Positivistic Writing by Lalhmingduhawmi 6thsem Roll.no 550

               Positivism is the belief that the method of natural science provides the principal, or even the sole method for the attainment of true knowledge. Positivism stands for actual, absolute, dependable knowledge, i.e. , knowledge derived by the application of scientific methods of inquiry, as in the natural sciences.

                Positivism in history was a reation to Romanticism. Romanticism made historical works more imaginative, while positivism viewed all facts and events of the past in their evolutionary order. Positivism rejected individualism and talked of masses, races, societies and tendencies. It insisted on the independency  of the social factors and boasted that it made history a science.

                Rankean aim of the scientific approach to history was the attainment of positive knowledge of the events of the past. The function of scientific history to Ranke was to lay bare the events of the past as nearly as they were without any subjective influence bearing on them; for him ascertaining new facts about the past was an ideal in itself.

                   Collingwood defines positivism as ''philosophy acting in the service of natural science, as in the Middle Ages philosophy acted in the service of theology''. Auguste Comte looked upon the scrupulous study of the sources and the ascertainment of facts as only the first stage  of the process of understanding history; the second was necessarily the framing of laws analogous to the laws of the natural sciences. Comtean positivism and its impact on historiography were the direct result of the great strides the natural sciences were making in the nineteenth century.

                      Positivism was criticized by historians like Burckhardt, Wilhelm Dilthey and  Augustin thierry. Wilhelm fought against the assumption that only explanations derived from science are valid. He reprised the argument that scientific explanations do not reach the inner nature of phenomena and it is humanistic knowledge that gives us insight into thoughts, feelings and desires.

                         Historians have been reluctant to accept the positivist approach, suspecting it as basically unhistorical. To Arthur Marwick, this was because the historian must start off from the particular and the unique; he must be more interested in what actually did happen than in abstract general laws about human and social  behaviour.

                             Though there were many critics, this tradition dominated the nineteenth century history writing, most of the professional history followed this trend. Most historians believe in its central premises that facts have a separate and independent existence and that most of our knowledge of the physical world ultimately derives from sense impressions.

                   Positivism Writing in Mizo

                               Positivism chu pianken finna in hruaitu nihna a pe ngei tih rinna  emaw thiamna dik neih theih nana tihdan awmchhun anga ngaih theih ani. Positivism cuan thil tak tak, chin nei lo leh famkim leh thu innghahna tlak a kawk ani.

                                Positivism chu thil thleng tawh chanchin in Romanticism a kalhna leh a sawhkhawk dan hi ani. Romanticism chuan a tak taka thil thleng te chu ngaihtuah chhunzawm vawng vawng theih turin a tarlag a, Positivism erawh chuan hun kal tawha thil thleng leh thudik te chu fel takin a indawt danin a dah thin ani. Positivism chuan mimal thlur bing lovin hnam te, pawl te leh mipui vantlangte thlek duh lam awn lam a ngai pawimawh hle ani. Mipui vantlangte chuan zalen taka duh duh an tih theih a phut tlat bawk ani.

                      Rankean chuan hun kal tawha thil thleng ngei te chu chiang taka a hriat theih nan kawng hmang nei takin   a hnaih thin. Ranke chu thil thleng tawh te chu kawnghmang neia taka kan hriat  theih nan chuan hun kal tawha thil thleng chu mahni rilru atanga chuak nilo  a ngail a ngana tarlan a pawimawh ati ani.

                          Collingwood chuan positivism chu mimal thupui leh thurin aiawha pianken thiamna leh finna te  rawngbawlsaktu  angin a sawi ani. Comte  chuan chik takin a bul atrangin a zir a, fiah taka thil thleg a hriat theihna te chu hun kal tawh hriatna chi khat  ah a ngai ani. Comte positivism leh historiography a thlen ten an kawhhmuh chu rah tha tak nineteenth century a a thlen kha ani.

                            Positivism hi sawiseltu Historian tam tak an awm a, chungte cu - Barckhadt te, Wilhelm Dilthey leh Augustin Thierry te an ni. Wilhelm cuan ngaihruatna hmanga science lam atang chauha hrilhfiahna an pawm chu a hnial nasa hle a, finna a hrilhfiahna ringawt hian chhungril lama thilmak thleng te chu a hrilhfiah zo lo niin a sawi ani. Mihring nungchang hriatna chauh hian kan chhungril ngaihtuahna te, kan thinlung duhzawng leh it zawng te a hria niin a ngai ani.

                             Historian tam tak chuan positivist approach hi pawm harsa an ti hle ani. Arthur Marwick chuan an pawm theih lohna chan nia a hriat chu thil hlui zir mi chuan thil thleng tak tak te chu an danglamna te a ngai pawimawh zawk tur anih laiin positivist chuan mipui ngaihdan a dah pawimawh zawk vang niin a ngai.

                                 Positivism hi sawiseltu tam viau mahse he ngaihdan hian 19th leh 20 century a history writing a luah hneh hle . Historian tam zawk chuan thudik hian indaidang leh zalen taka awmna an nei niin an ngai ani.