Philosophy schools

In the post Philosophical Schools - Part 1, we deal with the following schools: stoicism, cynicism, skepticism, hedonism, epicureanism, idealism, nihilism, existentialism, absurdism, humanism, secular humanism, utilitarianism, marxism and rationalism. We are now continuing with the other schools.

Positivism

Philosophical current initiated in France in the early 19th century and strongly associated with empiricism and rationalism. Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857) first theorized Positivism and developed into a modern philosophy favored by scientists and technocrats. It defends the idea that scientific knowledge would be the only form of true knowledge.

Order, rigor, and commitment to organization are fundamental characteristics for the positivist doctrine. Hence the motto order and progress stamped on the Brazilian flag, designed during the beginning of the republican era in Brazil.

Comte understood that the history of human thought proceeded in stages. In his Philosophy of History, he elaborated the law of the three states, in which he stated that thought and the human spirit developed through three distinct phases: the theological, the metaphysical and the positive.

Famous members of the movement included Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970), Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 – 1951) and the Vienna Circle.

Positivists in Brazil

In Brazil, Auguste Comte's positivism strongly influenced military figures, intellectuals, and politicians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The positivist philosophy inspired the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and is present in the national flag’s motto: “Order and Progress.” The movement was prominent among republican military officers, such as Benjamin Constant, and institutions like the Army and the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute. Brazilian positivists advocated for a rational, hierarchical, and scientific society, with a strong emphasis on morality and education. Their legacy deeply shaped the organization of the republican state and the ideals of modernization.

Objectivism

Philosophy developed by Ayn Rand (1905 – 1982) that encompasses positions on metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics. Objectivism holds that there is a mind-independent reality; that individual people are in touch with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings gain objective knowledge of perception by measurement and form valid concepts based on such perceptions.

It also affirms that the meaning of life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest", and that the only social system consistent with this morality is the full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure and consensual laissez-faire capitalism, an expression in French meaning let it be, or libertarianism.

Ayn Rand – the pursuit of happiness as a moral purpose

Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was a Russian American philosopher and writer known for developing Objectivism, a philosophy that advocates for individualism, reason, and laissez-faire capitalism. For Rand, humans should live according to their own reason and pursue their own happiness as a moral purpose. She criticized altruism and collectivism, seeing them as enemies of individual freedom. In novels like The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, she portrayed heroes who defy social norms in the name of integrity and creativity. Although controversial, her work influenced political and cultural debates, especially among proponents of economic liberalism and personal autonomy.

Subjectivism

Philosophical doctrine of antiquity that states that the truth is the individual lie. Each subject would have their truth because knowledge depends on everyone, therefore the veracity or falsity of judgments depends on the subject who knows and judges. If everyone has their own truth and not absolute or universal truths, it will be impossible to have understanding.

While in objectivism there is a focus on structure, in subjectivism the focus is on the subject. Despite the apparent dichotomy between the concepts, the authors postulate the dialogue between the individual and the other, as their choice is shared with other discursive subjects.

Representatives: Protagoras (490 – 415 BC), Gorgias of Leontini (485 - 380) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900).

John Locke (1632-1704) believed in the tabula rasa; the writing instrument used in Rome. Made with wax, it was used with a stylus. When people wanted to erase what they had written, they had to scrape off or melt the wax. When it was unwritten, the object was called a tabula rasa. The human being, like the blank slate, is born without any knowledge and little by little the experiences (or inscriptions) fill it.

Protagoras – man is the measure of all things

Protagoras was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, known as one of the founders of relativism. His famous phrase "Man is the measure of all things" expresses the idea that knowledge and truth are relative, depending on everyone’s perception. Protagoras believed that there are no universal truths, and what is true for one person may not be true for another. His thought challenged the traditional views of his time, influencing the development of sophism and philosophical thinking related to morality, ethics, and epistemology. He also advocated for the importance of rhetoric and argumentative skill.

Pragmatism

Philosophical current initiated by Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 – 1914). He introduced the pragmatic method in which students are given a procedure for constructing and clarifying meanings. This movement tries to relate the meaning of things to the evidence. To do so, it limits itself to sensory experience and leaves metaphysics aside.

Pragmatic thinkers understand that there are no absolute and immutable truths. Truth is what works. Knowledge is given by experience and considers as true what is useful. The criterion for judging the truth is based on practical effects. According to them, the learner is constantly talking and being changed by the environment with which he is interacting. Based on what is learned at any given point and time, the learner, or the world in which he is interacting can be changed.

John Dewey (1859-1952) linked Pragmatism to evolution when he explained that “human beings are creatures that need to adapt to each other and to their environment”. He also believed that the application of the "scientific method" could solve a few problems because ideas were tools for problem solving.

For William James (1842 - 1910), considered the main figure of Pragmatism, emotions are not the product of feelings, but provoked by the awareness of organic reactions.

Determinism

Philosophical theory that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision, and action, is determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. Determinists believe in only one probable future, while denying that humans lack free will. It can take many forms, from theological determinism, which suggests that one's future is predetermined by a god or gods, to environmental Determinism, which suggests that all human and cultural development is determined by the environment, climate, and geography.

Relativism

Philosophical movement started in Ancient Greece by the sophists. Relativists claim that views are relative to perspective or considerations. This idea can even be applied to morality or truth itself, with some arguing that there are no moral facts or absolute truths.

Likewise, situational relativism is an ethical idea that one rule must be followed under all but a few conditions, when we would follow another rule. For example, do not kill unless you save lives by doing so. This idea, in revised form, was supported by the American philosopher Robert Nozick (1938 – 2002) in his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia.

William James – experience as the basis of knowledge

William James (1842–1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, considered one of the founders of pragmatism and modern psychology. He believed that ideas should be evaluated by their practical effects in everyday life. For James, truth is not absolute but rather what works in individual experience. A defender of pluralism and freedom of belief, he explored themes such as consciousness, will, and religion. In works like The Varieties of Religious Experience, he highlighted the subjective value of spiritual experiences. His thought profoundly influenced philosophy, psychology, and education in the contemporary world.

Empiricism

Philosophical theory that argues that all human knowledge must be acquired from sensory experiences, whether external or internal, outside of which there is only speculation. The term empiricism comes from the Greek word empeiria, which means experience. That is, from their experiences, and not from instincts or innate knowledge, individuals acquire knowledge, awareness, and learning. The deeper the lived experiences, the greater the formation of that individual's cognitive structure.

Aristotle (384 – 322) already widely spread Empiricism, but the modern doctrine, as we know it today, was developed by the British John Locke (1632-1704), creator of the concept of tabula rasa.

Representatives: John Locke (1632-1704) and David Hume (1711-1776).

Philosophical critique

Doctrine that seeks to demonstrate that knowledge is based on experience, but that it needs reason to complete it, hence the phrase: “without sensitivity, no object would be given to us, and without understanding, none would be thought.”

The Critique of Pure Reason, by Immanuel Kant (1724 -1804) is the main work of the theory of knowledge. In it, Kant separates the domains of science and action.

Knowledge is constructed from the phenomenon that combines sensitive intuition with the concept of the intellect. Thus, it is the logical categories that constitute objects, allowing them to be known in a universal and necessary way. For Kant, reason is the faculty that provides us with the principles of a priori knowledge. Therefore, pure reason is that which contains the principles for knowing something a priori.

Phenomenology

Phenomenology emerged in the 20th century as a philosophical current founded by Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (1859 - 1938), a German philosopher and mathematician. His method started from the assumption of nothing. That is, it intends to describe objects or phenomena consciously, without relying on presuppositions or prejudices. The term phenomenology means the study of phenomena, of what appears to consciousness, seeking to explore it.

Representatives: Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (1859 - 1938); Jan Patočka (1907 - 1977) and Martin Heidegger (1889 - 1976).

Martin Heidegger – being and the time of existence

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, known for his profound reflection on being. In his main work, Being and Time, Heidegger explored the human experience of existence, which he called Dasein (being-there). For him, philosophy should return to the fundamental question: “What is being?” He examined themes such as temporality, anxiety, authenticity, and finitude, asserting that human beings are defined by their relationship with time and death. His dense and original language influenced phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, and the critique of modern technology.

Structuralism

Originating in psychology, this analysis mechanism influenced other areas such as Sociology, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Anthropology. It is a current of thought that seeks to identify the structures that sustain all things. According to the theory, the phenomena of life can be identified through their interrelationships. That is, through the analysis of parts, a whole is evaluated. Based on this assumption, Structuralism was applied to understand the human intellect, its ideas, its language, and the general structure of society.

The great diffusers of structuralism were French intellectuals such as Roland Barthes (1915 - 1980) and Jean Baudrillard (1929 - 2007) who expanded the idea at the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century ֎