The Positivism in Mexico

            "Positivism in Mexico was primarily and educational philosophy. It tried to break away with the colonial mentality and bring an intellectual emancipation so the modern Mexican mind could step into the future, free from the shackles of obscurantism, superstition and face the truths of science, order and progress." Evaluate this assessment of positivism in Mexico. How accurate is it? What does it mean by facing "the truths of science"? What kind of educational innovations did it argue for? .

             The Positive (and Negative) Truth about Mexican Positivism as a 19th Century Mexican Educational Reform Philosophy.

             The assertion that: "Positivism in Mexico was primarily an educational philosophy. It tried to break away with the colonial mentality and bring an intellectual emancipation so the modern Mexican mind could step into the future, free from the shackles of obscurantism, superstition and face the truths of science, order and progress" (no source) is an accurate one. Further, according to "Comparative Social Movements: Mexico and the United States":.

             The Mexican Positivists were a group of elite intellectuals and social scientists that .

             provided guidance and advice to Porfirio Diaz, the dictator that controlled Mexico .

             from 1878 through the eve of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. The cientificos [sic] .

             emphasized the incorporation of Mexico into the modern world system. This was to .

             be accomplished through suppression of the indigenous and mestizo [sic] aspects of .

             the culture and promotion of Mexico's "European" heritage. The combination of .

             economic liberalization and political authoritarianism was the hallmark of Mexican .

             Positivism. (December 16, 2002).

             Philosophies of the founder of sociology, Auguste Compte ("Sociological Positivism"; Auguste Compte), as applied to 19th century Mexican society, i.e., Mexican Positivism, offered (or imposed, depending on one's viewpoint) educational and other innovations in the later 19th century and earliest years of the 20th ("The Porfiriato, 1876-1910").

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