positivity

negativity

bad influence

optimism

work

burning bridges

kindness

warmth

acceptance

being positive

is almost the exact opposite of what we might think. It refers to alienation and norms imposed solely as outwardly authoritative (i.e. The sheer obedience demanded by Christianity) and not yet inwardly affirmed.

Hegel, like the entire generation of his time, was moved forward along the path of his thought by a fundamental experience, and that was the experience of alienation. He named it positivity (Positivita t). With Hegel one has to become accustomed to the way he often means by an expression just about the opposite of what one would expect. So when Hegel says positivity, he means something quite negative: that norms have been imposed solely as outwardly authoritative and have not been inwardly affirmed by ourselves. It would be an instance of the positivity in Christianity that it requires sheer obedience of the faithful, even without any taint of insight or inner engagement. It would be an instance of the positivity of a constitution when it carries on as valid in its positive determinations, though there is not any living spirit in it. (Godamer 'Reason in the age of' 33-4)

is an approach to discourse which excludes anything lying beneath it or hidden within it. It is a catch-all term for statements, discursive formations, or sub-formations like sciences... any one of these (or any set of relations between them) is a positivity.

positivity In the chapter entitled 'Rarity, Exteriority, Accumulation' (see section eleven), Foucault begins to use the term 'positivity' to designate an approach to discourse that excludes anything lying beneath it or hidden within it. For archeology, discourse is to be described only on the level of its basic, operative existence, its existence as a set of emerging and transforming statements (and relations between statements). In this sense, archeology addresses only the 'positivities' of discourse. Further on, Foucault uses 'positivity' almost always in noun form, as a catch-all term for statements, discursive formations, or sub-formations like sciences... any one of these (or any set of relations between them) is a positivity. (sparknotes archeology of knowledge)

is any discourse of exclusion (such as science). It also refers to the approach to discourse which excludes anything lying beneath it or hidden within it.

positivity, n.All

positivity