TICKET #4

Knowledge is an objective reality given in the mind of a person who, in his mental activity, reflects and ideally reproduces objective regular connections. real world. With regard to the philosophy of science and technology, we must talk about knowledge in three perspectives: firstly, knowledge is the abilities, skills, skills that people acquire in the course of their life; secondly, any information that carries the maximum of plausible (adequate) information about the object; thirdly, a special quantum of knowledge, which is a cognitive form of a person's attitude to reality, existing in parallel with another - practical attitude. It must be emphasized that the philosophy of science deals with the second and third named aspects.

Knowledge can be defined as a kind objective reality, which is formed in the mind of a person in the course of his activity and which ideally reproduces the real-life connections of the external world.

scientific knowledge- this is an object type of knowledge that meets the following requirements: certainty, proof, consistency, testability, usefulness, reflexivity, methodological approach, openness to criticism, ability to change and improve. Knowledge (information) that does not meet these criteria has no right to be in the system scientific knowledge and is unscientific.

Understanding the specifics of scientific knowledge follows from how science itself is defined and what it is. Over the problems of science and science itself and its place in culture in modern philosophy all philosophical currents reflect (not only the "philosophy of science" as a specific neo-positivist trend that took shape at the beginning of the 20th century). From the understanding of what science is, it follows that philosophical question about whether philosophy itself is a science, or is it some other, specific spiritual activity. On the one hand, the philosophers of the New Age sought to bring philosophy closer to science, considered philosophy itself to be a scientific activity (Kant, Hegel), on the other hand, in the 19th century, many philosophical trends arise that draw a sharp distinction between philosophy and science (irrationalist currents - the philosophy of life, existentialism , philosophical hermeneutics). Already in the 20th century, these trends continued to develop, and by the end of this century, the separation and convergence of philosophy and science also continues to exist: philosophers of science see the goal of philosophy in analyzing the principles of scientific knowledge, its development and evolution, in considering the methodology of knowledge (analysis of ways and means obtaining knowledge in the theory of knowledge), in the analysis of paradigms and scientific revolutions, while the tendencies of the non-rationalist approach to philosophy lead to new interpretations of philosophy as literary activity(a genre of literature similar and parallel to other literary genres), as free creativity and comprehension, not dependent on rigid principles natural sciences.

AT general relationship between science and philosophy complex nature: in addition to the worldview interpretation of the results of science, philosophy is also united with science by the desire to build knowledge in a theoretical form, to the logical evidence of its conclusions. The specifics of scientificity in philosophy are comprehended as follows:

Science is a sphere of human activity, the function of which is the development and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality. During historical development science becomes the productive force of society and the most important social institution. The concept of "science" includes both the activity of obtaining new knowledge and the result of this activity - the sum of the scientific knowledge obtained so far, which together form a scientific picture of the world. The immediate goal of science is the description, explanation and prediction of the processes and phenomena of reality that are the subject of its study, on the basis of the laws it discovers, i.e. in a broad sense - a theoretical reflection of reality.

Being inseparable from the practical way of mastering the world, science as the production of knowledge is also a specific form of activity. If in material production knowledge is used as a means of increasing labor productivity, then in science their acquisition is in the form of a theoretical description, scheme technological process, summaries of experimental data, formulas of a drug, etc. - forms the main and immediate goal. Unlike types of activity, the result of which, in principle, is known in advance, scientific activity gives an increment of new knowledge. That is why science acts as a force that constantly revolutionizes other activities.

The emergence of science is attributed to the 6th century. BC, when in Dr. Greece formed the appropriate conditions. The formation of science required the criticism and destruction of mythological systems; for its emergence, a sufficiently high level of development of production and social relations was also necessary, leading to the separation of mental and physical labor and thus opens up the possibility for systematic studies.

The development of science is characterized by a cumulative (collective) character: at each historical stage, it summarizes its past achievements in a concentrated form, and each result of science is an integral part of its general fund; it is not crossed out by subsequent successes in cognition, but only rethought and refined. The process of development of science affects the entire structure of science. At each historical stage, scientific knowledge uses certain set cognitive forms - fundamental categories and concepts, methods, principles and schemes of explanation, i.e. everything that is united by the concept of style of thinking.

The entire history of science is permeated by a complex, dialectical combination of the processes of differentiation (separation) and integration (connection): the development of ever new areas of reality and the deepening of knowledge lead to the differentiation of science, to its fragmentation into more and more specialized areas of knowledge; at the same time, the need for the synthesis of knowledge constantly finds expression in the tendency towards the integration of science.

According to their orientation, according to their direct relation to practice, it is customary to subdivide individual sciences into fundamental and applied sciences. task fundamental sciences(physics, chemistry, biology) is the knowledge of the laws governing the behavior and interaction of the basic structures of nature, society and thinking. immediate target applied sciences- application of the results of fundamental sciences to solve not only cognitive, but also social and practical problems. Fundamental scientific research determines the prospects for the development of science.

The development of the scientific method has long been the privilege of philosophy, which continues to play a leading role in the development of methodological problems (i.e., ways, ways of obtaining knowledge), being common methodology science (in "philosophy of science"). In the 20th century methodological means become much more differentiated and in their specific form are increasingly being developed by science itself.

The formation of science as a social institution took place in the 17th - early 18th centuries, when the first scientific societies and academies were formed in Europe and the publication of scientific journals began. At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. arises new way science organizations - large scientific institutes and laboratories with powerful technical base which brings scientific activity closer to the forms of modern industrial labor. Up to the end. 19th century science played an auxiliary role in relation to production. Then the development of science begins to outpace the development of technology and production, one system"Science - technology - production", in which science plays a leading role.

The complexities and contradictions associated with the growing role of science give rise to diverse and often contradictory forms of its worldview assessment in modern society.

Philosophy, being scientific knowledge, studies the world at the level of its universal foundations or theoretical level. Philosophy is not just the study of the world, but the acquisition of knowledge about the world, refracted in the aspect of its understanding for a person. This conclusion means that philosophy simultaneously exists as a kind of scientific knowledge and at the same time acts as the core of the worldview.

Consider philosophy as a kind of scientific knowledge. The essence of this understanding was clearly expressed by B. Spinoza, believing that the task of philosophy is not to cry or laugh at the sorrows and joys of life, but to understand the laws of the world and its knowledge by man, hidden from other sciences.

But how does philosophy differ, for example, from the natural sciences? At first, it was formed on the basis of contradictions between the mythological worldview and the rudiments of scientific knowledge, which required to explain cause-and-effect relationships in nature, and not regular myths. Subsequently, it included in its content almost all available scientific knowledge (hence its name pra-science, proto-knowledge) in accordance with this in the 17-18 centuries. and even at the beginning of the 19th century. theoretical mechanics, biology and other sciences were called philosophy (I. Newton “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”).

From the middle of the 17th century science begins to take shape as a separate and independent field of knowledge, as special kind social activities. Mechanics, astronomy, mathematics and other natural sciences acquire their own conceptual status. There is a refinement of the subjects of private sciences that have emerged from philosophical knowledge. Philosophy seemed to have lost its own object of study as a result of the demarcation. "Philosophy is like King Lear, who gave his children all his possessions and was thrown into the street as a beggar."

Until now, some authors believe that philosophy does not have its own subject of study, in best case its role is reduced to the analysis of language or scientific methodology. However, such a conclusion can be reached if, from the very beginning, we proceed from the assumption that the subject of philosophy includes all knowledge about life, including the knowledge of all other sciences in their in full. At certain stages of development, philosophy was indeed a proto-knowledge. But this happened not because of the multi-intensive nature of the subject of philosophy, but because of the underdevelopment of the private sciences, and philosophy itself, which at that time had not yet had its conceptual status determined. Suffice it to recall Aristotle. On the one hand, according to Aristotle, philosophy is proto-knowledge, and on the other hand, he speaks of the so-called "first" philosophy, the science of the universal.

However, this is not the only thing that presupposes the definition of philosophy as a science. Let's see what are the criteria for scientific knowledge. Objectivity. It manifests itself in the desire to study the objects of reality, taken in their own logic of development. Rationality. Validity, evidence of statements, which requires reliance on reason, on logical foundations thinking. Essentialist focus. Disclosure of the laws and patterns of being, identification of cause-and-effect relationships between phenomena and processes. Systemic knowledge. The aim is to create a theory of a developed form of scientific knowledge, giving a holistic view of the patterns and essential connections of a particular area of ​​reality. Verifiability or verifiability put forward statements in practice.

A person's knowledge of the world around him (and himself in it) can be carried out in different ways and in different cognitive forms. Extra-scientific forms of cognition are, for example, everyday, artistic. The first form of human cognitive activity is everyday everyday experience. It is publicly available to all human individuals and is an unsystematized variety of impressions, experiences, observations, knowledge. The accumulation of everyday experience takes place, as a rule, outside the sphere of scientific research or assimilated ready-made scientific knowledge. It suffices to point out the diversity of knowledge hidden in the depths of natural language. Ordinary experience is usually based on a sensory picture of the world. He does not distinguish between phenomena and essence, he perceives appearances as obvious. But he is not alien to reflection, self-criticism, especially when his delusions are exposed by practice.

Science arises and develops for a long time on the basis of the data of ordinary experience, which states the facts that receive in the future scientific explanation. So, for example, within the framework of everyday experience, without analysis and generalization, the phenomenon of thermal conductivity was revealed. The concept of an axiom, formulated by Euclid, etymologically and in content coincides with the ideas of everyday experience. Not only empirical established patterns, but some very abstract hypotheses are actually based on everyday empirical knowledge. Such is the atomism of Leucippus and Democritus. Ordinary experience contains not only knowledge, but also delusions and illusions. Science has often accepted these misconceptions. So, the geocentric picture of the world was based on the data of everyday experience, just like the idea of instantaneous speed Sveta.

Scientific knowledge, unlike everyday knowledge, has its own specific, distinctive features. These include the following:

1. Scientific knowledge is a specialized type of cognitive activity:

This activity is not carried out spontaneously, not by chance;

This is a conscious, purposeful and specially organized activity to acquire knowledge;

With its development and growth in society, it becomes extremely important to train special personnel - scientists, organize this activity, manage it;

This activity acquires an independent status, and science becomes a social institution. Within the framework of this institution, such problems arise and are solved as: relations between the state and science; freedom of scientific research and social responsibility of a scientist; science and morality; ethical standards of science, etc.

2. The subject of scientific knowledge:

Not every individual and not the entire mass of the population;

Specially trained people, scientific communities, scientific schools.

3. Object of scientific knowledge:

Not only the actual practice, its phenomena;

Goes beyond current practice;

The objects of scientific knowledge are not reducible to the objects of everyday experience;

They are generally inaccessible to ordinary experience and knowledge.

4. Means of scientific knowledge:

Special language sciences, since natural language is adapted only for describing objects of actual practice and its concepts are fuzzy, polysemantic;

Methods of scientific knowledge, which are developed specifically. (Comprehension of these methods, their conscious application is considered by the methodology of science);

A system of special tools for cognition, special scientific equipment.

5. The product of scientific knowledge - scientific knowledge:

It is characterized by objectivity, truth. There are also special techniques, ways of substantiating the truth of knowledge;

Consistency of knowledge, in contrast to ordinary knowledge, which is amorphous, fragmented, fragmented:

The theory is being formed special type knowledge that ordinary knowledge does not know;

The goals of scientific knowledge are formulated.

6. Conditions of scientific knowledge:

Value orientations of knowledge;

Search for objective truth, obtaining new knowledge;

Norms scientific creativity.

Scientific knowledge, therefore, is characterized by a systematic and structured nature. And, first of all, it is customary to distinguish two levels in the structure of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical.

The question of the primacy or secondary nature of theoretical and empirical knowledge can be considered in different ways, depending on whether in this case it means: a) the relationship between empirical and theoretical science, or b) the relationship between the empirical basis and the conceptual apparatus of science at a certain stage of its development. In the first case, one can speak of genetic the primacy of the empirical over the theoretical. In the second case, it is unlikely, since the empirical basis and the conceptual apparatus mutually presuppose each other, and their relationship does not fit the concept of genetic primacy. Changes in the empirical basis can lead to a change in the conceptual apparatus, but changes in it can occur without direct stimulation from the empirical side. And even to orient and guide empirical research itself.

At the empirical stage of science, the decisive means for the formation and development of knowledge are empirical research and subsequent processing of its results in appropriate generalizations and classifications.

At the theoretical stage scientific statements can be established in relative independence from empiricism, for example, by a mental experiment with an idealized object.

Empirical science, however, cannot be reduced to the mere accumulation of empirical facts; it is also based on certain conceptual constructions. Empirical knowledge is a set of statements about so-called empirical objects. Οʜᴎ are obtained by abstracting from the data in the sensory experience of real objects, their sides or properties, and endowing them with status independent existence. (For example, length, width, angle, etc.)

theoretical knowledge is statements about so-called theoretical objects. The main way of their formation is idealization.

Between theoretical and empirical knowledge there is a qualitative difference in content, due to the very nature of the objects of theoretical and empirical knowledge. The transition from empiricism to theory cannot be limited by inductivistic summation and combination of experimental data. What is important here is the change in the conceptual composition of knowledge, the isolation of a new mental content, the formation of new scientific abstractions (electron, etc.), which are not given directly in observation and are not any combination of empirical data. From empirical data, theoretical knowledge cannot be obtained purely logically.

So what do they show characteristics these two types of knowledge:

At the empirical stage of development of science:

The development of content is expressed primarily in the establishment of new empirical classifications, dependencies and laws, and not in the development of a conceptual apparatus;

empirical laws are characterized by the fact that their receipt is based on a comparison of experience data;

The development of a conceptual apparatus does not turn here into the implementation of a theoretical research program, which determines the main lines of development of science;

Empirical science is characterized by insufficient reflexivity, a moment of forced uncriticality, borrowing conceptual means from everyday consciousness.

The theoretical stage of science is characterized by:

Strengthening the activity of theoretical thinking;

Increasing the proportion of theoretical research methods;

Implementation of the ability scientific thinking to reproduction theoretical knowledge on its own basis; ability to build and improve developing theoretical systems;

The development of theoretical content acts as the implementation of research theoretical programs;

In science, special theoretical models realities that can be worked with as idealized theoretical objects(for example, as in geometry, mechanics, physics, etc.);

Theoretical laws are formulated as a result of theoretical reasoning, mainly as a consequence of a thought experiment on an idealized theoretical object.

An important step in the transition from empirical science theoretical is the emergence and development of such forms as primary conceptual explanations and typologies. Primary conceptual explanations presuppose the existence of conceptual schemes that allow empirical statements to be considered. Οʜᴎ are close to a theory, but it is not yet a theory, since there is no logical hierarchy within the theoretical construction. Descriptive theories that describe a certain group of objects are also of great importance: their empirical basis is very extensive; their task is to arrange the facts relating to them; they are big specific gravity occupies the natural language and the specialized terminology is poorly developed - the actual scientific language.

Theoretical science retains its connection and continuity with empirical science.

The appearance of theoretical concepts, idealized objects and models, ontological schemes is, ultimately, the result of reflection on the original conceptual apparatus available in empirical science.

Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, theoretical and empirical knowledge are considered as activities for the improvement and activities for the application of the conceptual means of science. The connection between the theoretical conceptual content of science and its empirical basis is resolved through the empirical interpretation of theoretical constructions and, accordingly, the theoretical interpretation of experimental data. Ultimately, their unity is due to social practice. It gives rise to the need for knowledge of the surrounding world, the need for different levels knowledge.

We emphasize in particular that one cannot consider theoretical knowledge as a simple summation and generalization of empirical information. It is impossible to reduce theoretical knowledge to empirical, and theoretical language to the language of observation. All this leads to an underestimation of the qualitative originality of theoretical knowledge, a misunderstanding of its specifics.

Question about specifics theoretical form scientific knowledge also affects the problem of the criterion of this knowledge: can this criterion of the truth of theoretical knowledge be the same practice as the “universal criterion” of truth, or is the verifiability of theoretical knowledge for truth carried out in other ways? It turns out that many scientific provisions are established theoretically, and within the framework of mathematics, for example, there are only logical proofs, deductive conclusions. BUT logical proof possible without direct reference to practice. But without detracting from the theoretical logical thinking in establishing the truth, it would probably be right to emphasize that in order to verify the truth of what is logically proven, theoretically justified, it is extremely important to turn to practice.

The criterion of practice is truly fundamental due to the following circumstances:

1. It is practice that is the fundamental form of connection with reality, with the most diverse manifestations of immediate life, not only knowledge, but culture as a whole.

2. Due to the fact that with a historical approach to the formation of our knowledge, it turns out that the latter arise as a generalization of direct practice. This applies not only to experiential knowledge, but also (for example) to mathematics.

3. In development experimental sciences we also constantly generalize the practice of experimental and measuring activities. The data of experimental and measuring practice are the basis for the development of theories, their generalization and changes.

4. Verification of a number of hypotheses that arise in the process of the creative development of science is carried out on the basis of methods, the application of which ultimately relies on practice.

5. Theoretical knowledge, on which we rely as a criterion of truth, is itself refined, changed on the basis of new practice.

Among the many different cognitive processes, the main types of cognition can be distinguished. There is no unity of opinion in their classification, but most often they talk about ordinary (everyday), mythological, religious, artistic, philosophical and scientific knowledge. Let us briefly consider here only two types of knowledge - ordinary, which serves as the foundation of human life and any cognitive process, and scientific, which today has a decisive impact on all spheres of human activity.

Ordinary knowledge is the primary, most simple form cognitive activity of the subject. It is spontaneously carried out by each person throughout his life, serves as an adaptation to real conditions everyday life and is aimed at acquiring the knowledge and skills that he needs every day and hour. Such knowledge is usually quite superficial, far from always substantiated and systematized, the reliable in them is closely intertwined with delusions and prejudices. At the same time, in the form of so-called common sense, they embody real worldly experience, a kind of wisdom that allows a person to behave rationally in a variety of everyday situations. Ordinary knowledge, in addition, is constantly open to the results of other types of knowledge - for example, scientific: common sense able to assimilate the relatively simple truths of science and become more and more theorized. Unfortunately, such an impact of science on everyday consciousness is not as great as we would like, for example, one study showed that half of the US adult population surveyed does not know that the Earth revolves around the Sun in 1 year. In general, ordinary knowledge is always limited by certain limits - only external properties and connections of objects of everyday experience are available to it. To obtain deeper and more essential information about reality, it is necessary to turn to scientific knowledge.

scientific knowledge fundamentally different from the ordinary. Firstly, it is not available to any person, but only to those who have undergone specialized training (for example, received higher education), which gave him knowledge and skills for scientific and research activities. Secondly, scientific knowledge is specifically focused on the study of phenomena (and the laws of their being) unknown to today. common practice. Thirdly, science uses special means, methods and tools that are not used in traditional production and everyday experience. Fourthly, the knowledge obtained in scientific research has a fundamental novelty, they are justified, systematically organized and expressed using a special, scientific language.

For the emergence and development of scientific knowledge, certain sociocultural conditions are needed. Modern research has shown that scientific knowledge could not have arisen in the so-called traditional society(such were the civilizations of the Ancient East - China, India, etc.), which is characterized by a slow pace of social change, authoritarian power, the priority of traditions in thinking and activity, etc. Knowledge is valued here not in itself, but only in his practical application. It is clear that in these conditions a person is more inclined to follow established patterns and norms than to look for non-traditional approaches and ways of cognition.

Scientific knowledge was destined to take shape in a technogenic society, which implies high rates of change in all spheres of life, which is impossible without a constant influx of new knowledge. The prerequisites for such a society are formed in the culture Ancient Greece. Recall that the democratic structure of society, the freedom of the citizen contributed to the development vigorous activity individuals, their ability to logically substantiate and defend their position, to offer new approaches to solving the problems discussed. All this led to the search for innovations in all types of activity, including cognition (it is no coincidence that it is in Greece that the first model of theoretical science, the geometry of Euclid, is born). Cult human mind, the idea of ​​his omnipotence then finds its development in the culture of the European Renaissance, which contributes to the formation of professional scientific knowledge and the emergence of modern science.

Scientific knowledge is usually carried out at two levels - empirical and theoretical. empirical(from Greek. empeiria- experience) knowledge gives us information about the external aspects and relationships of the objects under study, fixes and describes them. It is carried out mainly with the help of methods of observation and experiment. Observation- this is a purposeful and systematic perception of the studied phenomena (for example, the study of behavior great apes in their natural environment). When observing, the scientist tries not to interfere with the natural course of things, so as not to distort it.

Experiment- specially prepared experience. In the course of its study, the object under study is placed in artificial conditions, which can be changed and taken into account. It is obvious that this method is characterized by a high activity of a scientist who is trying to get as much knowledge as possible about the behavior of an object in different situations and even more than that - to artificially obtain new things and phenomena that do not exist in nature (this is especially true for chemical research).

Of course, in addition to these methods of cognition, in empirical research the methods of logical thinking are also used - analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, etc. With the help of a combination of all these methods - both practical and logical - the scientist receives new empirical knowledge. It is expressed mainly in three main forms:

scientific fact - fixation of one or another property or event (Phenol melts at a temperature of 40.9 ° C; In 1986, the passage of Halley's comet was observed);

scientific description - fixation of an integral system of properties and parameters of a particular phenomenon or group of phenomena. This kind of knowledge is given in encyclopedias, scientific reference books, textbooks, etc.;

empirical dependence – knowledge that reflects certain relationships inherent in a group of phenomena or events (The planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits - one of Kepler's laws; Halley's Comet revolves around the Sun with a period of 75 -76 years).

theoretical(from Greek. theory– consideration, research) knowledge reveals the internal connections and relationships of things and phenomena, rationally explains them, reveals the laws of their being. Therefore, it is knowledge of a higher order than empirical knowledge - it is no coincidence that, for example, Heidegger defines science itself as a "theory of the real."

In theoretical knowledge, special mental operations are used that allow one way or another to come to new knowledge, which explains the previously received or develops the existing theoretical knowledge. These mental methods are always associated with the use of scientific concepts and the so-called ideal objects(remember, for example, the concepts " material point", "ideal gas", "absolutely black body", etc.). Scientists spend with them thought experiments, they use the hypothetical-deductive method (reasoning that allows you to put forward a hypothesis and derive consequences from it that can be verified), the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete (the operation of combining new scientific concepts with existing ones in order to build a more general theory of a specific object - for example, an atom ) and others. In a word, theoretical knowledge is always a long and complex work of thought, carried out with the help of various methods.

The theoretical knowledge gained from these intellectual operations exists in various forms. The most important of them are:

problem- a question, the answer to which is not yet available in scientific knowledge, a kind of knowledge about ignorance (for example, physicists in principle know today what a thermonuclear reaction is, but cannot say how to make it controllable);

hypothesis- a scientific assumption that probabilistically explains a particular problem (for example, various hypotheses about the origin of life on Earth);

theory- reliable knowledge about the essence and laws of existence of a certain class of objects (say, the theory chemical structure A. M. Butlerova). There are rather complex relationships between these forms of knowledge, but in general their dynamics can be described as follows:

The occurrence of a problem;

Putting forward a hypothesis as an attempt to solve this problem;

Hypothesis testing (for example, using an experiment);

Building new theory(if the hypothesis is somehow confirmed); occurrence new problem(since no theory gives us absolutely complete and reliable knowledge) - and then this cognitive cycle is repeated.

Science as a peculiar form of knowledge began to develop relatively independently in the era of the formation of the capitalist mode of production (XVI-XVII centuries). However, independence is not identical to self-isolation. Science has always been connected with practice, received from it more and more new impulses for its development and, in turn, influenced the course practical activities, objectified, materialized in it.

SCIENCE is a form of people's spiritual activity that produces knowledge about nature, society and knowledge itself. Its immediate goal is to comprehend the truth and discover the objective laws of the development of the world. Therefore, science as a whole forms a single, interconnected, DEVELOPING SYSTEM OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SUCH LAWS.

At the same time, depending on the study of one or another form of matter, side of reality, science is divided into many branches of knowledge (tea sciences). This is the main criterion for classification. Other criteria are also used. In particular, ON THE SUBJECT AND METHOD OF KNOWLEDGE, one can single out the sciences about nature - natural science and society - social science (humanities, social sciences), about cognition, thinking (logic, epistemology, etc.). A very peculiar science is modern mathematics. separate group constitute the technical sciences.

In turn, each group of sciences is subjected to a more detailed division. So, the natural sciences include mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., each of which is divided into a number of scientific disciplines - physical chemistry, biophysics, etc. the science of the most general laws reality is philosophy, which, as we found out in the first lecture, cannot be fully attributed only to science.

Let's take one more criterion: BY THEIR REMOTENESS FROM PRACTICE, science can be divided into two major types: FUNDAMENTAL. where there is no direct orientation to practice, and APPLIED - the direct application of the results of scientific knowledge to solve production and socio-practical problems. Science as a form of cognition and a social institution studies itself with the help of a complex of disciplines, which includes the history and logic of science, the psychology of scientific creativity, the sociology of scientific knowledge and science, science of science, etc. At present, the philosophy of science is rapidly developing (more on this in the next lectures).

With all this, we must always remember that, regardless of the criteria and depth of classification, the boundary between individual sciences and scientific disciplines conditional and flexible.

MAIN FEATURES OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE: 1. The first and main task of scientific knowledge, as we have already found out, is to discover the objective laws of reality - natural, social (public), the laws of knowledge itself, thinking, etc. Hence the orientation of research mainly on the essential properties of the subject and their expression in a system of abstractions. Without this, there can be no science, because the very concept of scientificity presupposes the discovery of laws, a deepening into the essence of the phenomena being studied.

2. Immediate goal and supreme value scientific knowledge is an objective truth, comprehended mainly by rational means and methods, but, of course, not without the participation of living contemplation. The activity of the subject is the most important condition and prerequisite for scientific knowledge. But priority is given to objectivity. OBJECTIVITY is a characteristic feature of scientific knowledge.

3. Science, to a greater extent than other forms of knowledge, is focused on practical implementation. vital sense 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.

4. Scientific knowledge in epistemological terms is a complex, contradictory process of reproducing knowledge that forms an integral developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and others. ideal forms, fixed in a language - natural or, more characteristically, - artificial (mathematical symbolism, chemical formulas etc.). 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 resources, like appliances, tools, other so-called. "scientific equipment", often very complex and expensive (synchrophasotrons, radio telescopes, rocket and space technology, etc.). In addition, science, to a greater extent than other forms of cognition, is characterized by the use in research of its objects and itself of such ideal (spiritual) means and methods as modern logic, mathematical methods, dialectics, systemic, cybernetic and other general scientific techniques and methods (more on that below).

6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, the validity of the results obtained, the reliability of the conclusions. At the same time, it contains many hypotheses, conjectures, assumptions, and probabilistic judgments. That's why essential here is the logical and methodological training of researchers, their philosophical culture, the ability to correctly use the laws and principles of thinking.

In modern methodology, there are various criteria for scientific character. These include, in addition to the above, such as the internal systemic nature of knowledge, its formal consistency, experimental verifiability, reproducibility, openness to criticism, freedom from bias, rigor, etc. In other forms of cognition, these criteria appear to varying degrees, but are not defining.

SPECIFICITY OF KNOWLEDGE OF SOCIAL PHENOMENA. Long time the analysis of science and scientific cognition was modeled according to natural-mathematical methods of cognition. Its characteristics were attributed to science in general as such, as positivism clearly testified. In recent years, interest in social (humanitarian) knowledge has sharply increased. When it comes to social cognition as one of the peculiar types of scientific cognition, one should keep in mind two its aspect:

1) any knowledge in each of its forms is always social, because it is a social product and is determined by cultural and historical reasons;

2) one of the types of scientific knowledge, which has as its subject social (social) phenomena and processes - society as a whole or its individual aspects: economics, politics, the spiritual sphere, etc.

In research, it is unacceptable both to reduce social phenomena to natural (attempts to explain social processes only by the laws of natural science), and to oppose the natural and the social, up to their complete rupture. In the first case, social and humanitarian knowledge is identified with natural science and mechanically, uncritically reduced (reduction) to it. This is naturalism, acting in the forms of mechanism, physicalism, biologism, etc. In the second case, there is an opposition between natural science and the sciences of culture, often accompanied by discrediting the "exact" sciences ("humanities").

Both types of sciences are branches of science as a whole, characterized by unity and difference. Each of them, with close relationship, has its own characteristics. The specificity of social (humanitarian) knowledge is manifested in the following:

1. Its subject is the "world of man", and not just a thing as such. And this means that this subject has a subjective dimension, it includes a person as "the author and performer of his own drama", he is also its researcher. Humanitarian knowledge does not deal with real things and their properties, but with people's relationships. Here the material and the ideal, the objective and the subjective, the conscious and the elemental, etc. are closely intertwined. Here interests and passions collide, certain goals are set and realized, etc.

Since society is the activity of people, social knowledge explores its diverse forms, and not nature. The discovery of the laws of this activity is, at the same time, the discovery of the laws of society and, on this basis, the laws and principles of cognition and thinking itself.

2. Social cognition is inseparably and constantly connected with subjective (assessment of phenomena from the point of view of good and evil, fair and unfair, etc.) and "subjective" (attitudes, views, norms, goals, etc.) values. They determine the human weighty and cultural significance of certain phenomena of reality. Such, in particular, are the political, ideological, moral convictions of a person, his attachments, principles and motives of behavior, etc. All of the above and moments like this are included in the process social research and inevitably affect the content of the knowledge obtained.

3. A characteristic feature of social cognition is its primary focus on the "qualitative coloring of events." Here the phenomena are investigated mainly from the point of view of quality, not quantity. Therefore, the share of quantitative methods in humanities much less than in the sciences of the natural-mathematical cycle, although their application is becoming more widespread. At the same time, the main attention is paid to the analysis of the single, individual, but on the basis of the renewal of the general, natural.

4. In social cognition, neither a microscope nor chemicals, much less the most difficult technical equipment. All this should be replaced by the power of abstraction. Therefore, the role of thinking, its forms, principles and methods is exceptionally great here. If in natural science the form of comprehension of an object is a monologue (because nature is "silent"), then in humanitarian knowledge it is a dialogue (of personalities, texts, cultures, etc.). The dialogical nature of social cognition is most fully expressed in the procedures of understanding. It is precisely immersion in the "world of meanings" of another person, comprehension and interpretation (interpretation) of his feelings, thoughts and aspirations. Understanding as familiarization with the meanings of human activity and as meaning formation is closely related to self-understanding and occurs in the conditions of human communication.

5. Due to the above circumstances, in social cognition, exclusively important role plays "good" philosophy and the right method. Them deep knowledge and skillful application make it possible to adequately comprehend the complex, contradictory, purely dialectical nature of social phenomena and processes, the nature of thinking, its forms and principles, their permeation with value-worldview components and their influence on the results of cognition, the meaning-life orientations of people, the features of dialogue (inconceivable without setting and resolving contradictions-problems), etc. This is all the more important because social cognition is characterized by the absence of universally recognized paradigms (often leading to "theoretical anarchism"), the mobility and vagueness of its empirical basis, complex nature theoretical generalizations (associated primarily with the inclusion of value components and "personal modalities" in them).

In short, this is all about the subject and specifics of scientific knowledge. Now we will stop on ITS STRUCTURE.

Scientific knowledge is a process, i.e. evolving system of knowledge. It includes TWO BASIC LEVELS - empirical and theoretical. Although they are related, they differ from each other, each of them has its own specifics. What is it?

At the EMPIRICAL LEVEL, living contemplation (sensory cognition) prevails, the rational moment and its forms (judgments, concepts, etc.) are present here, but have a subordinate meaning. Therefore, the object is studied primarily from the side of its external connections and relations, accessible to living contemplation. Collection of facts, their primary generalization, description of observed and experimental data, their systematization, classification and other fact-fixing activities - characteristics empirical knowledge.

Empirical research directed directly (without intermediate links) to your object. It masters it with the help of such techniques and means as comparison, measurement, observation, experiment, analysis, induction (more on these techniques below). However, one should not forget that experience, especially in modern science, is never blind: it is planned, constructed by theory, and facts are always theoretically loaded in one way or another. Therefore, the STARTING POINT, THE BEGINNING OF SCIENCE, is, strictly speaking, not objects in themselves, not bare facts (even in their totality), but theoretical schemes, "conceptual frameworks of reality." They consist of abstract objects ("ideal constructs") of various kinds - postulates, principles, definitions, conceptual models, etc.

It turns out that we "make" our experience ourselves. It is the theoretician who points the way to the experimenter. Moreover, theory dominates experimental work from its original plan to the finishing touches in the lab. Accordingly, there can be no "pure language of observations", since all languages ​​are "permeated with theories", and bare facts, taken outside and in addition to the conceptual framework, are not the basis of the theory.

The specificity of the THEORETICAL LEVEL of scientific knowledge is determined by the predominance of rational moment- concepts, theories, laws and other forms and " mental operations". Living contemplation is not eliminated here, but becomes a subordinate (but very important) aspect of the cognitive process. Theoretical knowledge reflects phenomena and processes from the side of their universal internal connections and patterns, comprehended with the help of rational processing of empirical knowledge data. This processing includes a system abstractions" higher order", such as concepts, inferences, laws, categories, principles, etc.

On the basis of empirical data, the objects under study are mentally combined, their essence is comprehended, " internal movement", the laws of their existence, which make up the main content of theories - the "quintessence" of knowledge at this level.

The most important task of theoretical knowledge is the achievement of objective truth in all its concreteness and completeness of content. At the same time, such cognitive techniques and means as abstraction - abstraction from a number of properties and relations of objects, idealization - the process of creating a purely mental objects("point", "ideal gas", etc.), synthesis - combining the elements obtained as a result of analysis into a system, deduction - the movement of cognition from the general to the particular, the ascent from the abstract to the concrete, etc. The presence of idealizations in cognition serves as an indicator of the development of the theoretical knowledge as a set of certain ideal models.

A characteristic feature of theoretical knowledge is its focus on itself, INTRA-SCIENTIFIC REFLECTION, i.e. study of the process of cognition itself, its forms, techniques, methods, conceptual apparatus, etc. On the basis of a theoretical explanation and known laws, a prediction, a scientific prediction of the future, is carried out.

EMPIRICAL AND THEORETICAL LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE ARE INTERRELATED, the boundary between them is conditional and mobile. At certain points in the development of science, the empirical becomes theoretical and vice versa. However, it is unacceptable to absolutize one of these levels to the detriment of the other.

EMPIRISM reduces scientific knowledge as a whole to its empirical level, belittling or completely rejecting theoretical knowledge. "SCHOLASTIC THEORETIZING" ignores the significance of empirical data, rejects the need for a comprehensive analysis of facts as a source and basis for theoretical constructions, and breaks away from real life. Its product is illusory-utopian, dogmatic constructions, such as, for example, the concept of the "introduction of communism in 1980." or "theory" of developed socialism.

Considering theoretical knowledge as the highest and most developed, one should first of all determine its structural components. The main ones are: problem, hypothesis and theory ("key points" of the construction and development of knowledge at its theoretical level).

PROBLEM - a form of knowledge, the content of which is that which is not yet known by man, but which needs to be known. In other words, this is knowledge about ignorance, a question that has arisen in the course of cognition and requires an answer. The 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. The correct derivation of problematic knowledge from previous facts and generalizations, the ability to correctly pose the problem is a necessary prerequisite for its successful solution.

Scientific problems should be distinguished from non-scientific (pseudo-problems), for example, the problem of creating a perpetual motion machine. The solution of any specific problem is an essential moment in the development of knowledge, during which new problems arise, and new problems are put forward, certain conceptual ideas, incl. and hypotheses.

HYPOTHESIS - a form of knowledge containing an assumption formulated on the basis of a number of facts, true value which is indefinite and needs to be proven. Hypothetical knowledge is probable, not reliable, and requires verification, justification. In the course of proving the hypotheses put forward, some of them become true theory, others are modified, clarified and concretized, turn into delusions if the test gives a negative result.

The stage of the hypothesis was also discovered by D. I. Mendeleev periodic law, and the theory of Ch. Darwin, etc. The decisive test of the truth of a hypothesis is practice (the logical criterion of truth plays an auxiliary role in this). A tested and proven hypothesis passes into the category of reliable truths, becomes a scientific theory.

THEORY is the most developed form of scientific knowledge, which gives a holistic display of the regular and essential connections of a certain area of ​​reality. Examples of this form of knowledge are classical mechanics newton, evolutionary theory Darwin, Einstein's theory of relativity, the theory of self-organizing integral systems (synergetics), etc.

In practice, scientific knowledge is successfully implemented only when people are convinced of its truth. Without turning an idea into a personal conviction, a person's faith, successful practical implementation of theoretical ideas is impossible.

The considered problems relate to any cognitive activity. Of particular importance for science is scientific knowledge, the specificity of which deserves special analysis.

Scientific and non-scientific knowledge

Cognition (and, accordingly, knowledge) can be divided into scientific and non-scientific, and the latter - into pre-scientific, ordinary and extra-scientific, or para-scientific.

Prescientific knowledge is historical stage in the development of knowledge that precedes scientific knowledge. At this stage, some cognitive techniques, forms of sensory and rational cognition are formed, on the basis of which more developed species cognitive activity.

Ordinary and parascientific knowledge exist along with scientific.

Ordinary, or everyday, is called knowledge based on the observation and practical development of nature, on the accumulation of many generations. life experience. Without denying science, it does not use its means - methods, language, categorical apparatus, however, it gives certain knowledge about the observed natural phenomena, moral relations, principles of education, etc. special group ordinary knowledge constitute the so-called folk sciences: folk medicine, meteorology, pedagogy, etc. Mastering this knowledge requires a long study and considerable experience, they contain practically useful, time-tested knowledge, but these are not sciences in the full sense of the word.

Extra-scientific (para-scientific) includes knowledge that claims to be scientific, uses scientific terminology, and is incompatible with science. These are the so-called occult sciences: alchemy, astrology, magic, etc. Having arisen in the era of late antiquity and developed in the Middle Ages, they have not disappeared even now, despite the development and dissemination of scientific knowledge. Moreover, on turning points social development, when the general crisis is accompanied by a spiritual crisis, there is a revival of the occult, a departure from the rational to the irrational. Revives faith in sorcerers, palmists, astrological forecasts, in the possibility of communicating with the souls of the dead (spiritualism) and similar "miracles". Religious and mystical teachings are widely spread.

So it was during the years of the crisis generated by the First World War, when the “theory of psychotransmutation” by G.Yu. Godzhieva, anthroposophy R. Steiner, theosophy E.P. Blavatsky and teachings. In the 60s. during the crisis in the countries of the West, esoteric teachings turned out to be fashionable (from the Greek - “directed inwards”. Knowledge intended only for the “chosen ones”, understandable only to them.).

The crisis in our country, generated by the perestroika processes, has created a spiritual vacuum, which seeks to fill all sorts of ideas and "teachings" that are far from science. The existence of non-scientific ideas along with scientific ones is due not least to the fact that scientific knowledge cannot yet answer all the questions in which people are interested. Biology, medicine, agricultural and other sciences have not yet discovered ways to prolong human life, get rid of diseases, protect against destructive forces nature, crop failure, etc. People hope to find simple and reliable means of curing diseases and solving other vital problems. These hopes are supported by some sensationalized media. Suffice it to recall the speeches on radio and television of psychics and psychotherapists or the "charged" issue of newspapers, "healing" from all diseases. And many people turned out to be receptive to these and similar “miracles”.

It cannot be denied that some parascientific theories contain elements useful knowledge worthy of attention. The futile attempts of alchemists to find a "philosopher's stone" for the transformation of base metals into gold and silver were associated with the study of the properties of metals, which played a certain role in the formation of chemistry as a science. Parapsychology, exploring forms of sensitivity that provide ways of receiving information that cannot be explained by the activity of known sense organs, forms of influence of one living being on another, accumulates material that can receive further scientific justification.

However, the search for superintelligent means of cognition, supernatural forces, irrationalism and mysticism are not compatible with scientific knowledge, with science, which is higher form cognition and knowledge.

Science arose as a result of dissociation from mythology and religion, from the explanation of phenomena by supernatural causes. It relies on a rational explanation of reality, rejecting faith in superintelligent means of knowledge - mystical intuition, revelation, etc.

Science is a sphere of research activity aimed at the production of knowledge about nature, society, and man. Along with scientists with their knowledge and abilities, qualifications and experience, it includes scientific institutions with their experimental equipment and instruments, with the total amount of knowledge achieved, methods of scientific knowledge, conceptual and categorical apparatus.

Modern science has powerful material and intellectual means of cognition; it not only opposes various non-scientific teachings, but also differs from ordinary cognition.

These differences are as follows.

The object of everyday knowledge is predominantly observable phenomena, and the knowledge gained is a collection of information that is not given in the system, they are not always justified and often coexist with obsolete prejudices. Scientific knowledge deals not only with observable, but also with unobservable objects (elementary particle, gene, etc.). It is characterized by consistency, systematicity, the desire to substantiate its provisions with laws, in special ways verification (scientific experiment, rules of inferential knowledge).

The purpose of ordinary knowledge is limited mainly by immediate practical tasks, it is not able to penetrate into the essence of phenomena, discover laws, form theories. Scientific knowledge poses and solves fundamental problems, puts forward well-founded hypotheses, and develops long-term forecasts. Its goal is the discovery of the laws of nature, society, thinking, knowledge of the essence of phenomena, the creation of scientific theories.

The means of everyday knowledge are limited by the natural cognitive abilities that a person has: the sense organs, thinking, forms of natural language, relies on common sense, elementary generalizations, and the simplest cognitive techniques. Scientific knowledge also uses scientific equipment, special research methods, creates and uses artificial languages, special scientific terminology.