God Arises
Challenge of Modern Knowledge
~ 11 ~
theological stage
, when events of the universe are
explained in terms of divine powers, the
metaphysical stage
, in which we find no mention of
specific gods (although external factors are still
referred to in order to explain events) and the
stage
of positivism
, where events are explained in terms of
common laws deduced from observation and
calculation without having recourse to spirit, God
or absolute power. We are now passing through the
third intellectual stage which, in philosophical
terms, is known as
Logical Positivism
.
LOGICAL POSITIVISM
Scientific empiricism, or logical positivism, became
a regular movement in the second quarter of the
20th century, but as a trend of thought, it had
already – long before – taken hold of people’s
minds. From Hume and Mill up to the time of
Bertrand Russell, many philosophers have been its
proponents, and it has now become the most
important contemporary trend of thought,
buttressed as it is by numerous centres of research
and propagation all over the world. A dictionary of
