ABSTRACT
Thus we will attempt to redraw the standard framework of categories and distinctions in terms of which the methodological unity debate is conducted. Normally it is based upon two related dichotomies, naturalism versus anti-naturalism, and positivism versus idealism. Further, these two dichotomies are typically assimilated so that we are presented with exclusive and exhaustive alternatives: naturalism and positivism; or anti-naturalism and idealism. Indeed positivism has often been taken as synonymous with naturalism, or at least including naturalism as an essential part of its meaning.
