From Mathematics to Physics: A Genealogy of the Foundation of the Scientific Method in the Social Sciences

The eighteenth century was an era dominated by a critical philosophy that challenged all previous systems of thought. It rejected theology and dismantled the sacred status once conferred by the Church upon feudal institutions. It promoted the spirit of tolerance, freedom of thought, scientific inquiry, and the elevation of reason. Thinkers of the time opposed out dated conceptions of the world and introduced a new worldview grounded in positivist science. The rationalists of the eighteenth century subjected all forms of knowledge to criticism: religion, society, and political institutions. These figure s were promin ent in the history of European thought and played a major role in the liberation of minds and the enlightenment of reason. A wave of intellectual emancipation spread, championed and defended by these thinkers. Significant works emerged, such as David Hume’ s attempt to apply the experimental method to the human sciences for the first time, alongside the rise of Cartesian rationalism. Among the most notable figures of the eighteenth century were Condorcet and Auguste Comte, who sought to apply the scientific principles of mathematics and physics to the methodology of study in the social and human sciences.