pasitional

[Eng. position; -al.] Pertaining to or respecting position. "Ascribing unto plants positional operations."- Browne. Vulgar Errors, bk. ii., ch. vii. põş'-i-tive, *pos-i-tif, a . & s [Fr. positif , from Lat. positivus =settled, from posit us , pa. par. of pono to place, to set; Sp. & Ital. positivo .] A. As adjective: I. Ordinary Language: declared opposed to implied or inferential ) 1. Expre ed, direct, explicit; openly and plainly 8. Downright. IMG:content-1370.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1371.png:[blocks in formation] Hist. & Philos.: The system of philosophy out lined by Auguste Comte (1798-1857) in his Philoso phie Positive , the sixth and last volume of which was published in 1842. It is the outcome of the Law of the Three Stages [COMTISM], and is based upon the Positive Sciences, taken in the following series: Mathematics (Number, Geometry, Mechanics), Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Sociology. It relinquishes attempts to transcend the sphere of experience, and seeks to establish by observation and induction Laws or constant relations, and resigns itself to ignorance of the Agents. In the opinion of its founder it is capable of being developed into a religion [POSITIVISM], and a polity. "No one before Comte had a glimpse of the Positive Philosophy." -G. H. Lewes: Hist . Philos . (ed. 1880), ii. 697. positive-pole, s . [ANODE.] IMG:content-1372.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-1373.png:[blocks in formation] 8. Actually, really; in reality, beyond question. "He was positively farther from being a soldier than on the day on which he quitted his hovel for the camp." -Macaulay: Hist. Eng ., ch. xvi. electrified. 9. With only positive electricity; as, positively põş-i-tive-ně , s. [Eng. positive; -ne .] 1. Actual ne ; reality of existence; not mere negation. 2. Full confidence or a urance. "A positivene in relating matters of fact."-Government of the Tongue. Põş-1-tiv-işm, subst . [Fr. posit i vis me; positive (fem. of positif )=scientific.] Compar. Religions : The religion of Humanity, developed from the Positive Philosophy, and claim ing to be a synthesis of all human conceptions of the external order of the universe. Its profe ed aim, both in public and private life, is to secure the victory of social feeling over self-love, of Altruism over Egoism. According to Encyc . Brit . ed. 9th, vi. 237, it is really "utilitarianism, crowned by a fantastic decoration," and the "worship and system of Catholicism are transferred to a system in which the conception of God is superseded by the abstract idea of Humanity, conceived as a kind of Personality." "There is little in the conceptions of the most enlight ened Christian which is not identical with Positivism ; or, conversely, there is little in Positivism which Christians do not or cannot cordially accept in all that relates to this life. The main distinction lies in this, that Positivism leaves le influence to the avowedly selfish motives." G. H. Lewes: Hist. Philos. (ed. 1880), ii. 739. Põş-1-tiv-ist, s. & a. [Eng. positiv (e); -ist.] A. As subst.: A supporter or adherent of Positivism (q. v.). "That patronage emanates from complete Positivists." R. Congreve: The Eight Circulars, p. 6. B. As adj .: Pertaining to, or supporting, Posi tivism. "The English translation of the Positivist catechism." R. Congreve: The Eight Circulars , p. 56. põş-i-tiv-i-ty, s. [Eng. positiv (e); -ity.] 1. Peremptorine , determination. "Courage and positivity are never more nece ary than on such an occasion."- Watts : On the Mind , pt. i., ch. ix. 12. The state of being positive; reality. "Differing from Schopenhauer, he admits the positivity of pleasure." -Encyc . Brit . (ed. 9th), xviii. 690. *pos-i-tiv-ize, v . t . [Eng. positiv (e); -ize.] To embody in positive institutions. "The precepts of natural law may, or may not, be pos i tivized."- Mackenzie : Studies in Roman Law , p. 51. *põş-1-ture, s . [POSTURE.]