Types of scientific disciplines. What makes the exact sciences different?

Science is a sphere of human professional activity, like any other - industrial, pedagogical, etc. Its only difference is that the main goal it pursues is obtaining scientific knowledge. This is its specificity.

History of the development of science

Ancient Greece is considered the European birthplace of science. The inhabitants of this particular country were the first to realize that the world around man is not at all what people who study it only through sensory knowledge believe. In Greece, the transition from the sensory to the abstract was made for the first time, from knowledge of the facts of the world around us to the study of its laws.

Science in the Middle Ages became dependent on theology, so its development slowed down significantly. However, over time, as a result of the discoveries made by Galileo, Copernicus and Bruno, it began to have an increasing influence on the life of society. In Europe in the 17th century, the process of its formation as a public institution took place: academies and scientific societies were established, scientific journals were published.

New forms of its organization arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: scientific institutes and laboratories, research centers. Around the same time, science began to have a great influence on the development of production. It has become a special kind of it - spiritual production.

Today in the field of science the following 3 aspects can be distinguished:

• science as a result (obtaining scientific knowledge);
• as a process (itself ;
• as a social institution (a set of scientific institutions, a community of scientists).

Science as an institution of society

Design and technological institutes (as well as hundreds of different research institutes), libraries, nature reserves and museums are part of the system of scientific institutions. A significant part of its potential is concentrated in universities. In addition, today more and more doctors and candidates of sciences are working in secondary schools, gymnasiums, and lyceums, which means that these educational institutions will be increasingly involved in scientific work.

Personnel

Any human activity implies that someone carries it out. Science is a social institution, the functioning of which is possible only in the presence of qualified personnel. Their preparation is carried out through graduate school, as well as the candidate of science degree, awarded to people with higher education who have passed special exams, and also published the results of their research and defended their candidate's dissertation publicly. Doctors of Science are highly qualified personnel who are trained through competition or through doctoral studies who are promoted from among

Science as a result

Let's move on to consider the next aspect. As a result, science is a system of reliable knowledge about man, nature and society. Two essential features should be emphasized in this definition. Firstly, science is an interconnected body of knowledge acquired by humanity to date on all known issues. It meets the requirements of consistency and completeness. Secondly, the essence of science is the acquisition of reliable knowledge, which should be distinguished from everyday, everyday knowledge inherent in every person.

Properties of science as a result

1. The cumulative nature of scientific knowledge. Its volume doubles every 10 years.
2. The accumulation of scientific knowledge inevitably leads to fragmentation and differentiation. New branches are emerging, for example: gender psychology, social psychology, etc.
3. Science in relation to practice has the following functions as a knowledge system:

• descriptive (accumulation and collection of facts and data);
• explanatory - explanation of processes and phenomena, their internal mechanisms;
• normative, or prescriptive - its achievements become, for example, mandatory standards for implementation at school, at work, etc.;
• generalizing - the formulation of patterns and laws that absorb and systematize many disparate facts and phenomena;
• predictive - this knowledge makes it possible to foresee in advance some phenomena and processes that were previously unknown.

Scientific activity (science as a process)

If a practical worker in his activities strives to achieve high results, then the tasks of science imply that the researcher must strive to obtain new scientific knowledge. This includes an explanation of why the result in a particular case is good or bad, as well as a prediction in which cases it will be one or the other. In addition, if a practical worker takes into account all aspects of an activity comprehensively and simultaneously, a researcher, as a rule, is interested in an in-depth study of only one aspect. For example, from the point of view of mechanics, a person is a body that has a certain mass, has a certain moment of inertia, etc. For chemists, it is a complex reactor where millions of different chemical reactions occur simultaneously. Psychologists are interested in the processes of memory, perception, etc. That is, each science examines various processes and phenomena from a certain point of view. Therefore, by the way, the results obtained can only be interpreted as relative in science, unattainable, this is the goal of metaphysics.

The role of science in modern society

In our time of scientific and technological progress, the inhabitants of the planet are especially clearly aware of the importance and place of science in their lives. Today, more and more attention in society is paid to scientific research in various fields. People strive to obtain new data about the world, to create new technologies that improve the process of producing material goods.

Descartes' method

Science today is the main person in the world. It is based on the complex creative process of the subject-practical and mental activity of a scientist. Descartes formulated the general rules of this process as follows:

• nothing should be accepted as true until it appears distinct and clear;
• you need to divide difficult questions into the number of parts necessary to resolve them;
• it is required to start the research with the most convenient and simple things for knowledge and move gradually to more complex ones;
• The scientist's duty is to pay attention to everything, to dwell on the details: he must be completely sure that he has not missed anything.

The ethical side of science

Of particular relevance in modern science are issues that relate to the relationship between the scientist and society, as well as the social responsibility of the researcher. We are talking about how the achievements made by scientists will be used in the future, and whether the knowledge gained will turn against a person.

Discoveries in genetic engineering, medicine, and biology have made it possible to purposefully influence the heredity of organisms, to the point that today it is possible to create organisms with certain predetermined properties. The time has come to abandon the principle of freedom of scientific research, which was previously unrestricted. The creation of means of mass destruction must not be allowed. The definition of science today must therefore include an ethical side, since it cannot remain neutral in this regard.

The emergence of science is closely connected with the natural process of division of social labor, the growth of people's intelligence, their desire to understand the unknown, everything that exists, which forms the basis of their existence. At the same time, science is one of the forms of social consciousness, it provides an objective picture of the world, a system of knowledge about the laws of development of nature and society.

Science is often defined as a field of research aimed at producing new knowledge. However, any production occurs when there is a need for it. What determines the historical origin of science?

The origin of science is connected with the demands of the material practical life of people, the constant accumulation and separation of knowledge about various aspects of reality. One of the founders of science studies, J. Bernal, noting that “it is essentially impossible to define science,” outlines ways in which one can approach an understanding of what science is (Fig. 2.3).

Rice. 2.3. Definition of the concept of "science" by J. Bernal

Now development is impossible without a scientific approach. The role of engineering labor is growing. The time has come when production efficiency is determined not by the amount of labor expended, but by the general level of scientific solutions to specific production problems and the introduction of scientific achievements into practice.

In the studies of science by the famous Western philosopher E. Agazzi on the results of its influence on society and nature, it is indicated that science should be viewed this way (Fig. 2.4).

Rice. 2.4. Definition of the concept of “science” according to E. Agazzi

Definition

In a broad sense, science is a coherent, logically consistent, historically developed system of human activity with the aim of obtaining new knowledge about the world, about objective processes existing in nature and society. Science operates with a system of concepts and categories that reflect theoretical positions and express essential connections between them and the laws of reality. From the statement and precise description of individual facts, science must move to an explanation of their essence, determination of their place in the overall system, and disclosure of the laws contained in the basis of these facts.

Apart from the above, there are numerous definitions of the concept “science” outlined by various scientists. The most interesting and meaningful are such definitions (Tables 2.2 and 2.3).

Table 2.2

Variants of definition of the term "science"

Table 2.3

Definitions of the concept "science" in dictionaries

Science as a specific type of activity aimed at obtaining new theoretical and applied knowledge about the patterns of development of nature, society and thinking and is characterized by the following main features:

The presence of systematized knowledge (ideas, theories, concepts, laws, principles, hypotheses, basic concepts, facts);

The presence of a scientific problem, object and subject of research;

The practical significance of what is being studied.

Being very multifaceted, science touches various spheres of social life in various ways. The main task of science is to identify the objective laws of reality, and its main goal is true knowledge (Fig. 2.5).

It follows that science must answer the question: What? How many? Why? Which? How? To the question: “How to do it?” the methodology corresponds. To the question: “What should I do?” practice corresponds. The answers to these questions give rise to the immediate goals of science - description, explanation and prediction of the processes and phenomena of objective reality that constitute the subject of its study, on the basis of the laws that it discovers, that is, in a broad sense - the theoretical reproduction of reality.

Rice. 2.5. task of science

The scientific criteria by which science differs from other forms of knowledge are (Fig. 2.6):

Rice. 2.6. scientific criteria

The object of reflection in science is nature and social life. In connection with this subject and method of cognition, all specific sciences are divided into the following types (Fig. 2.7).

Rice. 2.7. Division of sciences into types according to subject and method of cognition

Social science(economic, philological, philosophical, logical, psychological. Historical, pedagogical, etc.) They study various aspects of social life, the laws of functioning and development of the social organism. Their subject of study is the study of socio-economic, political and ideological patterns of development of social relations.

Natural sciences(physics, chemistry, biology, geography, astrology, etc.) They study the natural properties and connections (laws) of living and inanimate nature; The subject of their study is various types of matter and the forms of their movement, their relationships and patterns.

Engineering Sciences(radio engineering, mechanical engineering, aircraft engineering), are engaged in the study of not only productive forces in a certain area of ​​the economy, but also industrial relations; the subject of study is the study of specific technical characteristics and their relationships.

Based on their relationship to practice, these types of science are distinguished (Fig. 2.8).

Rice. 2.8. Division of sciences into types in relation to practice

Basic Sciences do not have a direct practical orientation and are not directly focused on obtaining practical benefits.

Applied Sciences are aimed at direct practical use of scientific results.

Scientific and practical developments - This is a creative activity that is carried out on a systematic basis with the aim of increasing the volume of scientific knowledge, including about man, nature and society, as well as searching for new areas of application of this knowledge.

The basis for the development of science, like other social phenomena, is material production, a natural change in the method of production. 60

Mathematics and mechanics, biology and physics, and all technical sciences grew, developed and flourished thanks to the development of productive forces, the growth of production needs, as well as the social sciences - based on changes in the conditions of social life and the inevitably emerging tasks of transforming human social relations.

Each scientific discovery, responding to the emerging demands of life, is simultaneously based on previously accumulated knowledge in a particular area. Science is a coherent system of laws and conclusions, has its own internal logic of development, special consistency and capriciousness. Individual thinkers, relying on all the achievements of science, can sometimes make discoveries for the implementation of which production and technical conditions have not yet matured.

Science develops in close interaction with all other aspects and phenomena of society. Its development is influenced by political and legal relations in society.

In the methodology of science, the following functions of science are distinguished: description, explanation, prediction, understanding, cognition, design, organization, education, cognition, which constitute the subject of its study on the basis of the laws it discovers (Fig. 2.9).

Rice. 2.9. functions of science

There are different opinions among scientists regarding the functions of science.

Despite all the empiricism characteristic of I. Kant, he was not inclined to reduce science to a collection of individual facts. He considered predictions to be the main function of science.

I. Kant wrote: “True positive thinking consists primarily in the ability to know, to foresee, to study what is, and from here to conclude what should happen according to the general position about the immutability of natural laws.”

E. Mach considered description to be the only function of science: “Does it provide a description of everything that a scientific researcher might require? I think so!” Mach essentially reduced explanation and prediction to description. Theories, from his point of view, are like compressed empirics.

Science is characterized by cognitive and practical activity. In the first case, science can be talked about as an information system that systematizes previously accumulated knowledge, which serves as the basis for further knowledge of objective reality, and in the second, about a system for implementing identified patterns in practice.

To summarize, we can say that the concept of science must be considered from two main positions (Fig. 2.10).

Rice. 2.10. Interpretation of science from two main positions

In the first case, science is considered as a system of already accumulated knowledge, as a form of social consciousness, meets the criteria of objectivity, adequacy and truth; in the second - as a certain type of social division of labor, as scientific activity associated with a whole system of relations between scientists and external contractors. At the same time, science is understood as a special way of activity aimed at factually verified and logically ordered knowledge of objects and processes of the surrounding reality.

The concept of "science" has several basic meanings. Firstly, science is understood as the sphere of human activity aimed at developing and systematizing new knowledge about nature, society, thinking and knowledge of the surrounding world. In the second meaning, science appears as the result of this activity - a system of acquired scientific knowledge. Thirdly, science is understood as one of the forms of social consciousness, a social institution.

The immediate goal of science is the comprehension of objective truth, obtained as a result of knowledge about the objective and subjective world.

Objectives of science: collecting, describing, analyzing, summarizing and explaining facts; discovery of the laws of motion of nature, society, thinking and cognition; systematization of acquired knowledge; explanation of the essence of phenomena and processes; forecasting events, phenomena and processes; establishing directions and forms of practical use of acquired knowledge.

An extensive system of numerous and diverse studies, distinguished by object, subject, method, degree of fundamentality, scope of application, etc., practically excludes a unified classification of all sciences on one basis. In the most general form, sciences are divided into natural, technical, social and humanitarian.

TO natural sciences include:

about space, its structure, development (astronomy, cosmology, etc.);

Earth (geology, geophysics, etc.);

physical, chemical, biological systems and processes, forms of motion of matter (physics, etc.);

man as a biological species, his origin and evolution (anatomy, etc.).

Technical sciences are meaningfully based on the natural sciences. They study various forms and directions of development of technology (radio engineering, electrical engineering, etc.).

social sciences also have a number of directions and study society (economics, sociology, political science, jurisprudence, etc.).

Humanitarian sciences - sciences about the spiritual world of man, about the relationship to the surrounding world, society, and one’s own kind (pedagogy, psychology,).

2. Natural science and humanitarian cultures.

Their differences are based on certain types of relationship between object and subject in the natural and social sciences. In the first there is a clear separation of object from subject, sometimes taken to the absolute; at the same time, all the researcher’s attention is focused on the object. In the social and human sciences, such a division is fundamentally impossible, since in them the subject and the object are merged together in one subject. The problems of such relationships were studied by the English writer and scientist Charles Snow.

The subject area of ​​science includes:

· system of knowledge about nature - natural science (natural sciences);

· a system of knowledge about positively significant values ​​of human existence, social strata, state, humanity (humanities).

The natural sciences are an integral part of the natural science culture, and the humanities, respectively, of the humanitarian culture.

Natural science culture- this is: the total historical volume of knowledge about nature and society; the volume of knowledge about specific types and spheres of existence, which is updated in an abbreviated, concentrated form and accessible to presentation; the content of accumulated and updated knowledge about nature and society, assimilated by a person.

Humanitarian culture- this is: the total historical volume of knowledge of philosophy, religious studies, jurisprudence, ethics, art history, pedagogy, literary criticism and other sciences; system-forming values ​​of humanitarian knowledge (humanism, ideals of beauty, perfection, freedom, goodness, etc.).

Specifics of natural science culture: knowledge about nature is characterized by a high degree of objectivity and reliability (truth). In addition, this is deeply specialized knowledge.

Specifics of humanitarian culture: The system-forming values ​​of humanitarian knowledge are determined and activated based on the individual’s membership in a certain social group. The problem of truth is solved taking into account knowledge about the object and the assessment of the usefulness of this knowledge by the knowing or consuming subject. At the same time, the possibility of interpretations that contradict the real properties of objects, saturation with certain ideals and projects of the future is not excluded.

The relationship between natural science and humanitarian cultures is as follows: have a common cultural basis, are fundamental elements of a unified system of knowledge; represent the highest form of human knowledge; mutually coordinate in the historical and cultural process; stimulate the emergence of new interdisciplinary branches of knowledge at the intersections of the natural and human sciences.

Man is the main link in the connection of all sciences

Human, which consists in collecting data about the world around us, then in their systematization and analysis and, based on the above, synthesis of new knowledge. Also in the field of science is the formulation of hypotheses and theories, as well as their further confirmation or refutation through experiments.

Science appeared when writing appeared. When five thousand years ago some ancient Sumerian engraved pictograms on stone, depicting how his leader attacked the tribe of ancient Jews and how many cows he stole, history began.

Then he knocked out more and more useful facts about livestock, about the stars and the moon, about the structure of the cart and hut; and newborn biology, astronomy, physics and architecture, medicine and mathematics appeared.

Sciences began to be distinguished in their modern form after the 17th century. Before that, as soon as they were not called - craft, writing, being, life and other pseudo-scientific terms. And the sciences themselves were more of different types of techniques and technologies. The main engine of scientific development is scientific and industrial revolutions. For example, the invention of the steam engine gave a powerful impetus to the development of science in the 18th century and caused the first scientific and technological revolution.

Classification of sciences.

There have been many attempts to classify sciences. Aristotle, if not the first, then one of the first, divided the sciences into theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge and creative knowledge. The modern classification of sciences also divides them into three types:

1. Natural sciences, that is, sciences about natural phenomena, objects and processes (biology, geography, astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, etc.). For the most part, the natural sciences are responsible for accumulating experience and knowledge about nature and man. The scientists who collected the primary data were called naturalists.
2. Engineering Sciences- sciences responsible for the development of engineering and technology, as well as for the practical application of knowledge accumulated by the natural sciences (agronomy, computer science, architecture, mechanics, electrical engineering).
3. Social Sciences and Humanities- sciences about man, society (psychology, philology, sociology, political science, history, cultural studies, linguistics, as well as social science etc.).

Functions of science.

Researchers identify four social functions of science:

1. Cognitive. Consists in knowledge the world, its laws and phenomena.
2. Educational. It is not only training, but also in social motivation and development of values.
3. Cultural. Science is a public good and a key element of human culture.
4. Practical. The function of producing material and social goods, as well as applying knowledge in practice.

Speaking about science, it is also worth mentioning the term “pseudoscience” (or “pseudoscience”).

Pseudoscience - This is an activity that pretends to be a scientific activity, but is not one. Pseudoscience can arise as:

• fight against official science (ufology);
• misconceptions due to lack of scientific knowledge (graphology, for example. And yes: it’s still not science!);
• element of creativity (humor). (See Discovery show “Brainheads”).