The philosophical position of positivism and its role int he Essay

The philosophical position of positivism and its role int he management knowledge creation process - Essay Example As described by Johnson and Duberley ( 2000) Rene Descartes, the 17th century French mathematician and philosopher was the major mover behind the idea of positivism as a concept in philosophy. It was Descartes who first brought in ideas such as using systematic skepticism as a basis for justification in a rational way that was both valid and which could be used to verify available knowledge. This whole concept is described as ‘Cartesian Dualism’.when any attempt is being made to understand nature and events. Another major influence on positivism was the Englishman John Locke ( 1632-1704) who in 1690 , as quoted by Johnson and Duberley ( 2000, page 15) put forward the argument that :- Human beliefs about the external world only became valid when they have survived the test of experience. Galileo and Bacon and later , another philosophic Frenchman, Auguste Comte ( 1798- 1857) ( Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 2007) would have further argued that exacting scientific met hods are the only true ,appropriate, justifiable and legitimate ways in which to accurately determine the facts when it comes to interactions and events and to the understanding of various phenomena. The epistemology of positivism places the focus upon both external internal validity, and upon objectivity as well as reliability (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) There must also be the ability to replicate because of the stress upon the use of scientific research methods and the use of evidence which is empirical. It promotes rigour (Shrivastava, 1994) in delineating the different causes and effects in a systematic way (Donaldson, 2008) and is about the actuality of scientific truth and facts which as verifiable. This has implications when it comes to knowledge creation such as the need to develop laws and theories and ways of testing the authenticity or otherwise of existing methods and theories. Donaldson (2008) argued for functionalism and positivism and pointed out that the way in which an organisation is structured is decided by the totally of the environment in which the organization operates, that is its size, and the products and services it provides, the contingencies. Contingency theory with regard to knowledge production is described by Thorpe and Holt , ( page 59, 2008).† most effective organizational characteristics are those that fit the contingency variables.† They describe structural contingency theory as being studied most often using positivistic methodology. In 2008 Donaldson stated that the ‘determinist picture’ can be comprehended using positivist methods. Although non deterministic factors do affects situations , these leave a gap in knowledge which must be addressed using critical realism. This method maintains that the use of methods which are truly scientific are an attempt to discover truth, but that nothing can be really known absolutely because of the fallibility of both researchers and their tools. Therefore say Thorpe and Holt ( 2008, page 182`) â€Å"Science must  critically evaluate and test its knowledge claims to determine their truth content.†   Interpretivism as a substitute for post positivism In contrast to positivism, the theory of interpretivism states according to Williams ( 2001 cited in Clarke, 2009, p29) that â€Å"there are distinct ‘ways of knowing’ between which there is no way of according common standards.† Interpretivism, sometimes referred to as the hermeneutics approach (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) is about ontology i.e. the metaphysics of nature, as opposed to epistemology i.e. the nature of knowledge. Interpretivism implies no separation between the subject and its researcher. It is a way of enabling researchers to make use of qualitative methods. They use such things as case studies, ethnography and phenomenology. They interpret their situations and behaviour, while at the same time allowing interaction with participants. . Such qualitative meth od