ABSTRACT ON PHILOSOPHY
on the topic:
SCIENCE AS A SPECIAL FORM OF KNOWLEDGE OF REALITY
Completed by: l-t Timakov D.S.
Tver 2006
Introduction
This work is devoted to one of the numerous problems of philosophy, namely: science as a form of cognition of reality. Here we will describe different approaches to understanding this problem in different years, as well as the properties and functions of science as they were seen by people at different stages of the development of society.
The first part is devoted to the consideration of science as a system that has its own properties and functions. Further, the issues of specificity and generality of knowledge both by individual groups of people and by society as a whole will be considered.
In the third part, a description of scientific truth as a social phenomenon will be given. The fourth part contains the basic universal principles and general scientific methods of cognition and their description.
In the final, fifth, part, the dynamics of the development of worldviews of the opposite nature will be briefly considered: a view of science as an integral part of the culture of a developing society and a view of this problem from the side of opponents of solving cultural issues by scientific methods.
1. Consistency of the phenomenon of science
Science is a specific form of activity (both in theoretical and practical areas) associated with the formation of relatively objective, systematic and proven knowledge about spiritual and material reality.
Science is one of the defining subsystems of culture. By the beginning of the XXI century. there are more than 800 definitions of it, because every major scientist (thinker) gives his own interpretation of the phenomenon of science.
If we clarify this rather general definition, then we should single out several areas of scientific activity that specify it. Namely:
– identification of not external, but essential characteristics of reality;
– formation of a logically consistent system of knowledge about the objective picture of the world;
– forecasting the state of real objects and processes based on the identified natural and social laws;
–creation and development of special means of cognitive activity (mathematical methods, research equipment, etc.);
- the spread of a special type of professional activity (scientists, engineers, etc.) in the field of social division of labor;
– the functioning of a special system of organizations and institutions involved in obtaining, storing, disseminating and implementing the acquired knowledge (libraries, information centers, etc.).
The terms "science" ("science") and "scientist" ("scientist") arose in the first half of the 19th century. in European university practice. They designated activities in the field of mathematics, physics, chemistry and other natural sciences. The term "social science" was later used for activities in the social sciences.
In the process of the genesis and development of scientific knowledge, attention to its classification increased. Let's take a look at some milestones in this process.
The first classifications of science arose in antiquity. Aristotle (384-422 BC) divided philosophy (as a single science) into "theoretical philosophy", "practical philosophy" and "creative philosophy". Moreover, "theoretical philosophy" is subdivided by him into physical, mathematical and theological philosophy; to poetics and rhetoric. Logic is interpreted as propaedeutics (introduction) to the entire system of sciences.
In modern times, F. Bacon (1561-1626) developed a classification of sciences based on contemporary material. Human knowledge has been divided into three areas (spheres), namely: history (memory), poetry (fantasy) and philosophy (reason). At the same time, the selected areas of knowledge were subjected to subsequent detailing.
Representatives of the French Enlightenment (Didero, 1713-1784; and others), in the framework of the "Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", singled out mechanics, physics, chemistry, physiology, etc.
A. de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) proposed a classification of sciences by analogy with the class structure of society (slave-owning and feudal society - theology, capitalism - positivism, etc.).
O. Comte (1798-1857) developed the doctrine of "three stages" in the development of science, namely: theological, metaphysical and positive. At the same time, each of the known sciences sequentially passes, in his opinion, the marked stages. Not only the natural sciences (astronomy, physics, biology, etc.) go through the corresponding stages, but also the humanities - sociology.
The fundamental classification of science (philosophy) was proposed by Hegel (1770-1831). Namely: “real philosophy” is subdivided by him into “philosophy of nature” and “philosophy of spirit”. "Philosophy of nature" includes mechanics, physics, organic physics. "Philosophy of spirit" is subdivided into "subjective spirit" (anthropology, phenomenology, psychology), "objective spirit" (law, morality, morality) and "absolute spirit" (art, religion, philosophy).
By the 20th century, the following system of sciences had developed:
-natural science (natural sciences) - a system of scientific knowledge about nature;
-technical science (technical sciences) - a system of scientific knowledge about technical systems; sciences focused on the implementation of natural science knowledge;
-human science (social and human sciences) - a system of scientific knowledge about a person and society and the socio-cultural environment of its habitat.
In this case, we are talking about the "horizontal" dimension of the phenomenon of science. Within the framework of the "vertical" dimension, sciences are distinguished fundamental and applied.
Fundamental sciences are a system of knowledge about the deepest properties of objective reality, associated with the formation of a scientific picture of the world, which, as a rule, does not have a practical orientation. Applied sciences, on the contrary, are considered as a system of knowledge with a pronounced subject-practical orientation.
Fundamental sciences are associated with the identification of the basic laws and principles of the development of nature. Traditional studies of this level are carried out not because of external (social) needs, but because of internal (immanent) incentives. Therefore, at their core, the fundamental sciences do not have a clearly expressed practical orientation. In this sense, axiological (value) neutrality is associated with them. At the same time, discoveries in the fundamental sciences have a fundamental impact on the formation of the natural-science picture of the world, changes in the paradigm (basic characteristics) of scientific thinking. It is in the fundamental sciences that the basic models of cognition are developed, the concepts, principles and laws that make up the foundations of applied sciences are revealed.
Applied sciences, relying on the results of fundamental research, focus on solving specific technical and technological problems related to the interests of society. The sciences of this level are ambivalent; depending on the scope of application, they can be used both for the benefit of a person and have a negative impact on him and his environment. In other words, applied sciences also include value content.
On the one hand, the range of ideas, theories and concepts coming from the field of fundamental sciences to the field of applied research leads to the transformation of applied sciences. This circumstance requires, in turn, the "fundamentalization" of applied sciences. On the other hand, applied sciences actively influence sciences of a fundamental type, increasing the degree of their "practicalization".
First, the means and methods of instrumental knowledge of nature are being improved. And, secondly, when developing applied problems, new ideas and methods often arise. Thus, the development of elementary particle acceleration technology made it possible to substantiate and test theoretical ideas about the fundamental regularities of the microworld. Moreover, the relevant research led to the discovery of new elementary particles, the identification of the patterns of their formation, which significantly advanced the understanding of the deep processes of the microworld that determine the evolution of the Universe.
The development of science is an objective process, which is characterized by an orientation towards internal immanent (from Latin immanentis - peculiar, inherent) conditions. The formation of natural science, technical science and human knowledge increasingly reveals its historical dependence on external conditions (social, economic, cultural, etc.).
In other words, the process of interconnection and interaction of sciences is intensifying. Historically, there are several forms of interconnection and interaction between various scientific disciplines. Let us designate some levels of integrativity of science.
Related integration. The relationship of scientific disciplines genetically and historically interacting with each other (physical chemistry, biophysics, economic mathematics, etc.)
Interadjacent integrativity. The relationship of scientific disciplines, both of one cycle (natural sciences) and interconnected ones (for example, bionics is based not only on biology and physics, but also on technical sciences).
Target integration. The interaction of scientific disciplines of various cycles and profiles is carried out to implement the target setting corresponding to a particular science (for example, cybernetics combines not only mathematics or biology, but also systems theory, management methodology, sociology, etc.).
Problem integration. The relationship of various areas of scientific knowledge occurs in the process of solving a specific problem; the degree of integration is a function of its level - from local to global (for example, the solution of a global environmental problem requires the "involvement" of all areas of natural science, technical science and human knowledge).
These trends in science are also correlated with its functions. Several functions of science are noted. Let's highlight some of them, namely: research, teaching, communication, socio-cultural and worldview.
Research function. Science, studying concrete reality, discovers its new aspects and qualities, reveals more and more effective methods of cognition, etc. The purpose of scientific research is to analyze the patterns of objective reality.
Teaching function. Within its framework, the reproduction of scientific knowledge is carried out - the transfer of scientific ideas from one research system to another. This is carried out in the process of training scientific personnel (through the education system, scientific schools, etc.), which ensures the successive development of science, as well as the formation of new scientific traditions.
communicative function. This is a process of information exchange between members of the scientific community, which includes publications, conferences, discussions, etc. As a result, the relationship of the scientific community is strengthened, the awareness and effectiveness of research activities are increased.
sociocultural function. Science is one of the basic elements of culture that form the basis of civilization. The level and nature of the development of science is an essential factor that fixes the status of society in the dynamics of the historical process. The development of science is a criterion for the positive dynamism of civilization.
worldview function. The cumulative development of science forms the foundations of the scientific worldview, that is, a system of principles, beliefs and ideas that determine a holistic approach to objective reality. In an extremely generalized form, the scientific worldview is associated with the rational attitude of a person (subject) to nature (object).
At various stages of the development of society, certain functions of science dominated. For example, in the ancient period, the emphasis was placed on its worldview functions (a spontaneously dialectical form of worldview); in the medieval period - the teaching function (during this period, science was concentrated mainly in universities); in the conditions of the New Age, the research function of science developed (the formation of the modern type of scientific knowledge). special link of material production Abstract >> Informatics
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Legal science has come a long way of formation and development. The first sprouts of legal scientific thought appear in the era of Antiquity, they are filled with vitality in the era of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and, finally, they acquire maturity in the era of the New and Modern Times. Starting to study the history of legal science, it is necessary to note three moments that are extremely significant for its understanding.
First, legal science is a part of science as a whole, therefore understanding the essence of legal science is inseparable from understanding the essence of science as such.
Second, the history of legal science cannot be viewed in isolation from the history of science as such. The scientific thought of different historical eras is characterized by a certain unity in understanding the fundamental foundations of being. That is why the understanding of the logic of the development of legal science is revealed through its correlation with the logic of the development of science as such.
Finally, the third - the history of legal science is closely connected with the history of culture as a whole. The history of jurisprudence can be viewed as a text, the interpretation of which is not achievable outside of its context - the socio-cultural environment.
These points determine the structure of the first part of the textbook offered to the reader's attention, which contains a theoretical analysis of science as a specific way of knowing and a historical analysis of the genesis and development of scientific knowledge.
Chapter 1. The concept of science
Science is a multifaceted phenomenon, so one-dimensional models of its study are not representative. Many-sided, opening only to stereoscopic vision, the image of science is composed of such aspects as: epistemological (cognitive), ontological (existential), social. Accordingly, science can be considered as a form of knowledge, a sphere of culture, a social institution.
§one. Science as a form of knowledge
In the epistemological aspect, science appears as one of the ways of knowing the world. The basis of cognition is thinking - an active process of processing information about the world. Modern researchers identify two main strategies for processing cognitive (cognizable) information: right hemisphere, figurative-emotional, generalizing knowledge about the world using a system of emotionally colored images; and left-hemispheric, logical-verbal, rational, generalizing information about the world with the help of a system of concepts, symbols (1). Art and myth as forms of cognition are based primarily on the right hemisphere figurative-emotional strategy, while art is based mostly on experiential knowledge, and myth is based on superexperienced knowledge. Philosophy and science as forms of cognition are based on the left-hemispheric rational strategy of information processing, while science is based mainly on experimental knowledge, and philosophy generalizes the experimental and forms superexperimental - abstract, speculative, speculative knowledge. Religion, especially when it comes to world religions, is a synthetic knowledge. It is undoubtedly dominated by figurative-emotional information processing strategies, but a rational strategy also plays a certain role. At the same time, religion is knowledge, by definition, superexperienced.
Of course, the proposed scheme is rather conditional - in reality, any knowledge is synthetic, we can only talk about priorities.
The development of science, including legal science, is associated with the actualization and promotion of the logical-verbal, analytical-synthetic, rational cognitive strategy, while the figurative-emotional strategy is the second plan of this process.
The main components of a rational cognitive strategy are reason, reason, reflection, and intellectual intuition.
Reason - "final" thinking (G.W.F. Hegel) - the initial level of rational thinking, at which the operation of abstractions takes place within a given scheme, an unchanging pattern, strict principles. The logic of reason is a formal logic that sets certain rules for statements, proofs, which determines not so much the content as the form of the existing knowledge. In essence, reason is the ability to consistently reason, correctly analyze, classify and systematize facts. The main function of reason is the ordering and organization of cognitive material. The main forms of rational thinking are: a concept - a definition that reflects in a generalized form the general and special features of the phenomena of reality and the essential connections between them; judgment - a statement that reflects individual things, phenomena, processes, their properties, connections and relationships, and inductive and deductive conclusions - mental actions through which new knowledge is derived.
Mind - "infinite" thinking (G. W. F. Hegel) - the highest level of rational thinking, which is characterized by creative handling of existing abstractions, their critical rethinking. The mind is aimed at comprehending the essence and laws of various phenomena and processes of the world. The main function of the mind is an adequate display of information in the system of concepts, categories, concepts presented in their interconnection and development. The logic of reason is dialectics - the logic of the transition from one system of knowledge to another higher one through synthesis and removal of contradictions that are revealed both in the object of cognition and in the process of cognition itself, in the interaction of the object and subject of cognition.
Rational cognition is the process of interaction between reason and reason. The transition of reason into reason is carried out as a result of overcoming the historically established conceptual system on the basis of the promotion of new ideas, the formation of new categories. The transition of the mind into the mind is associated with the formalization and schematization of knowledge obtained as a result of the creative activity of the mind.
Scientific rationalism is inseparable from such a way of mental activity as reflection. Reflection is “a thought about a thought catching up with a thought” (Yu. Schreider) or “the ability of thinking to make thinking its subject” (K. Jaspers), the ability to think not only about objects, but also about thoughts, essences. The development of scientific rationality is connected with the development of theoretical reflection - critical thinking, focused on the formation of generalizing constructions freed from specifics, based on evidence.
An essential role in the process of cognition is played by intellectual intuition, which in terms of psychology can be interpreted as an insider - "peak experience", as a result of which a breakthrough to new knowledge is made. In modern epistemology (the doctrine of cognition), intellectual intuition is regarded as a collapsed reasoning, a mental leap carried out subconsciously. In this way, the understanding of intuition is freed from the touch of spiritualism and irrationalism.
Thus, scientific knowledge is experiential and reflexive, demonstrative and critical knowledge, based on rational-rational strategies of thinking, which can be cast in the form of intellectual intuition.
To separate scientific and non-scientific knowledge, some universal principle is needed, a universal basis - a criterion (measure) that would allow one or another idea to be qualified as scientific or non-scientific in nature. In general, scientific knowledge is a way of introducing the subject to the truth, it has objectivity, general validity, universality, evidence. However, it is obvious that these requirements are not absolute, but relative. In the history of science, there have been various criteria for being scientific. Among them: the criterion of empiricism - the experimental verifiability of the put forward scientific position; criterion of rationalism - logical consistency and correctness of scientific theories; the criterion of conventionalism - the general acceptance of certain scientific theories; criterion of falsifiability - the refutation of scientific theories by factual data; the criterion of verifiability - the linguistic verifiability of the objectivity of scientific provisions, the criterion of pragmatism - the operationality of scientific ideas, etc. Of course, we can say that scientific knowledge is objective, generally valid and universal knowledge, but with a more detailed study of these criteria, many questions arise. For example, what should be considered a criterion of objectivity, if modern science puts forward the principle of correlation of the acquired knowledge about an object not only with the peculiarity of the means and operations of activity, but also with the value-target structures of the cognizing subject and reveals the connections between intra-scientific goals and extra-scientific social values and goals? Or what should be considered a criterion of general validity, if a specific feature of social and humanitarian knowledge is its polyparadigmality, i.e. synchronous existence of various paradigms - theories, principles, provisions? These questions do not have clear answers. Obviously, this kind of uncertainty is justified, since it makes science open, without creating obstacles and rigid barriers to its development, the emergence of new scientific theories and disciplines that do not fit into the existing structure of scientific knowledge and expand its space.
In general, it is advisable to talk about a set of criteria, distinguishing between paradigm criteria - criteria that are legitimate at a particular stage in the development of science, operating within a particular scientific paradigm; and universal criteria - metacriteria that determine the most general parameters of scientific knowledge, regardless of any of its paradigm affiliation. The criteria formed within the framework of one or another scientific paradigm, for example, positivism, pragmatism, structuralism, phenomenology, act as paradigmatic criteria. As metacriteria, one can distinguish such requirements as: rationality, logical consistency, intersubjectivity, reproducibility, experimental verifiability (15). Scientific, in this context, is knowledge that meets the requirements of a larger number of metacriteria, and vice versa, knowledge that most of the metacriteria do not work with can hardly claim the status of scientific.
Scientific rationalism should be distinguished from everyday knowledge, ordinary knowledge can also operate with logical-verbal methods of information processing, but it is not evidence-based, ordinary rationality is rational, it is the logic of common sense based on the belief in the obviousness of any phenomena or processes. Ordinary knowledge cannot be considered as erroneous or harmful, it is a different form of knowledge, without which the existence of culture would be problematic. Moreover, modern researchers consider everyday knowledge as a source of information for scientific knowledge. I. Prigogine and I. Stengers, for example, argue that: “In the open world that we are now learning to describe, theoretical knowledge and practical wisdom need each other” (2).
Scientific rationalism must also be distinguished from philosophical rationalism. The problem of identifying the specifics of philosophical and scientific knowledge is extremely important, because through its solution it is possible to specify such disciplines as jurisprudence and the philosophy of law. The differences between science, in particular legal science, and philosophy, in particular the philosophy of law, should be seen in the degree of abstraction of political and legal thought from specific experimental knowledge. Jurisprudence is an experimental science. It analyzes, synthesizes, generalizes, systematizes and conceptualizes specific factual information regarding the existence of the political and legal sphere of society. Thus, jurisprudence acts as a reflection of the first order - a reflection on the established forms of political and legal culture. The philosophy of law is a reflection of the second order, a generalization of a generalization, a conceptualization of conceptualizations, a theory of theories or a metatheory. Between jurisprudence and the philosophy of law, there are direct and reverse links. Jurisprudence, being concrete scientific knowledge, acts for the philosophy of law as a kind of initial empirical basis, and the philosophy of law, in turn, acts for jurisprudence as an ideological and methodological basis. The boundary between proper scientific legal knowledge and philosophical knowledge and knowledge is rather conditional and transparent, for example, such a section of legal science as the theory of state and law has much in common and even coincides with the philosophy of law.
Science, including legal science, should be distinguished from practice - legal practice. Practice (Greek prakticos - active, active) is an objective, goal-setting human activity aimed at the development and transformation of natural and social objects. Legal practice is an activity related to the regulation of social and political relations by referring to established legal norms and laws. Legal practice arises at a certain stage in the development of society - the stage of formation of a large complex society. It relies primarily on rational thinking, the content of which is reduced to law understanding and law enforcement. Legal science is based on rational-rational thinking aimed at legal transformation and law formation. Thus, the most important social function of legal science is the improvement of the legal sphere of society. Legal science is the most important element of the self-organization of society, the efforts of scientists - lawyers carry out the reconstruction of the legal system of society, models of the legal organization of society are created, new systems of law, new political and legal technologies are being formed. Of course, for the implementation, introduction of political and legal technologies, the participation of legal policy is necessary, i.e. state political forces.
Science is a historically established and institutionally formed sphere of human activity, aimed at objective knowledge of the surrounding reality, the development of theoretical ideas about phenomena, properties, patterns. Science is looking for answers to questions - “How does this world work?”, “Why and because of what does something happen this way and not otherwise?”, “What will happen if ...?” etc. The collection, systematization, description and explanation of empirical facts is the basis of scientific knowledge of the surrounding world. Scientific knowledge is also built through the analysis and synthesis of existing and new knowledge. Science not only describes observable natural, social and psychological phenomena, but also tries to build causal relationships. The main criterion for testing the objectivity of scientific knowledge is its predictiveness.
Science differs from other forms of knowledge of the surrounding world - myth, faith, contemplation, artistic knowledge, everyday knowledge.
Myth gives a person the possibility of a holistic experience of the world, explaining and justifying the observed phenomena and events according to the associative principle, according to the laws of participation (causality according to the principle of participation), animism (animation), anthropomorphism (similarity to a person), totemism (totem cult). Myth is a stable form of worldview based on collective ideas (according to L. Levy-Brul). In mythological thinking, everything has a reason, will, soul, and the task of a person is to build a dialogue or some kind of interaction with the outside world. An important function of the myth is to give certainty of ideas about the world and suggest how to behave in this world (ritualization of life).
In traditional cultures, the image of the world has a symbolic nature and is embodied in mythological ideas about the world. In its most general form, the mythological picture of the world (model of the world) is defined as an abbreviated and simplified representation of the entire sum of ideas about the world within a particular tradition. The bearers of this tradition may not be aware of the picture of the world in its entirety and consistency. The “world” is understood as a person and the environment in their interaction, i.e. the world is the result of processing information about the environment and the person himself with the help of sign systems. The picture of the world is realized in various semiotic incarnations, coordinated among themselves and forming a single universal system, to which they are subordinate 1 .
Science, of course, is also subject to the creation of myths - scientific myths. But, as A. F. Losev notes, science is opposite in nature to myth. “The mythical consciousness is completely direct and naive, generally understandable; scientific consciousness necessarily has an inferential, logical character; it is not immediate, difficult to assimilate, requires long learning and abstract skills. Myth is always synthetically vital and consists of living personalities, whose fate is illuminated emotionally and intimately perceptually; science always turns life into a formula, giving instead of living personalities their abstract schemes and formulas; and realism, the objectivism of science, does not consist in a colorful depiction of life, but in the correct correspondence of an abstract law and formula with the empirical fluidity of phenomena, beyond any picturesqueness, picturesqueness or emotionality.
Of course, in such a contrast, myth appears to be something vital, while science is lifeless. But it is not so. These are different ways of knowing and describing the world. The myth is really closer to ordinary knowledge, accessible to every person. In certain life situations, it is easier for us to justify events, phenomena, facts according to the mythological principle, and not to resort to complex scientific constructions and methods of cognition. And one should not think that mythological consciousness is a property of only primitive peoples or traditional culture. In fact, we see how in modern everyday life the myth continues to occupy a significant niche in the knowledge of the surrounding world. Let's take an example. This situation is quite typical even among professional psychologists: at the beginning of communication with a new person for them, they are immediately interested in what sign of the zodiac he was born under. Having received an answer, they pronounce, literally, the following phrase: “Ah, all It's clear...". And here we observe the classical scheme of the action of cognition according to the mythological principle, when a feeling of completeness of knowledge is created on the basis of one sign. And this is while completely ignoring the fact that psychology in its scientific basis provides an understanding of the systemic complexity and heterogeneity of the influence of various factors (external and internal) on certain manifestations, actions, actions of a person. It is this complexity for understanding that is removed according to the mythological principle, making “everything understandable”. In everyday life, this way of understanding the surrounding reality is perhaps the dominant one. And in many cases, there is nothing wrong with that. But for a professional, this is a false and disastrous path. After all, such a primitivization of the vision of the situation does not allow us to notice and take into account significant factors, does not allow us to see a picture adequate to reality, which has a significant potential for predictability.
Religious faith - recognition of something as true by virtue of an inner conviction based on religious dogmas, without prior
actual or logical verification, i.e. without evidence. Every religion has a system of basic texts and dogmas that require them to be accepted on faith. A believer in a religious interpretation is a person who sees the world based on the religious teachings of a given denomination and builds a model of his behavior in accordance with this teaching. Faith does not imply doubt, but implies adherence to dogma. But the original text can be interpreted in different ways. And the interpretation of the basic text becomes a way of understanding the facts of the present and experiencing the future. Science, on the other hand, is in constant internal struggle with dogma, and doubt is one of the main psychological mechanisms for the movement of scientific knowledge.
Religion gives a lot for a person - it sets the semantic coordinates of life and forms an idea of the infinity of human existence even after death. It orients a person in the system of values, determines moral norms, and regulates life priorities. It is no accident, as V. Frankl noted, that with the decline in the importance of religion in the life of society, most of the semantic tasks that were carried out by religious institutions passed to psychologists. A person needs to understand the meaning of his life. Religion sets such meanings in the system of dogmas and texts. Outside of religion, a person has to be in an independent search for these meanings. And this is very difficult without external supports, especially when the internal ones have not yet been built.
Contemplation- a way of direct sensory knowledge of the surrounding world through its non-critical perception. Contemplation gives us the experience of a direct holistic representation of the visible or otherwise sensually perceived. Contemplation is interpreted differently in various philosophical and scientific schools. In some teachings, it is opposed to arbitrary observation, and somewhere it is identified with it. In any case, contemplation as a way of cognition is associated with a developed sensitivity of perception and is determined by it. And it is no coincidence that the concepts of “see and see”, “listen and hear” are divorced. In the context of the teachings of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), contemplation is opposed to knowledge through thinking. But contemplation is extremely important for adequate orientation in the world with the help of the sense organs and sensory perception.
Science has discovered beyond the visible limit whole worlds of invisible details.
A. I. Herzengy. And since the Renaissance, when the value of authorship, artistic interpretation and expressiveness appears, the artistic path of cognition becomes relatively independent. At present, for art, the identity of the creator, his authorial, subjective vision of the world is a priority. Whereas for science, objective, impersonal knowledge is paramount (this does not mean that authorship is leveled in science; it is important that the personal attitude of the author should not affect the objectivity of knowledge). Artistic knowledge is largely based on the creative transformation of the figurative-sensory perception of the world, on imagination, while science is based on a rational, logical way of knowing.
At the same time, it should be noted that art and science are closely connected within the sphere of culture. And not only biographically or according to the principle of the significance of inspiration. Science draws much from art, and art from science. In the applied aspect, they have many planes of direct intersection (for example, in architecture). This is especially pronounced in psychology. Many works of art subtly and accurately reflect psychological phenomena, deeply reveal psychological phenomena. It is no coincidence that poets and writers (A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoevsky, N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov and others) are considered the most profound connoisseurs of human souls in our country. Some writers even went out of the space of art into the space of science, preserving the subtlety of the artistic reflection of reality. Such examples include the completely scientific book of the writer and poet K. I. Chukovsky “From Two to Five”, in which the author presented an excellent analysis of the speech (and not only) development of the child. It is also worth noting that in the works of many authors (artists, directors, writers) there is a trace of the influence of psychological theories (for example, S. Dali, F. Fellini, A. Bergson created many of their works under the influence of psychoanalysis and analytical psychology, and works of art by Zh .-G1 Sartre and A. Camus are inextricably linked with existential psychology).
In the form of works of art, they tried to express their pedagogical concepts of J.-J. Rousseau, J. Korchak, A. S. Makarenko. Other teachers used art as a pedagogical tool (K. D. Ushinsky, L. N. Tolstoy, V. A. Sukhomlinsky and others).
Life sets goals for science; science illuminates the path of life.
N. K. Mikhailovsky of special methods, while everyday knowledge is based on direct experience and subjective perception.
All science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.
A. Einstein
However, life experience and scientific knowledge are not in such an antagonistic relationship. It is because of the noticed problematic issues in everyday life that many scientific discoveries are made. And many scientific discoveries change everyday life, affect everyday life. In addition, many scientific hypotheses, assumptions, theories must be tested by everyday, common sense, life practice. Otherwise, they will remain only abstract theories.
What criteria of knowledge should science itself satisfy? Question about scientific criteria- one of the key in the methodology of science. Among the many criteria of scientificity, the following can be singled out as the most important:
- - truth (with the understanding that science is an attempt to solve problem situations and it is impossible to achieve absolute truth. "All science begins with the consciousness of ignorance");
- - validity (justification can be different - empirical, mathematical, logical, theoretical);
- - testability (scientific knowledge is considered justified if there is a fundamental possibility of its verification by another researcher, or by another method, or in a different situation, or on other material);
- - consistency (scientific knowledge must be logically organized);
- - incompleteness (scientific knowledge cannot be finite, you need to understand where the boundaries of the known are, and see the prospects for further development).
(See task 1 to chapter 1.)
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945)
The philosopher of science E. A. Pozdnyakov writes that “all science is the pure fruit of human creative activity (... which) is mainly and predominantly intellectually rational, abstract, subject to certain logical, schematic rules” 1 .
Scientific thinking differs from the ordinary way of organizing its work, its orderliness and purposefulness. Speaking about scientific knowledge, Academician V. A. Engelgardt wrote: “Scientific creativity is the result of an instinct acting in us, the result of the desire to satisfy the inner need inherent in us by nature, the need to expand the field of human knowledge, to clarify what was previously vague, bring elements of order into the chaos of the unknown that surrounds us.
The main way to satisfy the need for knowledge is research. Historically, research has become a cultural mechanism for the development of science, but at the same time it remains a way of activity independent of science, i.e. available for use by other cultural institutions, including schools, and especially universities. In fact, in European history, the development of science and the establishment of universities are in fact interrelated and in many respects identical processes.
A developing person is initially in a contradictory state of choice - to explore or take on faith. We make this choice constantly and in most cases unconsciously. The position of conformism, passive acceptance, adherence to external requirements, the need for a stable position and certainty in some cases turn out to be necessary, advantageous for successful social adaptation. This is especially true for the model of a stable society. But they turn out to be losing in a situation of instability, uncertainty, which requires independence from a person in finding an effective solution, an optimal way out of a problem situation. The situation of uncertainty actualizes an active, research position in relation to problems. However, if sociocultural norms constantly suppressed research activity in a person, he would rather start looking for support from outside than try to cope on his own.
Vernadsky V.I. Proceedings on the history of science in Russia. M.: Nauka, 1988. S. 75.
SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, ITS LEVELS, METHODS AND FORMS
1. Science as the main form of human knowledge.
2. Forms and methods of scientific knowledge: general dialectical method; general methods of cognition; specific methods of private sciences.
3. The logic of the cognitive process, the main stages of scientific knowledge and their significance in law enforcement.
The science- the sphere of human activity, focused on the development, theoretical systematization and comprehension of knowledge about reality; the most important element of spiritual culture, the highest form of human knowledge; the system of developing knowledge, which is achieved through appropriate methods of cognition, is expressed in precise concepts, the truth of which is verified and proved by social practice.
Classification of Sciences- the mutual connection of sciences on the basis of certain principles and the expression of their connection in the form of a logically justified arrangement of sciences.
Natural Sciences– sciences about inanimate nature (mechanics, physics, chemistry); organic world (botany, biology, zoology, anthropology, psychology);
Social Sciences & Humanities- the sciences of the development of human society in the interdependence of all its aspects and elements, including the social sciences, reflecting the interconnection of individual aspects of the internal structure of society - the economic base and superstructure;
Technical science- sciences related to a specific economy and the main sectors of the economy (industry, transport, communications, agriculture, health care).
Scientific Method- a system of rules for theoretical and practical activities developed by the subject on the basis of the laws of the object under study.
Cognitive Procedure- a set of methods focused on achieving a certain research result.
The consideration of such an important form of human knowledge as science can be approached in a variety of ways. However, from the very beginning it is necessary to understand that the word "science" literally means knowledge, that most important element that we considered in the structure of consciousness (knowledge, emotions, will, memory), where knowledge means certified information about material and spiritual phenomena, their true reflection in the human mind.
From this point of view, knowledge is the opposite of ignorance, as they said in antiquity, that is, the absence of verified information about something. And in cognition, knowledge is the process of immersing the mind in reality for the sake of subordinating it to the power of man.
The mind moves from ignorance to knowledge, from superficial knowledge to ever deeper and more comprehensive knowledge, and therefore knowledge can be different: everyday (ordinary), pre-scientific and scientific, empirical and theoretical.
On the other hand, it is important to understand that elementary knowledge is also characteristic of animals, which have correct information about certain properties of things and their simplest relationships, which is a necessary condition for their correct orientation in the world around them.
Primitive people possessed considerable knowledge in the form of useful information, customs, empirical experience, and production skills transmitted from generation to generation. They knew how to do a lot and their skills were based on knowledge. This is evidence that everyday, pre-scientific, and scientific knowledge is based on practice. For example, for thousands of years, sailors knew perfectly well how to use levers, and merchants knew how to use scales. In essence, this knowledge was known long before Archimedes discovered the law of the lever. But it was precisely this law that made it possible to create new mechanical inventions that would not have occurred to any practitioner.
Ordinary, empirical knowledge, arising directly from practice, can exist without science and outside of science. So, even in hoary antiquity, it was noticed that the day regularly replaces the night, or that iron is heavier than wood. In everyday life, this kind of knowledge plays a significant role, for example, a mother can conclude from a chill that a child has developed a disease.
In this case, what kind of knowledge becomes scientific and how can one understand what science is?
Being integral to the practical way of mastering the world, science as the production of knowledge is a specific form of activity. If in material production knowledge is used as a means of increasing labor productivity, then in science they are obtained in the form of a theoretical description, a scheme of a theoretical process, a summary of experimental data, a formula for a drug, etc. They form the main and immediate goal of scientific knowledge . And for any scientific knowledge, the presence of what is being investigated is essential, revealing the nature of the subject of science, but the answer to the question of how research is carried out reveals the method of research.
In this regard, there are three features for science:
First: unlike many other types of activity, scientific activity gives an increment of new knowledge, science acts as a force that constantly renews other types of activity.
Second: science is a historically established form of human activity, aimed at the knowledge and transformation of objective reality. It is a spiritual production, which results in purposefully selected and systematized facts, logically verified hypotheses, generalizing theories, fundamental and particular laws, as well as research methods. In this sense, science is at the same time a system of knowledge, spiritual production and practical activity.
Third: scientific knowledge began to form in ancient societies (Sumerian culture, Egypt, China, India), but the emergence of science is most of all attributed to the 6th century. BC e., when the first theoretical systems arose in ancient Greece (Thales, Democritus) and the conditions appropriate for this developed. The formation of science in that period required, first of all, the criticism and destruction of mythological systems. For the emergence of science in that period, a sufficient level of development of the productive forces of society was necessary, a developed level of production and social relations, leading to the division of mental and physical labor and thereby opening up the possibility for systematic knowledge by science of a certain part of society - the ruling class. The main laws of the development of science (see: Philosophy. Structural-logical schemes, cx. - 177).
From all that has been said, it can be concluded that the science - the most important element of spiritual culture, the highest form of human knowledge; a system of developing knowledge, which is achieved through appropriate methods of cognition, expressed in precise concepts, the truth of which is verified and proved by social practice.
The essence of scientific knowledge lies in a reliable generalization of facts, when the necessary, regular is found behind the random, the general is found behind the single, and on this basis, various objects and events are foreseen. In this regard, one cannot fail to recall the remarkable thoughts that continuity in science ensures its functioning as the main type of "social memory" of mankind, theoretically crystallizing the past experience of knowing reality and mastering its laws.
On the other hand, the process of development of science finds its expression not only in the increase in the amount of accumulated knowledge, but also affects the structure of science, which is complex and consists of four interacting components:
1) Science includes empirical knowledge, borrowed not only from ordinary consciousness, but also specially obtained empirically through observation and experiment. For example, the emergence of new areas of theory in natural science usually begins with the discovery by experience of new facts that do not "fit" into the framework of existing theories. So it was with the discovery of radioactivity at the end of the last century: this phenomenon was understood as the transformation of chemical elements only through 20 years. Or, for example, the nature of powerful sources of radiation in space discovered in the 60s of our century, called "pulsars", will cease to be a mystery to physicists and astronomers with time.
2) science is a field of theoretical knowledge. The theory must explain the facts, discover the operation of laws in the empirical material, bring these laws into a single system. In every field of science, the process of accumulation of facts sooner or later leads to the creation of a theory as a system of knowledge, and this is a sure sign that this field of knowledge is turning into a science. So, mechanics became a science thanks to I. Newton, who discovered at the end of the 17th century. the basic laws of motion of bodies and linking these laws of motion of bodies into a single system. In the second half of the last century, the doctrine of heat turned into thermodynamics due to the discovery of the law of conservation and transformation of energy and the law of entropy, and the doctrine of electricity became a science only when D. Maxwell created a coherent theory of electromagnetic processes.
Science as a theoretical system of knowledge has as its core the laws of science, reflecting the objectively necessary, essential connections between the phenomena of one or another area of being. The theoretical field of science also includes hypotheses, without which science cannot develop and which, in the course of their verification by practice, are either rejected or cleared of errors and develop into theories.
3) The most important component of science is its ideological, philosophical foundations and conclusions. For example, understanding the law of conservation and transformation of energy, the law of entropy, which laid the foundation for thermodynamics, would be impossible without understanding the philosophical questions about the eternity and infinity of matter and motion, about their quantitative and qualitative indestructibility.
A. Einstein's theory of relativity establishes a connection between space, time and matter, quantum theory reveals the relationship of discontinuity and continuity in the microcosm, and these are not only physical, but also philosophical problems. All these examples show how science penetrates deeper and deeper into the essence of phenomena and processes, covers an ever wider range of the modern picture of the world, and that is why it is filled with an increasing degree of philosophical content.
4) the fourth component of science is practice. This component shows that science, being a phenomenon of the spiritual life of society, is at the same time embodied in the sphere of material life. It is a special area of human activity, where theory merges with practice, is inextricably linked with it.
Even at the early stages of the development of science, scientists not only contemplated nature, but also acted in the interests of practice: they invented devices, conducted observations with their help, set up experiments and obtained new facts. So, in ancient times, the gnomon astronomical device was created - a vertical column on a horizontal platform, which allowed the Greeks to accurately determine the height of the sun above the horizon and geographic latitude.
In modern times, such forms of scientific practice as instrumental observation and experiment have developed rapidly. Subsequently, a whole experimental base was created for science, requiring colossal costs for equipment and technical equipment for scientific production: giant synchrophasotrons, spacecraft and satellites, stations, the most accurate instruments that make it possible to measure time intervals and space intervals in the microcosm.
From this point of view, the distinction between theory and practice in many areas required a division of labor between scientists: experimental physicists set up experiments, operate instruments, give a primary generalization of the data obtained, and theoretical physicists devote themselves entirely to generalizing experimental data, developing fundamental theory. Exactly the same trend is in the development of many natural sciences, for example, in the field of medicine, in solving complex problems of modern genetics, in psychology, in nanotechnology, etc.
In this regard, it is important to identify the main feature of practical activity in science, which is subordinated to the pursuit of knowledge, the development of theory, showing that science as a form of human knowledge does not exist without a material moment, without what is called "scientific practice".
Scientific disciplines, which in their totality form the system of science as a whole, can be conditionally divided into three large groups:
a) natural sciences;
b) social (social and humanitarian) sciences;
c) technical sciences.
Each of these groups, in turn, forms a system of individual sciences coordinated and subordinated by subject and methodological connections in a variety of ways, which makes their classification extremely complex and not yet fully completed.
Natural science is a system of natural sciences, one of the three main areas of human knowledge; the theoretical basis of industry, agriculture, the scientific foundation of materialism, the dialectical understanding of nature.
The knowledge of nature and the formation of the natural sciences is achieved as a result of the theoretical and industrial activity of man. In this case, natural science has a twofold purpose:
1) disclosure of the essence of natural phenomena, knowledge of their laws and prediction of new phenomena based on them;
2) an indication of the possibility of using in practice the known laws of nature. Among the great variety of natural sciences, the following can be mentioned: mechanics, astronomy, astrophysics, physics, chemical physics, physical chemistry, chemistry, geochemistry, geology, geography, biochemistry, biology, zoology, zoopsychology , botany, human physiology, anthropology and others.
Social (humanitarian) - social sciences - is a set of sciences about man and society, which differ from the sciences about nature (natural science) and the practical use of its laws. As part of the humanities, the science of thinking is distinguished. At the same time, the sciences are a system of all areas of knowledge about society, the laws of its emergence and development, its structure, individual elements of this structure and various aspects of human life: about social being and social consciousness, their interaction; about a person, his formation, activity and development; about human communities: classes, nations, ethnic groups and relations between them; about material and spiritual culture in society.
The social sciences primarily include: history, archeology, ethnography, economic geography, socio-economic statistics, sociology, political science, the sciences of the basis and superstructure, the state and law; linguistics and psychology, pedagogy.
Technical (practical) sciences. In the classical sense, the technical sciences include applied mechanics, technical physics, metallurgy, chemical and technical sciences, mining, geology, agricultural sciences: agriculture, agronomy, veterinary science, medical sciences, etc.
However, it must be borne in mind that in modern natural science and technical sciences, compared with the 19th century, fundamental changes have occurred that have caused the emergence of fundamentally new ones: subatomic physics (quantum mechanics, electronic and nuclear physics), which has changed the relationship between physics and mechanics. , physics and chemistry, cybernetics has developed, linking many branches of natural science, mathematics and technology; arose astronautics, which influenced the development of a number of sciences, especially astronomy.
On the other hand, the classification of modern technical sciences has broad links with a specific economy, where it is considered with the main sectors of the national economy: industry (heavy and light, manufacturing and mining, transport and communications); agricultural sciences: plant growing and animal husbandry); medical sciences and health care. Through these branches of production, connected with the material life of society, the technical sciences interact extensively with the social sciences.
Natural, mathematical and technical sciences began to be linked in a peculiar and fundamentally new way with the emergence of cybernetics, which grew up on the basis of solving the problem of automating production and technical processes. Therefore, speaking about modern science in its interaction with various aspects and spheres of human life and society, we can distinguish three groups of social functions performed by modern science:
1) cultural and ideological functions;
2) the functions of science as a direct productive force;
3) functions as a social force associated with the fact that scientific knowledge and methods are increasingly used in solving a variety of problems that arise in the course of social development.
All three groups of functions performed by modern science as a social force are actualized in solving global environmental problems. As is known, scientific and technical progress is one of the main causes of such phenomena dangerous to society and man as the depletion of the planet's natural resources, growing environmental pollution, the aggravating demographic situation and the problems of war and peace, the growing danger of nuclear war. As a result, science in the new millennium is assigned the leading role in determining the scale and parameters of environmental hazards.
Moreover, only it is able today to help mankind solve environmental problems on a planetary scale, intensively linking the technical and economic development of mankind, social management and creating new social institutions that can overcome crisis moments in the development of society, identifying means of transforming natural and social reality with the help of Sciences.
Science, taking into account the real significance of new forms of exploration of the world, combines their achievements with the interests of man and human society as a whole. And this is an indicator that modern humanity needs a science of the future, harmoniously combining cognitive, aesthetic, moral and worldview aspects.
SCIENCE AS THE MOST IMPORTANT FORM OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE MODERN WORLD
The concept of science, its main characteristics and functions
The problem of defining science is one of the most difficult in modern research on the theory of knowledge and philosophy of science. There are many definitions of science that fix one or another of its features.
At present, in the philosophy and methodology of science, the idea of science as a phenomenon of social life has been entrenched, the specificity of which is emphasized by an indication of its main parameters:
1) science as a specific activity;
2) science as a system of knowledge;
3) science as a social institution;
4) science as a productive force;
5) science as a form of social consciousness.
Science as a specific activityis a system of cognitive actions aimed at the production and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about natural, social and spiritual reality and knowledge itself. The specifics of scientific activity is determined through the specifics of its subject, object and means.
Object of scientific activity- a set of special idealized objects that are not given in everyday experience (ordinary cognitive activity masters only those objects that are directly included in the structure of human practical activity in the course of everyday experience).
Subject of scientific activity- a set of people with special professional training; for this, a special training system is created, which involves the mastering by the subject of a large array of knowledge, skills, abilities and methods (in acts of everyday cognition, the subject is formed spontaneously by mastering the traditional skills of cognitive and practical activity).
The main means of scientific and educational activities:
Material resources;
Conceptual and logical means (specialized languages and categorical systems, logical and methodological standards and standards for the organization of knowledge, its validity and objective truth);
Mathematical tools (systems of mathematical languages and formulas designed to provide procedures for describing, explaining and predicting the phenomena and processes under study in accordance with the requirements of logical consistency, accuracy, meaningful certainty).
Distinctive features of scientific and educational activities:
- methodological reflectionaimed at comprehending and constantly evaluating ongoing cognitive actions, as well as developing special methods and means of achieving objectively true knowledge about the reality under study;
Focus on obtaining a result in the form of new knowledge or information about the phenomenon under study.
Structurally, science as a specific activity is organized, first of all, according to the disciplinary principle, i.e. by identifying individual scientific disciplines, within which the content and sequence of cognitive actions are consistent with the characteristics of the object and subject of research, as well as the nature of the knowledge sought and the areas of its application. Along with the disciplinary organization of scientific activity, there are such forms of it as the field of research, where some parameters of related disciplines are combined, as well as program-targeted research focused on solving complex problems (development of new energy sources, creation of new materials, development of the World Ocean, space and etc.).
Most broadly, there are three main units of measurement of science as an activity for the production and theoretical systematization of knowledge:
1) natural - natural sciences;
2) humanitarian - sciences about society and man;
3) technical - Science of artificial objects.
Within the framework of ideas about science as a specific activity, twomain types of research:
- fundamental(research focused on the increment of subject knowledge, fixed in the form of the most general ideas and laws);
Applied (research focused on the increment of subject knowledge used directly to solve practical problems).
Within the framework of fundamental research, there are two types of research.
Fundamental research of the first type is scientific developments focused on developing the most general ideas about the reality under study and revealing its most general laws, i.e. to search for answers to the questions: how does the investigated reality work, what is further beyond the known? The criteria for classifying scientific developments as fundamental research of the first type are:
Revision of the main provisions of this discipline;
Revision of its generally accepted methodological guidelines;
Research near the limiting values of the numerical parameters of the studied reality;
Research in frontier areas;
The absence of a directly expressed orientation towards the direct practical use of its results.
Fundamental research of the second type (oriented fundamental research) is a scientific development in which, in the general case, the goal is to find an applied solution that is optimal in certain parameters for a major scientific, technical or social problem or to provide a theoretical justification for its solution. Examples: research on the development of nuclear fusion, the creation of new generation computers, etc.
Science as a system of knowledgeis a set of systematized and substantiated information about natural, social and spiritual reality.
In the course of cognition of reality, various knowledge is acquired about nature, man and society, about the goals and programs of human activity, etc. (scientific and non-scientific). (Knowledge is an objective reality given in the human mind). A distinctive feature of scientific knowledge is that it represents information about the studied phenomena and processes of reality, which must satisfy a number of criteria (the question of criteria is discussed in the philosophy of science).Historical criteria for scientific knowledge(defined in order to fix historically specific forms of knowledge and distinguish them from protoscience):
Formal-logical consistency of knowledge;
Experienced verifiability;
Evidence and validity;
Consistency (establishing relationships, classification);
Reproducibility.
There are alsofunction-oriented criteria:
Logical criteria: consistency, completeness, independence of initial axioms, etc.;
Pragmatic: simplicity, practical significance, instrumental efficiency.
Science as a system of knowledge, as well as scientific activity, is organized, first of all, according to the disciplinary principle, i.e., by distinguishing separate scientific disciplines depending on the object and subject of research. There are three main groups of sciences:natural; Humanities; technical.
Scientific knowledge includes three main levels:
1) empirical (observational data, empirical facts and laws);
2) theoretical (concepts, categories, principles, hypotheses, theories);
3) metatheoretical (scientific picture of the world, ideals and norms of scientific research, philosophical foundations of science).
Science as a social institution- a community of people engaged in scientific activities, organized in a system of scientific institutions, united by certain principles and norms of professional communication, as well as forms of relationship with a specific historical type of society. An analysis of science as a social institution makes it possible to significantly supplement the idea of it as a complex system of relationships between scientists, the scientific community, and various subsystems of society. As a social institution, science was formed in modern times. Registration of scientists in research organizations. As a result, a new element appears in the social structure - the scientific community - a community of people professionally engaged in scientific work.
At present, there are three sectors in the structure of science as a social institution:
1) academic (fundamental research predominates);
2) university (fundamental + applied);
3) sectoral (applied research predominates).
Along with the noted ones, non-traditional forms of organization of scientific activity are also used: specialized scientific centers, foundations, etc., often bringing together representatives of various sectors of science.
At present, the number of the world scientific community is about 5 million people.
Science as a productive force- an important component of the productive forces and a factor in their development on the way of using scientific knowledge in the development of new technologies, objects of labor and products of subject-practical activity. Science-based technologies currently provide over 90% of the social product. Based on scientific knowledge, new materials with desired properties have been created and are constantly being created. Their subsequent use in production as an object of labor ensures, on the one hand, further technological progress, on the other hand, the necessary parameters and, in general, the desired quality of the final product.
Science as a form of social consciousness– reflection of reality in rationally ordered and systematized forms of knowledge. Fundamental sciences play a leading role in this regard, where ideological issues periodically arise and are resolved. The style of thinking developed in science as the most systematic and reflexively substantiated is of great importance here.
Basic social functions of science:
Cultural and ideological (science has a major influence on the formation of the worldview and value-cultural orientations of society; it largely determines the nature of subject ideas about the world and a person’s place in it, singles out a person as an active being who is in an active relation to the world);
The function of the direct productive force (practical application of scientific and technical progress; the functioning of production and its management are based on science);
The function of social power (the use of science to regulate the processes of social development (socio-economic programs));
Educational (cumulation and reproduction of scientific knowledge in education systems and transmission of social experience).
Thus, on the basis of the structural and functional analysis of science, various aspects of its content are identified and fixed.
Science is the sphere of socially organized cognitive activity, in which the rational-conceptual development of reality is carried out, fixed in the system of subject, objective knowledge..
The specifics of scientific knowledge
Science is realized primarily in the field of cognitive actions.
scientific knowledge- a system of cognitive actions aimed at the production and theoretical systematization of knowledge about natural, social and spiritual reality.
Scientific knowledge as a specifically organized set of cognitive actions has a number of characteristics that distinguish it from other forms of organization:
1) This is a specialized form of cognitive activity, ideally aimed exclusively at the production of knowledge, often without specific ideas about the possible areas and ways of its subsequent application.
2) The basis of cognitive actions is a clear distinction between their object and subject. Science, unlike other types of cognition, is aimed at a substantive and objective study of reality (the study of objects as subject to the objective laws of functioning and development - the removal of personal and value moments).
3) Predictability - focus on predicting future events, states and properties of the objects under study. Science strives to create a reserve of knowledge for future forms of practical exploration of the world. Therefore, in science, not only research is carried out that serves today's practice, but also those whose results can only be used in the future. The movement of knowledge as a whole is conditioned not only by the direct demands of today's practice, but also by cognitive interests, through which the needs of society are manifested in predicting future methods and forms of practical development of the world. Example: the discovery of the laws of the electromagnetic field, the appearance of radio-electronic equipment.
4) Scientific knowledge involves the use of specialized tools:
Special material means (reagents, experimental facilities, control devices, etc.), information processing and communication means, vehicles, power plants, etc.
Ideal means (theoretical objects, formalisms, sign-mathematical calculus, etc.).
5) Scientific knowledge is regulated by a certain set of methods and other types of normative knowledge (principles, ideals, norms, etc.). Along with the material means of scientific knowledge, they are included in the research tools of science, which ensure the reproducibility and controllability of cognitive actions, as well as obtaining a result that meets certain requirements.
6) Specialized language. Compared with the language of everyday communication, it is characterized by a higher degree of unambiguity of words and expressions, greater compactness, accuracy and systemic rules.
7) The results of cognitive actions organized in the form of scientific knowledge, i.e. knowledge must meet a number of requirements:
Objectivity (displaying the phenomena and patterns of reality as they exist outside and independently of the will and opinions of the cognizing subject);
Logical validity (inclusion in the system of previously acquired knowledge and compatibility with them based on logical principles);
Consistency;
reproducibility,
Controllability of ways of receiving.
Scientific and non-scientific knowledge
In its functioning, scientific knowledge is constantly affected by extra-scientific knowledge. Characteristic features of extrascientific knowledge:
Fuzzy allocation of the subject and means of cognitive actions (multi-subject, mosaic);
Situation;
Low degree of generality and predictability of the result.
Target subordination.
There are various classifications of extra-scientific knowledge and knowledge. As a rule, they are built on the basis of historical-genetic and systemic-functional criteria of differentiation.
According to the first criterion, such forms of cognitive activity are singled out that arose and took shape in culture even before the formation of science. These include:
Ordinary practical knowledge, in which everyday experience is fixed and the logic of common sense is found;
Game cognition, focused on the development of a person’s creative and communicative abilities, implemented on the basis of conditionally accepted rules and goals and having an educational and developmental character;
Artistic;
Religious;
mythological;
Moral (the last three are regulated through traditions and give prescription knowledge).
The second criterion makes it possible to single out such forms of extrascientific cognition and knowledge that arose in the wake of the own development of science, such as the paranormal, pseudoscientific, quasi-scientific, anti-scientific, deviant, etc. They differ in that they exist largely thanks to science and tend to use its principles of organization and tools , duplicate its social functions
Parascience - teachings about secret phenomena, the explanation of which is not convincing from the point of view of scientific criteria (extrasensory perception, telepathy).
Pseudo-scientific knowledge is a form of interpretation of events and phenomena that are actually studied by science, but have not yet received adequate explanations in it in accordance with the logical and methodological standards and standards accepted in science (UFOs, etc.).
pseudoscience. Substantive error: a false position is presented as true or vice versa (the result of the process of cognition as an imposition of an existing system of concepts on new areas of reality, or a deliberate lie). Formal error (violation of the rules of logic) - paralogisms and sophisms.
A quasi-science is knowledge based on the methods of violence and coercion.
Anti-science is a deliberate distortion of ideas about reality.
Deviant scientific knowledge is cognitive structures in science that have not yet received universal recognition in the scientific community and are not approved in accordance with the methodological standards that dominate in it.
Such types of extra-scientific knowledge and knowledge exist as long as science. However, nowadays they have acquired a special significance thanks to the media. Reasons for this:
Negative consequences of STP;
Inadequately high cost of a number of scientific projects;
The constant rise of the barrier separating the scientific and technical and humanitarian intelligentsia.
The question of the role of non-scientific knowledge in the construction of systems of scientific knowledge. Relationship of knowledge to reality?
Philosophy of science as a form of reflective comprehension of scientific knowledge
The study of science is characterized by a variety of forms, genres and styles of its description and interpretation. Influence of the traditions of philosophical analysis of cognition on the forms and methods of modern science of science.
Conventionally, the entire array of knowledge about science and the main directions of its study and research can be divided into three blocks:
1) disciplinary research of science (history of science, sociology of science, psychology of science, logic of science, etc.);
2) interdisciplinary research of science (the so-called science of science);
3) philosophical and methodological analysis of scientific knowledge, on the basis of which philosophy of science as a form of systematic understanding of the phenomenon of science in its historical dynamics and functioning in the modern socio-cultural environment.
Philosophy of Science. Two meanings:
1) a set of epistemological concepts about the nature, functions and dynamics of scientific knowledge;
2) a systematically organized body of knowledge about the logical-cognitive, methodological and socio-cultural aspects of the existence of science as a specific component of modern culture.
The main directions of the philosophy of science:
Analysis of the structure of science presented in different forms of its existence (science as an activity, knowledge and social institution);
Study of the main functions of science in various socio-cultural systems and the features of its existence in modern society;
Studying the problem of the growth of knowledge and the dynamics of science in the era of scientific revolutions and during periods of its "normal" existence;
Axiological problems of science, within the framework of which numerous issues of its relationship and dialogue with society and various elements of culture are considered.
Some authors argue that the main task of the philosophy of science is to find the relationship between philosophy and particular sciences, which is called the foundations of science (ontological, epistemological, methodological, value).
The formation of the philosophy of science is associated with the positivism of the 19th century. Briefly the essence. positivist the program is further developed and interpreted in empirio-criticism, the conventionalism of J. Poincaré and P. Duhem, and the instrumentalism of J. Dewey and P. Bridgman. positive knowledge. Conventionalism.
The next step is a neo-positivist program (G. Frege, B. Russell, the logical positivism of the Vienna Circle). Features - verificationism, physicalism, rigid demarcation of scientific knowledge and metaphysics. The foundations of neopositivism boiled down to the following:
1) The provisions of "metaphysics" (traditional philosophy) are pseudo-problems, they are devoid of scientific meaning. Philosophy has no subject at all.
2) Scientific knowledge is of empirical origin, with the exception of the provisions of logic and mathematics.
3) The laws and rules of logic and mathematics are conventional in nature, representing the result of a conditional agreement between scientists.
4) Philosophy is not a science, but a kind of activity that boils down to the analysis of natural and artificial languages, pursuing two goals: a) to expel meaningless reasoning and pseudo-problems from science, to show their empty content, to explore their origins, rooted in the imperfection of the language and its misuse ; b) ensure the construction of ideal logical models of meaningful reasoning.
The basic philosophical method of logical positivism is expressed inverification principleand is formulated as follows: those sentences that directly or indirectly allow them to be reduced to statements that fix the direct sensory experience of an individual or protocol records of a scientist (protocol sentences) have scientific meaning. The protocol sentence is a judgment like "... in such a place, at such a time, under such circumstances, such and such is observed." In other words, it is necessary to compare sentences with empirical reality, to indicate the conditions under which they will be true or false. If we cannot specify how to test a sentence, then it has no scientific meaning. It can be easily established, for example, that a sentence like "It's raining outside" is quite meaningful, because it is easy to indicate the method of its verification - to look out the window. Thus, the truth, according to the supporters of this position, consists in the correspondence of the statement to the fact. The sentence “The soul of man is immortal” is devoid of any scientific meaning, since no method of its empirical verification can be indicated. In accordance with the principle of verification, logical positivists declared the statements of traditional philosophy meaningless, since they cannot be verified by experience or proved (or refuted) by logical analysis.
The next step isfallibilist modelscientific knowledge (falsificationism of K. Popper, methodology of NIP I. Lakatos). Science is unable to give reliable, or at least probabilistic knowledge. Our knowledge is based not only on reliable concepts, but also on numerous conjectures and various explanations that must be constantly tested.. But no test reaches the final goal, and every theory should be considered as a guess that has received some kind of confirmation. Any scientific truth during the next check can reveal its falsity in a new context, and the principle of verification will not help here. In essence, the verification procedure as a logical substantiation of some statements with the help of others leads to an unlimited regression, because this procedure can only increase the degree of probability of our subjective beliefs in our own rightness. Therefore, it is necessary to use a more unambiguous procedure falsifications. If a discrepancy is found between theory and experience, then this indicates the falsity of its conclusions, which must be withdrawn from the sphere of theory. The principle of falsification appears as the basis of self-criticism of science, a means of minimizing errors and achieving the truth. However, K. Popper considered this methodological procedure not as an end in itself, but only as the ability of a theory, hypothesis, etc. undergo critical analysis. Any knowledge has only a conjectural, hypothetical character (the principle of fallibilism).
From 1960-1970s. spreadshistoricist and relativistic approachin the philosophy of science (T. Kuhn, S. Toulmin, P. Feyerabend, J. Holton and others). But the history of science convincingly shows that the methods and procedures adopted in it very rarely corresponded to the ideal of self-criticism that Popper speaks of.(Thomas Kuhn). Science in its historical development goes through three stages: pre-paradigm, paradigm (normal) and extraordinary (extra-paradigm science of the stage of scientific revolution). At the first stage, science is an eclectic combination of various mutually contradictory hypotheses and scientific groupings. In the conditions of fierce competition, numerous models of reality are created, from which, at a certain stage of development, one theory stands out as an example of the scientific solution of theoretical problems, and its fundamental principles, methods and values, unconditionally shared by the scientific community, form a paradigm. It sets the type of objects and ways of knowing them, and at the same time rejects all facts and theories that conflict with it. At this stage of normal science, facts are collected and accumulated, experiments are carried out on the basis of and in accordance with the dominant paradigm, the boundaries of the application of scientific theory are expanded, and attempts are made to solve unsolved problems. This is the period of normal development of science, when the main regularities of the object are open and comprehended, and knowledge is accumulated and the boundaries are searched for, in which open regularities operate. In this process, “anomalous” phenomena are revealed that do not fit into the accepted paradigm. This gives rise to a crisis of scientific theory, causes a scientific revolution, in the process of which science comes to a new creative synthesis and the formulation of a new paradigm.
"Methodological anarchism" P. Feyerabend.