positivism

noun

• 1a philosophical system that holds that every rationally justifiable assertion can be scientifically verified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof, and that therefore rejects metaphysics and theism.

  [from French positivisme, coined by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, Auguste]
• a humanistic religious system founded on this.
• another term for logical positivism.

• 2the theory that laws are to be understood as social rules, valid because they are enacted by authority or derive logically from existing decisions, and that ideal or moral considerations (e.g., that a rule is unjust) should not limit the scope or operation of the law.