1. The main task of scientific knowledge is the discovery of objective laws of reality: natural, social (public), laws of knowledge itself, thinking, etc. Hence the orientation of research mainly on the general essential properties of an object, its necessary characteristics and their expression in a system of abstractions in the form of idealized objects. If this is not the case, then there is no science, because the very concept of scientificity presupposes the discovery of laws, a deepening into the essence of the phenomena being studied.
2. The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended primarily by rational means and methods, but, of course, not without the participation of living contemplation and non-rational means. Hence, a characteristic feature of scientific knowledge is objectivity, the elimination of subjectivist aspects not inherent in the subject of research in many cases in order to realize the “purity” of consideration of one’s subject. It must be borne in mind that the activity of the subject is the most important condition and prerequisite for scientific knowledge. The latter is impossible without a constructive-critical and self-critical attitude to reality, excluding inertia, dogmatism, apologetics, and subjectivism.
3. Science, to a greater extent than other forms of consciousness, is focused on being embodied in practice, being a “guide to action” for changing the surrounding reality and managing real processes. The vital meaning of scientific research can be expressed by the formula: “To know in order to foresee, to foresee in order to practically act,” and not only in the present, but also in the future.
4. Scientific knowledge is a complex and contradictory process of reproduction of knowledge that forms an integral developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and other ideal forms, enshrined in language - natural or, more typically, artificial (mathematical symbolism, chemical formulas). Scientific knowledge absorbs the experience of everyday (everyday) knowledge, but, generalizing the system of facts in the system of concepts, it deepens and develops to its most mature forms, such as theory and law. It does not simply highlight the latter (like other abstractions), but continuously reproduces them on its own basis, shapes them in accordance with its norms and principles. The process of continuous self-renewal by science of its conceptual arsenal is designated in methodology by the term “progressivism” (non-triviality) and is considered an important indicator of scientific character.
5. In the process of scientific knowledge, such specific material means as instruments, instruments, and other so-called “scientific equipment” are used, often very complex and expensive (synchrophasotrons, etc.). In addition, science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is characterized by the use of ideal (spiritual) means and methods such as modern formal logic, dialectics, systemic, cybernetic and other general scientific techniques and methods to study its objects and itself. These means - both material and spiritual - are themselves the subject of research in science.
6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, validity of the results obtained, and reliability of the conclusions. At the same time, there are many hypotheses, conjectures, assumptions, probabilistic judgments, etc. That is why the logical and methodological training of researchers, their philosophical culture, constant improvement of their thinking, and the ability to correctly apply its laws and principles are of utmost importance.
7. Science is characterized by constant methodological reflection. This means that in it the study of objects, the identification of their specificity, properties and connections is always, to one degree or another, accompanied by an awareness of the research procedures themselves, i.e., the study of the methods, means and techniques used in this process, with the help of which these objects are cognized.
In modern methodology, various levels of scientific criteria are distinguished, including, in addition to those mentioned, such as the internal systematicity of knowledge, its formal consistency, experimental verifiability, reproducibility, openness to criticism, freedom from bias, rigor, etc. In other forms of knowledge considered criteria may exist (to varying degrees), but they are not decisive there.
Structure and levels of scientific knowledge
Scientific knowledge (and knowledge as its result) is an integral developing system with a rather complex structure. The latter expresses the unity of stable relationships between the elements of a given system. The structure of scientific knowledge can be presented in its various sections and, accordingly, in the totality of its specific elements. These can be: object (subject area of cognition); subject of knowledge; means, methods of cognition - its tools (material and spiritual) and conditions for implementation.
With a different cross-section of scientific knowledge, the following elements of its structure should be distinguished: factual material; the results of its initial generalization in concepts; fact-based scientific assumptions (hypotheses); laws, principles and theories “growing” from the latter; philosophical attitudes, methods, ideals and norms of scientific knowledge; sociocultural foundations and some other elements.
Scientific knowledge is a process, that is, a developing system of knowledge, the main element of which is theory - the highest form of organization of knowledge. Taken as a whole, scientific knowledge includes two main levels - empirical and theoretical. Although they are related, they are different from each other, each of them has its own specifics. What is it?
On empirical level living contemplation (sensory knowledge) predominates; the rational moment and its forms (judgments, concepts, etc.) are present here, but have a subordinate meaning. Therefore, the object under study reflects the advantage of its external connections and manifestations, accessible to living contemplation and expressing internal relationships.
Any scientific research begins with the collection, systematization and synthesis of facts. The concept of “fact” (from the Latin Facturum - done, accomplished) has the following basic meanings:
· A certain fragment of reality, objective events, results related either to objective reality (“facts of reality”) or to the sphere of consciousness and cognition (“facts of consciousness”).
· Knowledge about any event, phenomenon, the reliability of which has been proven, i.e., as a synonym for truth.
· A sentence that captures empirical knowledge, i.e., obtained through observations and experiments.
The second and third of these meanings are summarized in the concept of “scientific fact”. The latter becomes such when it is an element of the logical structure of a specific system of scientific knowledge and is included in this system.
Collection of facts, their primary generalization, description (“logging”) of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other “fact-fixing” activities are characteristic features of empirical knowledge.
Empirical research is aimed directly (without intermediate links) at its object. It masters it with the help of such techniques and means as comparison; observation, measurement, experiment, when an object is reproduced in artificially created and controlled conditions (including mentally); analysis - dividing objects into component parts; induction - the movement of knowledge from the particular to the general, etc.
Theoretical the level of scientific knowledge is characterized by the predominance of the rational element and its forms (concepts, theories, laws and other aspects of thinking). Living contemplation, sensory cognition is not eliminated here, but becomes a subordinate (but very important) aspect of the cognitive process.
Theoretical knowledge reflects phenomena and processes from their internal connections and patterns, comprehended through rational processing of empirical knowledge data. This processing is carried out using systems of “higher order” abstractions - such as concepts, inferences, laws, categories, principles, etc.
On the basis of empirical data, here there is a generalization of the objects under study, comprehension of their essence, “internal movement”, the laws of their existence, which constitute the main content of theories - the quintessence of knowledge at this level. The most important task of theoretical knowledge is to achieve objective truth in all its specificity and completeness of content. In this case, such cognitive techniques and means as abstraction are especially widely used - abstraction from a number of properties and relationships of objects, idealization - the process of creating purely mental objects ("point", "ideal gas", etc.), synthesis - combining those obtained into the result of the analysis of elements into a system, deduction - the movement of knowledge from the general to the specific, the ascent from the abstract to the concrete, etc.
A characteristic feature of theoretical knowledge is its focus on oneself, intrascientific reflection, i.e., the study of the process of knowledge itself, its forms, techniques, methods, conceptual apparatus, etc. On the basis of theoretical explanation and known laws, prediction and scientific foresight of the future is carried out.
The empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge are interconnected, the boundary between them is conditional and fluid. Empirical research, revealing new data with the help of observations and experiments, stimulates theoretical knowledge (which generalizes and explains them), poses new, more complex tasks. On the other hand, theoretical knowledge, developing and concretizing its own content on the basis of empiricism, opens new, broader horizons for empirical knowledge, orients and directs it in search of new facts, promotes
Problem - hypothesis - theory
Considering theoretical knowledge as its highest and most developed form, one should first of all determine its structural components. The main ones include the problem, hypothesis and theory, which at the same time act as key points in the construction and development of knowledge at its theoretical level.
Problem- a form of knowledge, the content of which is that which has not yet been known by man, but that needs to be known. In other words, this is knowledge about ignorance, a question that arose in the course of cognition and requires an answer. A problem is not a frozen form of knowledge, but a process that includes two main points (stages of the movement of knowledge) - its formulation and solution. Correct derivation of problematic knowledge from previous facts and generalization, the ability to correctly pose a problem is a necessary prerequisite for its successful solution.
According to K. Popper, science begins not with observations, but with problems, and its development is a transition from one problem to another - from less profound to more profound.
A problem arises, in his opinion, either as a consequence of a contradiction in a separate theory, or as a result of a clash between two different theories, or as a result of a clash between a theory and observations.
Thus, the scientific problem is expressed in the presence of contradictions in the situation (appearing in the form of opposing positions), which requires appropriate resolution. The determining influence on the way of posing and solving a problem is, firstly, the nature of thinking of the era in which the problem is formed, and, secondly, the level of knowledge about those objects that the problem concerns. Each historical era has its own characteristic forms of problem situations.
Scientific problems should be distinguished from non-scientific (pseudo-problems) - for example, the “problem” of creating a perpetual motion machine. The solution to a specific problem is an essential moment in the development of knowledge, during which new problems arise, and certain conceptual ideas, including hypotheses, are put forward. Along with theoretical ones, there are also practical problems.
Hypothesis- a form of knowledge containing a proposition formulated on the basis of a number of facts, the true meaning of which is uncertain and requires proof. Speaking about the relationship of hypotheses to experience, we can distinguish three types:
· hypotheses that arise directly to explain experience;
· hypotheses in the formation of which experience plays a certain, but not exclusive role;
· hypotheses that arise on the basis of a generalization of only previous conceptual sentiments.
In modern methodology, the term “hypothesis” is used in two main meanings: a form of knowledge characterized by problematicity and unreliability; method of developing scientific knowledge.
Hypothetical knowledge is probable, not reliable, and requires verification and justification. In the course of proving the put forward hypotheses, one of them becomes a true theory, others are modified, clarified and specified, others are discarded and become misleading if the test gives a negative result. Putting forward a new hypothesis, as a rule, is based on the results of testing the old one, even if these results were negative.
So, for example, the quantum hypothesis put forward by Planck, after testing, became a scientific theory, and the hypotheses about the existence of caloric, phlogiston, ether, etc., without finding confirmation, were refuted and became delusions. The periodic law discovered by D.I. Mendeleev, Darwin’s theory, etc. have also passed the stage of hypothesis. The role of hypothesis in modern astrophysics, geology and other sciences is great.
The decisive test of the truth of a hypothesis is, ultimately, practice in all its forms, but the logical (theoretical) criterion of truth also plays a certain (auxiliary) role in proving or refuting hypothetical knowledge. A tested and proven hypothesis becomes a reliable truth and becomes a scientific theory.
Theory- the most developed form of scientific knowledge, providing a holistic reflection of the natural and significant connections of a certain area of reality. Examples of this form of knowledge are the classical mechanics of I. Newton, the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, the theory of relativity of A. Einstein, the theory of self-organizing integral systems (synergetics), etc.
Key element theories- law, therefore it can be considered as a system of laws that express the essence of the object being studied in all its integrity and specificity.
In its most general form, a law can be defined as a connection (relationship) between phenomena and processes, which is:
· objective, since it is inherent primarily in the real world, the sensory-objective activity of people, expresses the real relationships of things;
· essential, concrete-universal. Being a reflection of what is essential in the movement of the universe, any law is inherent in all processes of a given class, of a certain type (type) without exception, and operates always and wherever the corresponding processes and conditions unfold;
· necessary, because being closely connected with the essence, the law acts and is implemented with “iron necessity” in appropriate conditions;
· internal, since it reflects the deepest connections and dependencies of a given subject area in the unity of all its moments and relationships within the framework of some integral system;
· repeating, stable: “the law is solid (remaining) in the phenomenon”, “identical in the phenomenon”.
Extrascientific knowledge
In modern philosophical and methodological literature, various forms of extra-scientific knowledge are increasingly being “introduced into circulation”, their features and relationships with scientific knowledge are being studied, and various classifications of extra-scientific knowledge are being proposed. One of the interesting and meaningful classifications of forms of extra-scientific knowledge was proposed by T. G. Leshkevich and L. A. Mirskaya. They distinguish the following forms:
· non-scientific, understood as scattered, unsystematized knowledge, which is not formalized and not described by laws, is in conflict with the existing scientific picture of the world;
· pre-scientific, serving as a prototype, a prerequisite basis for the scientific;
· parascientific as incompatible with the existing epistemological standard. A wide class of paranormal (from the Greek para - around, with) knowledge includes the doctrine of secret natural and psychic forces and relationships hidden behind ordinary phenomena;
· pseudoscientific as deliberately exploiting conjectures and prejudices. Pseudoscience represents erroneous knowledge;
· quasi-scientific knowledge is looking for supporters and adherents, relying on methods of violence and coercion. As a rule, it flourishes in the conditions of a strictly hierarchical science, where criticism of those in power is impossible, where the ideological regime is strictly manifested;
· anti-scientific as utopian and deliberately distorting ideas about reality. The prefix anti- draws attention to the fact that the subject and methods of research are opposite to science. It's like the "opposite sign" approach;
· pseudoscientific knowledge is an intellectual activity that speculates on a set of popular theories, for example, stories about ancient astronauts, Bigfoot, and the monster from Loch Ness.
Developing and specifying this classification, these authors in the field of extra-rational, extra-scientific knowledge identify three main types of cognitive phenomena: paranormal knowledge, pseudoscience and deviant science.
Paranormal knowledge includes the teaching of secret natural and psychic forces and relationships hidden behind ordinary phenomena (for example, mysticism, spiritualism, telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis). Pseudoscientific knowledge is characterized by sensationalism of topics, recognition of secrets and mysteries, as well as skillful processing of “facts.” Its hallmarks are storytelling (“explanation through script”) and infallibility. The term “deviant” means cognitive activity that deviates from accepted and established standards. Moreover, the comparison takes place not with an orientation towards a standard and sample, but in comparison with the norms shared by the majority of members of the scientific community.
In recent years, especially in connection with the crisis phenomena of world civilization at the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a growing interest in esotericism as one of the extra-scientific ways of spiritual exploration of the world. It is characterized by the secrecy of content from the “uninitiated”, the ability to introduce its supporters to the transcendental secrets of the universe, complex symbolization and ritualization of the functioning of society in society. Esoteric teachings usually include Gnosticism, theosophy, anthroposophy, parapsychology, magic, alchemy, and astrology.
Esotericism can appear either as an independent form formation, or as an element of other forms of mastering reality (religious, artistic, etc. - and even scientific), with which esotericism constantly interacts. Filling a certain gap (niche, lacuna) between science and religious knowledge, esotericism offers its own specific solution to problems, requiring neither rational evidence, nor references to scripture, nor appeal to revelation, but only calling to listen to the “voice of mystery.”
It seems that the assertion that if you constantly point out the dangers and troubles that theosophy, occultism, astrology, etc. bring, then neither science, nor culture, nor society as a whole gains anything from this is not without foundation. We must strive for dialogue between all forms of culture, all ways of human exploration of the world, studying the features and capabilities of each of them. P. Feyerabend’s aphorism “everything is permitted” very accurately expresses this desire.
REPORT
On the topic: “Ideals of scientific knowledge, scientific traditions, discoveries, revolutions. (Characteristic features of the modern stage of scientific and technological progress. Methodology of science.) »
Performed:
Student of group 366-M2
J.M. Kurmasheva
"__" __________2016
Checked:
Doctor of Physics and Mathematics sciences, professor
M.M.Mikhailov
"__" __________2016
Introduction
The report examines the main scientific revolutions, scientific traditions, and scientific methodology. From what is said below, it is obvious that science is usually presented as a sphere of almost continuous creativity, a constant striving for something new. However, in modern scientific methodology it is clearly understood that scientific activity can be traditional.
Science is also a form of spiritual activity of people, aimed at producing knowledge about nature, society and knowledge itself, with the immediate goal of comprehending the truth and discovering objective laws based on a generalization of real facts in their interrelation, in order to anticipate trends in the development of reality and contribute to its change. Science is a creative activity to obtain new knowledge and the result of this activity is a body of knowledge brought into an integral system based on certain principles, and the process of their reproduction. Scientific knowledge is nothing more than human activity to develop, systematize, and test knowledge for the purpose of its effective use.
Scientific revolutions are stages in the development of science when there is a change in research strategies set by its foundations. The foundations of science include several components: the goals and methods of research; scientific picture of the world; philosophical ideas and principles that justify the goals, methods, norms and ideals of scientific research.
Methodology of science is a scientific discipline that studies methods of scientific and cognitive activity. Methodology in a broad sense is a rational-reflective mental activity aimed at studying the ways in which a person transforms reality - methods.
Features of scientific knowledge
Scientific knowledge– knowledge obtained and recorded by specific scientific methods and means (abstraction, analysis, synthesis, conclusion, proof, idealization, systematic observation, experiment, classification, interpretation, formed in a particular science or field of study, its special language, etc. .). The most important types and units of scientific knowledge: theories, disciplines, areas of research (including problematic and interdisciplinary), fields of science (physical, mathematical, historical, etc.), types of sciences (logical-mathematical, natural sciences, technical technological (engineering), social, humanitarian). Their bearers are organized into appropriate professional communities and institutions that record and disseminate scientific knowledge in the form of printed materials and computer databases.
Knowledge characterizes a person’s possession of certain information and partial awareness of this information. Knowledge in the form of delusion is information about something that does not exist in reality, but that a person thinks or imagines as existing. It is wrong to equate true and scientific knowledge. Science, focusing on obtaining objective true knowledge, includes many false ideas. Hypothetical scientific knowledge, theorems, and paradoxes are also untrue (unproven). Science develops through hypothetical, paradoxical knowledge that requires additional verification and clarification. Truth can exist not only in the form of scientific knowledge, but also in a non-scientific form (science is only one of the ways to comprehend the world.)
Elements of scientific knowledge (structural components)
1. facts (must be established);
2. law (a set of similar facts) - is a universal, essential, necessary, recurring connection between the parties to the phenomenon in relation to which this law is established;
3. scientific problem - always associated with some contradictions that are found in the operation of almost any law;
4. hypothesis – speculative knowledge aimed at explaining the problem;
5. methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction);
6. theory – the highest form of organization of scientific knowledge, which, with the help of a system of laws, more or less fully explains one or another aspect of the objective world;
7. the scientific picture of the world is a generalized idea formed by the totality of the most general knowledge of all sciences existing at a particular moment;
8. philosophical foundations of science;
9. norms (samples, standards) of scientific research;
10. levels of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical knowledge.
Levels of scientific knowledge:
1) empirical level
2) theoretical level
3) metatheoretical level
a) sublevel general scientific knowledge
b) sublevel of the philosophical foundations of science.
The empirical and theoretical levels deal with different environments of the same reality. E. research studies phenomena and their interactions. At the level of E. cognition, essential connections are not yet identified in their pure form. The task of the theoretical level is to understand the essence of phenomena, their law. E. research is based on the direct practical interaction of the researcher with the object being studied. In theoretical research, there is no direct practical interaction with objects of reality.
At the empirical level, living contemplation (sensory cognition) predominates; the rational element and its forms (judgments, concepts, etc.) are present here, but have a subordinate significance. Therefore, the object under study is reflected primarily from its external connections and manifestations, accessible to living contemplation and expressing internal relationships. Collection of facts, their primary generalization, description of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other activities recording facts are characteristic features of empirical knowledge.
Empirical, experimental research is aimed directly (without intermediate links) at its object. It masters it with the help of such techniques and means as description, comparison, measurement, observation, experiment, analysis, induction, and its most important element is fact.
The theoretical level of scientific knowledge is characterized by the predominance of the rational element - concepts, theories, laws and other forms of thinking and “mental operations”. Living contemplation, sensory cognition is not eliminated here, but becomes a subordinate (but very important) aspect of the cognitive process. Theoretical knowledge reflects phenomena and processes from their universal internal connections and patterns, comprehended through rational processing of empirical knowledge data.
A characteristic feature of theoretical knowledge is its focus on oneself, intrascientific reflection, i.e., the study of the process of knowledge itself, its forms, techniques, methods, conceptual apparatus, etc. On the basis of theoretical explanation and known laws, prediction and scientific foresight of the future is carried out.
Truth of knowledge- its correspondence to the cognizable object. Any knowledge must be subject knowledge. However, truth is not unique to scientific knowledge. It can also be characteristic of pre-scientific, practically everyday knowledge, opinions, guesses, etc. In epistemology, the concepts of “truth” and “knowledge” are distinguished.
Scientific knowledge - not only communicates the truth of a particular content, but provides reasons why this content is true (for example, the results of an experiment, proof of a theorem, logical conclusion, etc.). Therefore, as a sign characterizing the truth of scientific knowledge, they point to the requirement of its sufficient validity. In contrast to the lack of justification for the truth of other modifications of knowledge.
Therefore, the principle of sufficient reason is the foundation of any science: every true thought must be justified by other thoughts, the truth of which has been proven. Its formulation belongs to G. Leibniz: “Everything that exists has a sufficient basis for its existence.”
The structure of scientific knowledge.
The structure of scientific knowledge.
1) Subject of scientific knowledge (individual, group, collective, scientific community, all of humanity as a whole).
2) Object and subject of scientific knowledge.
3) Methods of cognition, which are explained by the specifics of science itself and the subject of cognition.
4) Means of cognition (microscopes, etc.).
5) Specific language.
General model of the development of scientific knowledge. Every science goes through certain stages in its development:
1) Reliably established facts taken from empirical observations.
2) Initial generalization of the totality of facts and the creation of hypotheses.
3) Formation of a scientific theory, including a series or system of laws that describe or explain certain phenomena of reality.
4) Creation of a scientific picture of the world, i.e. a generalized image of all reality, which brings together the main theories for a given historical period.
There is a general scientific picture of the world, which includes nature, society, human consciousness and the natural scientific picture of the world.
Speaking about the levels distinguished by human cognitive activity, we noted sensory and rational knowledge. These levels are equally characteristic of all types of human cognitive activity (both everyday and artistic), and not just scientific. In scientific knowledge there are two main levels - empirical and theoretical. There are fundamental differences between them due to the fact that empirical and theoretical knowledge are not the original properties of a person; They are the achievement of culture the result of a philosophical analysis of the methods of scientific knowledge. In this sense, the empirical level is not just sensory contemplation. It is aimed at fixing a certain character of reality, certain of its aspects and the relationship between them. Thus, it includes a developed categorical apparatus and rational knowledge, which fixes an empirical fact on the basis of observation. Equally, theoretical knowledge cannot do without visual images, which are called ideal objects, with which the researcher conducts thought experiments, modeling the properties and behavior of ideal objects in various respects. Examples of such ideal objects: an absolutely rigid body, a material point, an ideal pendulum.
So, scientific knowledge can be most broadly structured into empirical and theoretical levels. The result of empirical research is an empirical fact. The result of theoretical research is theory - a holistic description of a certain part of reality in a system of patterns and relationships. Theory is the most perfect and developed result of scientific knowledge. Therefore, more specific results of theoretical research are also highlighted, for example, a model or a scientific law.
Related information.
From the very moment of his birth, man strives to understand the world. He does this in a variety of ways. One of the surest ways to make what is happening in the world understandable and open is scientific knowledge. Let's talk about how it differs, for example, from non-scientific knowledge.
The very first feature that scientific knowledge has is its objectivity. A person committed to scientific views understands that everything in the world develops regardless of whether we like it or not. Private opinions and authorities cannot do anything about it. And this is wonderful, because it is impossible to imagine a different situation. The world would simply end up in chaos and would hardly be able to exist.
Another difference between scientific knowledge is the direction of its results into the future. Scientific discoveries do not always bear immediate fruit. Many of them are subject to doubt and persecution from individuals who do not want to recognize the objectivity of phenomena. A huge amount of time passes before a true scientific discovery is recognized as having taken place. There is no need to look far for examples. It is enough to recall the fate of the discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo Galilei regarding the bodies of the solar Galaxy.
Scientific and non-scientific knowledge have always been in opposition and this has determined another one. It necessarily goes through such stages as observation, classification, description, experiment and explanation of the natural phenomena being studied. Other species do not have these stages at all, or they are present in them separately.
Scientific knowledge has two levels: scientific knowledge consists in the study of facts and laws established by generalizing and systematizing the results obtained through observations and experiments. Empirically, for example, Charles’s law on the dependence of gas pressure and its temperature, Gay-Lussac’s law on the dependence of the volume of a gas and its temperature, Ohm’s law on the dependence of current on its voltage and resistance have been identified.
And theoretical scientific knowledge examines natural phenomena more abstractly, because it deals with objects that are impossible to observe and study under normal conditions. In this way they discovered: the law of universal gravitation, the transformation of one thing into another and its conservation. This is how electronic development develops and this is based on the construction, in close connection with each other, of principles, concepts, theoretical schemes and logical consequences arising from the initial statements.
Scientific knowledge and scientific knowledge are obtained through observations and experiments. An experiment differs from observation in that the scientist has the opportunity to isolate the object being studied from external influences, surrounding it with special, artificially created conditions. An experiment can also exist in mental form. This happens when it is impossible to study an object due to the high cost and complexity of the required equipment. Scientific modeling is used here, and the creative imagination of the scientist is used to put forward hypotheses.
Scientific and non-scientific knowledge always walk side by side. And although they are most often in confrontation, it must be said that the first is impossible without the second. It is impossible to imagine modern science without the inquisitive people's mind, which invented myths, studied phenomena in the course of life practice, and left our generation with an invaluable treasure trove of folk wisdom, which contains common sense that helps us guide ourselves in life. Objects of art also play a large role in understanding the world. As diverse as life is, so diverse are its laws.
Cognition is a specific type of human activity aimed at understanding the world around us and oneself in this world. “Knowledge is, determined primarily by socio-historical practice, the process of acquiring and developing knowledge, its constant deepening, expansion, and improvement.”
A person comprehends the world around him, masters it in various ways, among which two main ones can be distinguished.
The first (genetically original) is material and technical - the production of means of subsistence, labor, practice.
The second is spiritual (ideal), within which the cognitive relationship of subject and object is only one of many others. In turn, the process of cognition and the knowledge obtained in it in the course of the historical development of practice and cognition itself is increasingly differentiated and embodied in its various forms.
Each form of social consciousness: science, philosophy, mythology, politics, religion, etc. correspond to specific forms of cognition.
Usually the following are distinguished: ordinary, playful, mythological, artistic and figurative, philosophical, religious, personal, scientific. The latter, although related, are not identical to one another; each of them has its own specifics.
We will not dwell on the consideration of each of the forms of knowledge. The subject of our research is scientific knowledge. In this regard, it is advisable to consider the features of only the latter.
Distinctive features of scientific knowledge
The main features of scientific knowledge are:
1. The main task of scientific knowledge is the discovery of objective laws of reality - natural, social (public), laws of cognition itself, thinking, etc. Hence the orientation of research mainly on the general, essential properties of an object, its necessary characteristics and their expression in a system of abstractions. “The essence of scientific knowledge lies in the reliable generalization of facts, in the fact that behind the random it finds the necessary, natural, behind the individual - the general, and on this basis carries out the prediction of various phenomena and events.”
Scientific knowledge strives to reveal the necessary, objective connections that are recorded as objective laws. If this is not the case, then there is no science, because the very concept of scientificity presupposes the discovery of laws, a deepening into the essence of the phenomena being studied.
2. The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended primarily by rational means and methods, but, of course, not without the participation of living contemplation. Hence, a characteristic feature of scientific knowledge is objectivity, the elimination, if possible, of subjectivist aspects in many cases in order to realize the “purity” of consideration of one’s subject.
Einstein also wrote: “What we call science has as its exclusive task to firmly establish what exists.” Internet link: http://www.twirpx.com/files/physics/periodic/es/. Its task is to give a true reflection of processes, an objective picture of what exists. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that the activity of the subject is the most important condition and prerequisite for scientific knowledge. The latter is impossible without a constructive-critical attitude to reality, excluding inertia, dogmatism, and apologetics.
3. Science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is focused on being embodied in practice, being a “guide to action” for changing the surrounding reality and managing real processes. The vital meaning of scientific research can be expressed by the formula: “To know in order to foresee, to foresee in order to practically act” - not only in the present, but also in the future. All progress in scientific knowledge is associated with an increase in the power and range of scientific foresight. It is foresight that makes it possible to control and manage processes. Scientific knowledge opens up the possibility of not only predicting the future, but also consciously shaping it. “The orientation of science towards the study of objects that can be included in activity (either actually or potentially, as possible objects of its future development), and their study as subject to objective laws of functioning and development is one of the most important features of scientific knowledge. This feature distinguishes it from other forms of human cognitive activity.” An essential feature of modern science is that it has become such a force that predetermines practice. From the daughter of production, science turns into its mother. Many modern manufacturing processes were born in scientific laboratories. Thus, modern science not only serves the needs of production, but also increasingly acts as a prerequisite for the technical revolution. Great discoveries over the past decades in leading fields of knowledge have led to a scientific and technological revolution that has embraced all elements of the production process: comprehensive automation and mechanization, the development of new types of energy, raw materials and materials, penetration into the microworld and into space.
As a result, the prerequisites were created for the gigantic development of the productive forces of society.
- 4. Scientific knowledge in epistemological terms is a complex contradictory process of reproduction of knowledge that forms an integral developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and other ideal forms, enshrined in language - natural or - more characteristically - artificial (mathematical symbolism, chemical formulas, etc.) .P.). Scientific knowledge does not simply record its elements, but continuously reproduces them on its own basis, forms them in accordance with its norms and principles. In the development of scientific knowledge, revolutionary periods alternate, the so-called scientific revolutions, which lead to a change in theories and principles, and evolutionary, quiet periods, during which knowledge deepens and becomes more detailed. The process of continuous self-renewal by science of its conceptual arsenal is an important indicator of scientific character.
- 5. In the process of scientific knowledge, such specific material means as instruments, instruments, and other so-called “scientific equipment” are used, often very complex and expensive (synchrophasotrons, radio telescopes, rocket and space technology, etc.). In addition, science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is characterized by the use of ideal (spiritual) means and methods such as modern logic, mathematical methods, dialectics, systemic, hypothetico-deductive and other general scientific techniques to study its objects and itself. and methods (see below for details).
- 6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, validity of the results obtained, and reliability of the conclusions. At the same time, there are many hypotheses, conjectures, assumptions, probabilistic judgments, etc. That is why the logical and methodological training of researchers, their philosophical culture, constant improvement of their thinking, and the ability to correctly apply its laws and principles are of utmost importance.
In modern methodology, various levels of scientific criteria are distinguished, including, in addition to those mentioned, such as the internal systematicity of knowledge, its formal consistency, experimental verifiability, reproducibility, openness to criticism, freedom from bias, rigor, etc. In other forms of knowledge considered criteria may exist (to varying degrees), but they are not decisive there.
Scientific knowledge, being a system of concepts and theories, allows us to explain and predict various phenomena and events. Explanation and prediction are the most important functions of scientific knowledge, through which a person optimizes his interaction with nature, the management of social processes, and the process of cognition itself. Scientific knowledge sets as its ultimate goal to foresee the process of transforming objects of practical activity into corresponding products. Different types of cognition fulfill this role in different ways. The reliability of scientific knowledge is confirmed by experimental control of the acquired knowledge and the deducibility of some knowledge from others, the truth of which has already been proven. In turn, deducibility procedures ensure the transfer of truth from one fragment of knowledge to another, due to which they become interconnected and organized into a system.
The main feature of scientific knowledge is the orientation of science towards study of objects, which can be included in activities, and their study as subject to objective laws of functioning and development. Science is focused on the substantive and objective study of reality.
Science also studies and subject structure of activity, but as a special object. Thus, science can study everything in the human world, but from a special perspective, and from a special point of view. This special perspective of objectivity expresses both the boundlessness and limitations of science, since man, as an amateur, conscious being, has free will, and he is not only an object, he is also a subject of activity. And in this subjective existence, not all states can be exhausted by scientific knowledge, even if we assume that such comprehensive scientific knowledge about man and his life activity can be obtained.
Features of scientific knowledge can be formulated as follows:
1. Scientific knowledge is systematized and is a body of organized and ordered knowledge based on strict logical and theoretical principles, while some knowledge is logically deducible from other knowledge.
2. Scientific knowledge strives to comprehend the truth;
3. Objectivity of scientific knowledge, which means the exclusion of subjectivist tendencies and arbitrariness;
4. Evidence of scientific knowledge, which guarantees its objectivity and general validity through its careful empirical verification;
5. Generalization and abstraction of scientific knowledge, expressed in the form of theories, existing laws and processes of nature;
6. The use of special material means of cognition: devices, apparatus, instruments (scientific equipment);
7. Construction and use of ideal models for the formation of scientific theories. An ideal model of a theory object is constructed using idealization.
Scientific knowledge is a dynamic system that includes the division of sciences into two large classes - the natural sciences about nature and the humanities about society. Fundamental and applied sciences are also distinguished. In the structure of scientific knowledge, a special place is occupied by: levels of knowledge (empirical and theoretical); forms of knowledge (scientific fact, theory, problem, hypothesis); methods of cognition (experiment, observations, analysis and synthesis, induction, deduction, modeling, systems approach).
