The Interdisciplinary Quarterly of

Positivism, as one of the main theoretical and methodological currents of modern sociology, has been subject to extensive attention and critique since its inception. This approach—emphasizing the imitation of natural sciences, empiricism, and quantification—seeks to provide an objective, law-governed understanding of social phenomena. Nevertheless, its limitations have prompted various philosophical and sociological schools to level fundamental criticisms. The present study, employing documentary and critical analysis methods, categorizes and examines these critiques and strives to reassess the status of positivism in contemporary sociology. The findings indicate that positivism has faced diverse criticisms across ontological, epistemological, and methodological dimensions. Hermeneutics (particularly in Dilthey’s tradition) stresses the distinction between natural and cultural sciences; interpretive sociology (notably Weber’s) focuses on methodological individualism and interpretive explanation; and phenomenology (especially Husserlian) exposes its shortcomings through concepts such as intuitive essence and universal form. The Frankfurt School, by highlighting human agency and the interconnection of values and knowledge, accuses positivism of oversimplification and indifference to the social nature of science, whereas the American critical trend points to its excessive reliance on induction and its theoretical vacuity. Postmodern thought further underscores positivism’s limitations by critiquing concepts such as objective truth, scientific universalism, and integrated rationality. These critiques do not imply the complete abandonment of positivism; rather, they reflect contemporary social sciences’ transition from positivism toward qualitative and critical approaches, seeking deeper, multidimensional, and contextually grounded understandings of social realities through the integration of insights from diverse paradigms.