operationalismn.
/ˌɒpəˈreɪʃn̩əlɪz(ə)m/, /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃn̩l̩ɪz(ə)m/, /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃənl̩ɪz(ə)m/, /ˌɒpəˈreɪʃ(ə)nəlɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃənlˌɪz(ə)m/, /ˌɑpəˈreɪʃnəˌlɪz(ə)m/ Philosophy.
A form of positivism which defines scientific concepts in terms of the operations used to determine or prove them.
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the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > empiricism > [noun] > operationalism
operationalism1930
operationism1935
1930 H. D. Lasswell Psychopathol. & Polit. 471 Although modern ‘operationalism’ derives from many sources, an influential statement by a distinguished physical scientist is Percy W. Bridgman, The Logic of Modern Physics.
1950 Mind 59 571 Pragmatism and its modern offspring operationalism.
1987 Philos. Q. 37 101 In recent years, we have heard..of several deaths in the epistemological arena: the death of operationalism, behaviourism, logical positivism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1930