We will conclude the first chapter of Paul G. Hiebert's book by identifying both internal and external attacks against positivism.
Attacks from Inside
By attacks from inside, I mean within science itself and these attacks assume two forms: discrediting objectivism and discrediting determinism.
I will skip explaining the second for after reading it, I judge it to be too abstract.
As for discrediting objectivism, reaching this section of the book, readers will encounter how philosophers that laid the foundation of modern science and philosophy have been replaced by new breed of science and philosophy. Both Newtonian and Kantian bases of classical physics have been discarded in favor of Einstein's theory of relativity and Bohr's quantum mechanics (p. 30).
In social sciences, the claimed objectivity of scientists and science have been exposed as conditioned by historical and cultural contexts. "Ludwig Wittgenstein (1953) showed us that the language in which we encode knowledge is itself a cultural creation" (ibid.). Consequently, social scientists came to the conclusion "that all languages rest on theoretical presuppositions . . ." (ibid.).
Further objections against objectivism have been raised by sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and historians. Quoting Thomas Kuhn (1970) and Paul Feyerabend (1970) for instance, Hiebert observes that "Science is, therefore, not a growing body of verified laws built on indisputable facts, but a series of competing paradigms no one of which can be shown to be true" (p. 32).
Considering the above attacks on objectivism, Hiebert came to the conclusion that what we need now is a new and humbler form of realism.
Attacks from Outside
Positivism has been severely attacked due to the failure of the modernist project. Instead of experiencing the promised utopia, what humanity experienced in the 20th century was a frightening nightmare. Quoting Pauline Rosenau, Hiebert writes:
Modernity entered history as a progressive force promising to liberate humankind from ignorance and irrationality, but one can readily wonder whether that promise has been sustained. As we in the West approach the end of the twentieth century, the 'modern' record - world wars, the rise of Nazism, concentration camps . . . genocide, worldwide depression, Hiroshima . . . and a widening gap between rich and poor - makes any belief in the idea of progress or faith in the future seem questionable" (p. 34).
The above consequence is a result of the dominance of positivist mentality, which according to Hiebert has been charged with imperialist attitude and intellectual colonialism, amoral character due to its focus on description and take prescription for granted, and intellectual ethnocentrism.
In closing, after accepting the flaws of positivist epistemology, Hiebert intended to examine post-positivism and post-modernity in the succeeding chapters to determine if they can provide us with better alternatives.
Grace and peace!
Reference:
Hiebert, Paul G. 1999. Missiological Implications of Epistemological Shifts: Affirming Truth in a Modern/Postmodern World. PA: Trinity Press International.