ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Positivism dispute

Okay, so let's say you and your friends are having a debate over whether ice cream or cake is better. It's a disagreement, and you all have different opinions.

Now, imagine that grown-ups who study things like society and knowledge have disagreements too. One of these disagreements is called the positivism dispute.

Positivism is a way of thinking that started in the 19th-century. It says that knowledge should only be based on things that can be observed and measured by science. So, if we can't measure something, it's not really knowledge.

Some people think that this is the best way to understand and explain the world. Others disagree and think we can learn from things like history, culture, and individual experiences. They don't think science is the only way to understand the world. They think there are other ways of gaining knowledge that are just as important.

So, the positivism dispute is just grown-up people arguing about whether science is the only way to learn about the world or if there are other ways of knowing things too.