The Issue of Secularism Among Brazilian Positivists

The article proposes that the idea of secularism among Brazilian positivists was a defeated or rejected hypothesis. This refusal is expressed in the irrationalities of the discourse, as well as in its apparent apoliticism and in the overvaluation of a moralistic and sentimental language. Its most important empirical basis is composed of different texts by Brazilian positivists between 1870 and 1920. The treatment of the sources is based on content analysis, as well as the so-called historical documentary criticism.

Keywords
Positivism; Secularism; First republic; Brazil