from the perspective of an economist, the influences of the philosophy of positivism on Engels’ scientific thought and his positioning on that subject. Positivism, the “victor of the nineteenth century,” as the German philosopher and social scientist Jürgen v. Kempski once described it (Kempski, Introduction to Auguste Come: Die Soziologie, Blaschke F (ed), 2nd, 1st edn, Kröner, Stuttgart, 1974, IX), raised questions and problems which prompted scientists of the time to research in a specific way. Topics were addressed such as the role of metaphysics, the logical analysis of the methodology of science, the application of formal conclusions, the acquisition of knowledge by the methods of natural science, and the role of the social sciences. Among other things, it becomes evident that Engels himself held thoroughly positivist positions, and that in some respects, he was not far removed from those he criticized, such as the hated marginalists, but also the early socialists.

Keywords: Friedrich Engels; Karl Marx; Henri de Saint-Simon; Auguste Comte; John Stuart Mill; Positivism; Methodology; Induction; Deduction; Political Economy; A12; B140; B410; Z130 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:euhchp:978-3-031-10115-1_5

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-10115-1_5

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