The main features of scientific thinking. Natural and social sciences

Cognition is the process of reflecting the world in the minds of people, moving from ignorance to knowledge, from incomplete and inaccurate knowledge to more complete and accurate.

Cognition is one of the most important human activities. At all times, people have sought to know the world around them, society and themselves. Initially, human knowledge was very imperfect, it was embodied in various practical skills and mythological ideas. However, with the advent of philosophy, and then the first sciences - mathematics, physics, biology, socio-political doctrines, progress in human knowledge began, the fruits of which more and more significantly influenced the development of human civilization.

KNOWLEDGE - the result of cognition of reality confirmed by practice, the result of the cognitive process that led to the acquisition of truth. Knowledge characterizes a relatively true reflection of reality in human thinking. It demonstrates the possession of experience and understanding, allows you to master the world around you. In a general sense, knowledge is opposed to ignorance, ignorance. Within the cognitive process, knowledge, on the one hand, is opposed to an opinion that cannot claim to be the full truth and expresses only a subjective conviction.

On the other hand, knowledge is opposed to faith, which also claims to be the full truth, but relies on other grounds, on the certainty that this is the case. The most essential question of knowledge is how true it is, that is, whether it can really be a real guide in the practical activities of people.

Knowledge claims to be an adequate reflection of reality. It reproduces natural connections and relations of the real world, tends to reject misconceptions and false, unverified information.

Knowledge is based on scientific facts. "The facts, taken from the side of their reliability, determine what is knowledge and what is science" (Thomas Hobbes).

A powerful craving for knowledge is a purely human need. Any living being on earth accepts the world as it is. Only a person tries to understand how this world works, what laws govern it, what determines its dynamics. Why does a person need it? It is not easy to answer this question. Sometimes they say; knowledge helps a person to survive. But this is not entirely true, because it is knowledge that can lead humanity to destruction... It is no coincidence that Ecclesiastes teaches us: much knowledge multiplies sorrow...

However, already ancient man discovered in himself a powerful desire to penetrate the secrets of the universe, to understand its secrets, to feel the laws of the universe. This striving penetrated deeper and deeper into a person, more and more captured him. Human nature is reflected in this irresistible desire for knowledge. It would seem that why should an individual, personally me, know whether there is life on other planets, how history unfolds, whether it is possible to find the smallest unit of matter, what is the mystery of living thinking substance. However, having tasted the fruits of knowledge, a person can no longer refuse them. On the contrary, he is ready to go to the stake for the sake of truth. "Those who have innate knowledge rank above all. They are followed by those who acquire knowledge through learning. Next are those who start learning when they encounter difficulties. Those who, when they encounter difficulties, do not study, are ranked lower. all" (Confucius).

Three different sciences are engaged in the study of knowledge: the theory of knowledge (or epistemology), the psychology of knowledge, and logic. And this is not surprising: knowledge is a very complex subject, and in various sciences, not all the content of this subject is studied, but only one or another side of it.

The theory of knowledge is the theory of truth. It examines knowledge from the side of truth. It explores the relationship between knowledge by the subject of knowledge, i.e. between the object of knowledge and the being about which knowledge is expressed. "The true form in which truth exists can only be its scientific system. "(Georg Hegel). She studies the question of whether truth is relative or absolute and considers such properties of truth as, for example, general validity and its necessity. This is a study of the meaning of knowledge. In other words, the scope of knowledge theory can be defined as follows: it studies the objective (logical ) side of knowledge.

The theory of knowledge, in order to construct a theory of truth, must conduct a preparatory study consisting in the analysis of the composition of knowledge, and since all knowledge is realized in consciousness, it also has to deal with the analysis of the composition of consciousness in general and develop some kind of doctrine about the structure of consciousness.

Exists various ways and methods by which the truth of knowledge is verified. They are called criteria of truth.

The main such criteria are the experimental verification of knowledge, the possibility of its application in practice and its logical consistency.

Experimental verification of knowledge is characteristic, first of all, for science. The assessment of the truth of knowledge can also be carried out with the help of practice. For example, on the basis of certain knowledge, people can create some technical device, implement certain economic reforms or treat people. If this technical device will function successfully, the reforms will give the expected results, and the sick will be healed, then this will be an important indicator of the truth of knowledge.

First, the acquired knowledge should not be confused and internally contradictory.

Second, it must logically agree with well-tested and valid theories. For example, if someone puts forward a theory of heredity that is fundamentally incompatible with modern genetics, then we can assume that it is unlikely to be true.

It should be noted that modern theory knowledge believes that there are no universal and unambiguous criteria of truth. Experiment cannot be completely accurate, practice changes and develops, and logical consistency is related to relationships within knowledge, and not to the relationship of knowledge and reality.

Therefore, even the knowledge that passes the test according to the specified criteria cannot be considered absolutely true and established once and for all.

The form of cognition is a way of cognizing the surrounding reality, which has a conceptual, sensory-figurative or symbolic basis. Thus, they distinguish between scientific knowledge based on rationality and logic, and non-scientific knowledge based on sensory-figurative or symbolic perception of the world.

Scientific knowledge of such an object as society includes social knowledge (a sociological approach to the process of cognition) and humanitarian knowledge (a universal approach).

However, in the modern world, not all phenomena are known to the end. There is a lot of unexplainable from the point of view of science. And where science is powerless, unscientific knowledge comes to the rescue:

proper non-scientific knowledge - disparate, non-systematic knowledge that is not described by laws and is in conflict with the scientific picture of the world;

pre-scientific - a prototype, a prerequisite for the emergence of scientific knowledge;

parascientific - incompatible with existing scientific knowledge;

pseudoscientific - consciously exploiting conjectures and prejudices;

anti-scientific - utopian and deliberately distorting the idea of ​​reality.

Scientific research is a special form of the process of cognition, such a systematic and purposeful study of objects, in which the means and methods of science are used and which ends with the formation of knowledge about the objects under study.

Another form of cognition is spontaneous-empirical cognition. Spontaneous-empirical knowledge is primary. It has always existed and still exists today. This is such knowledge, in which the acquisition of knowledge is not separated from the social and practical activities of people. The source of knowledge is a variety of practical actions with objects. From their own experience, people learn the properties of these objects, learn the best ways to deal with them - their processing, use. In this way, in ancient times, people learned the properties of useful cereals and the rules for their cultivation. Nor did they expect the advent of scientific medicine. In the memory of the people there are many useful recipes and knowledge about healing properties plants, and much of this knowledge is not outdated to this day. "Life and knowledge are consubstantial and inseparable in their highest standards" (Vladimir Solovyov). Spontaneous empirical knowledge retains its significance even in the era of the scientific and technological revolution. This is not some second-rate, but full-fledged knowledge, proven by centuries of experience.

In the process of cognition, various cognitive abilities of a person are used. People learn a lot in the course of their ordinary life and practical activity, but they also created a special form of cognitive activity - science, the main objective which consists in achieving reliable and objective true knowledge. Science is not a warehouse of ready-made and exhaustive truths, but the process of achieving them, a movement from limited, approximate knowledge to more and more general, deep, and precise knowledge. This process is limitless.

Science is a systematized knowledge of reality, based on the observation and study of facts and seeking to establish the laws of the studied things and phenomena. The purpose of science is to obtain true knowledge about the world. In the most general way, science is defined as a sphere of human activity, the function of which is the development and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality.

Science is the understanding of the world in which we live. This comprehension is fixed in the form of knowledge as a mental (conceptual, conceptual, intellectual) modeling of reality. "Science is nothing but a reflection of reality" (Francis Bacon).

The immediate goals of science are the description, explanation and prediction of the processes and phenomena of reality that constitute the subject of its study on the basis of the laws it discovers.

The system of sciences can be conditionally divided into natural, humanitarian, social and technical sciences. Accordingly, the objects of study of science are nature, non-material aspects of human activity, society and material aspects of human activity and society.

The highest form of scientific knowledge is scientific theory.

Scientific theory - logically interconnected system knowledge, reflecting the essential, regular and general connections in a particular subject area.

There are many theories that have changed people's ideas about the world. These are, for example, the theory of Copernicus, Newton's theory of universal gravitation, Darwin's theory of evolution, Einstein's theory of relativity. Such theories form a scientific picture of the world, which plays an important role in the worldview of people.

Each subsequent scientific theory in comparison with the previous one is more complete and deeper knowledge. The old theory is interpreted as part of the new theory as relative truth and thus as a special case of a more complete and precise theory (for example, classical mechanics I. Newton and A. Einstein's theory of relativity). Such a relationship between theories in their historical development has received in science the name of the correspondence principle.

But in order to build theories, scientists rely on experience, experiment, factual data about the surrounding reality. Science is built from facts like a house from bricks.

Thus, a scientific fact is a fragment of objective reality or event, element scientific theory. "The facts, taken from the side of their reliability, determine what is knowledge and what is science" (Thomas Hobbes).

Where it is not always possible to obtain scientific facts (for example, in astronomy, history), estimates are used - scientific assumptions and hypotheses that are close to reality and claim to be true.

Part of the scientific theory, built on scientific facts, is an area of ​​true knowledge, on the basis of which axioms, theorems are built and the main phenomena of this science are explained. The assessment part of scientific theory is the problem area of ​​this science, within which scientific research is usually conducted. The goal of scientific research is to turn assessments into scientific facts, i.e. striving for the truth of knowledge.

The specificity of scientific knowledge, in contrast to spontaneous empirical knowledge, lies primarily in the fact that cognitive activity in science is carried out not by everyone, but by specially trained groups of people - scientists. The form of its implementation and development is scientific research.

Science, in contrast to the spontaneous-empirical process of cognition, studies not only those subjects with which people deal in their direct practice, but also those that are revealed in the course of the development of science itself. Often their study precedes practical use. "A systematic whole of knowledge can, by the mere fact that it is systematic, be called science, and if the unification of knowledge in this system is a connection of foundations and consequences, even rational science" (Immanuel Kant). So, for example, the practical application of the energy of the atom was preceded by enough a long period studying the structure of the atom as an object of science.

In science, they begin to specifically study the very results of cognitive activity - scientific knowledge. Criteria are being developed according to which scientific knowledge can be separated from spontaneous empirical knowledge, from opinions, from speculative, speculative reasoning, etc.

Scientific knowledge is fixed not only on natural language, as it always happens in spontaneous-empirical knowledge. Often used (for example, in mathematics, chemistry) specially created symbolic and logical means.

The discursiveness of scientific knowledge is based on a forced sequence of concepts and judgments, given by the logical structure of knowledge (causal structure), forms a feeling of subjective conviction in the possession of truth. Therefore, acts of scientific knowledge are accompanied by the confidence of the subject in the reliability of its content. That is why knowledge is understood as a form of subjective right to truth. Under the conditions of science, this right turns into the obligation of the subject to recognize logically justified, discursively proven, organized, systematically connected truth.

In the history of science are created and developed special means knowledge, methods of scientific research, while spontaneous empirical knowledge does not have such means. The means of scientific knowledge include, for example, modeling, the use of idealized models, the creation of theories, hypotheses, and experimentation.

Finally, the cardinal difference between scientific knowledge and spontaneous empirical knowledge lies in the fact that scientific research is systematic and purposeful. It is aimed at solving problems that are consciously formulated as a goal.

Scientific knowledge differs from other forms of knowledge (everyday knowledge, philosophical knowledge, etc.) in that science carefully checks the results of knowledge in observation and experiment.

Empirical knowledge, if it is included in the system of science, loses its elemental character. “I have no doubt at all that real science can and does cognize the necessary relations or laws of phenomena, but the only question is: does it remain in this cognition on an exclusively empirical basis ... does it not include other cognitive elements, besides to which his abstract empiricism wants to limit? (Vladimir Solovyov).

The most important empirical methods are observation, measurement and experiment.

Observation in science differs from simple contemplation of things and phenomena. Scientists always set a specific goal and task for observation. They strive for impartiality and objectivity of observation, accurately record its results. In some sciences, complex instruments (microscopes, telescopes, etc.) have been developed that make it possible to observe phenomena that are inaccessible to the naked eye.

Measurement is a method by which the quantitative characteristics of the objects under study are established. Accurate measurement plays a big role in physics, chemistry and other natural sciences ah, however, in modern social sciences, primarily in economics and sociology, measurements of various economic indicators and social facts.

An experiment is an “artificial” situation, purposefully designed by a scientist, in which presumptive knowledge (hypothesis) is confirmed or refuted by experience. Experiments often use precise measurement methods and sophisticated instruments to test knowledge as accurately as possible. Very complex equipment is often used in a scientific experiment.

Empirical methods, firstly, make it possible to establish facts, and secondly, to test the truth of hypotheses and theories by correlating them with the results of observations and the facts established in the experiment.

Take, for example, the science of society. In modern sociology, an important role is played by empirical methods research. Sociology must be based on concrete data about social facts and processes. Scientists obtain these data using various empirical methods - observations, sociological surveys, public opinion studies, statistical data, experiments on the interaction of people in social groups etc. In this way, sociology collects numerous facts that form the basis of theoretical hypotheses and conclusions.

Scientists don't stop at observation and fact-finding. They seek to find laws that link numerous facts. To establish these laws, theoretical research methods are applied. Theoretical research is connected with the improvement and development of the conceptual apparatus of science and is aimed at a comprehensive knowledge of objective reality through this apparatus in its essential connections and patterns.

These are methods of analysis and generalization of empirical facts, methods of putting forward hypotheses, methods of rational reasoning, which allow deriving some knowledge from others.

The most famous classical theoretical methods are induction and deduction.

inductive method- this is a method of inferring patterns based on the generalization of many individual facts. For example, a sociologist, on the basis of a generalization of empirical facts, can discover some stable, recurring forms social behavior people. These will be the primary social patterns. The inductive method is a movement from the particular to the general, from facts to law.

The deductive method is a movement from the general to the particular. If we have some general law, then we can deduce more specific consequences from it. Deduction, for example, is widely used in mathematics in proving theorems from general axioms.

It is important to emphasize that the methods of science are interconnected. Without the establishment of empirical facts, it is impossible to build a theory; without theories, scientists would have only a huge number of unrelated facts. Therefore, in scientific knowledge various theoretical and empirical methods are used in their inextricable connection.

Science is built on objective and material evidence. Analytical consciousness absorbs many-sided life experience and is always open for clarifications. We can talk about scientific knowledge only when it is generally valid. The obligatory nature of the result is a concrete sign of science. Science is also universal in spirit. There is no area that could long time distance yourself from her. Everything that happens in the world is subject to observation, consideration, research - natural phenomena, actions or statements of people, their creations and destinies.

The modern development of science leads to further transformations of the entire system of human life. Science exists not only to reflect reality, but also so that the results of this reflection can be used by people.

Particularly impressive is its impact on the development of technology and the latest technologies, the impact of scientific and technological progress on people's lives.

Science creates a new environment for human existence. Science is influenced by a certain form of culture in which it is formed. The style of scientific thinking is developed on the basis of not only social, but also philosophical ideas that generalize the development of both science and all human practice.

Foresight is one of the most important functions of science. At one time, W. Ostwald brilliantly spoke on this issue: “... A penetrating understanding of science: science is the art of foresight. Its whole value lies in the extent to which and with what certainty it can predict future events. Any knowledge that says nothing about the future is dead, and such knowledge should be denied the honorary title of science.” Skachkov Yu.V. Polyfunctionality of science. “Questions of Philosophy”, 1995, No. 11

All human practice is actually based on foresight. Involving in any type of activity, a person presupposes (foresees) getting some quite definite results. Human activity is basically organized and purposeful, and in such an organization of his actions, a person relies on knowledge. It is knowledge that allows him to expand the area of ​​his existence, without which his life cannot continue. Knowledge makes it possible to foresee the course of events, since it is invariably included in the structure of the methods of action themselves. Methods characterize any type of human activity, and they are based on the development of special tools, means of activity. Both the development of tools of activity and their “applications” are based on knowledge, which makes it possible to successfully foresee the results of this activity.

Tracing the social parameter of science as an activity, we see the diversity of its “sections”. This activity is inscribed in a specific historical socio-cultural context. It is subject to the norms developed by the community of scientists. (In particular, one who enters this community is called upon to produce new knowledge, and the “prohibition on repetition” invariably gravitates over him.) Another level represents involvement in a school or direction, in a social circle, entering which an individual becomes a man of science.

Science, as a living system, is the production of not only ideas, but also the people who create them. Within the system itself, an invisible, continuous work is going on to build minds capable of solving its brewing problems. The school, as a unity of research, communication and teaching creativity, is one of the main forms of scientific and social associations, moreover, the oldest form characteristic of cognition at all levels of its evolution. In contrast to organizations such as scientific - research institutions, the school in science is informal, i.e. association without legal status. Its organization is not planned in advance and is not regulated by regulations.

There are also such associations of scientists as "invisible colleges". This term denotes a network of personal contacts between scientists that has no clear boundaries and procedures for the mutual exchange of information (for example, the so-called preprints, i.e. information about research results that have not yet been published).

"Invisible College" refers to the secondary - extensive - period of growth of scientific knowledge. It brings together scientists focused on solving a set of interrelated problems after a research program has been formed in the bowels of a small compact group. The “college” has a productive “core”, which is overgrown with many authors who reproduce in their publications, preprints, informal oral contacts, etc. really innovative ideas of this “core”, the shell around the core can grow arbitrarily, leading to the reproduction of knowledge that has already entered the fund of science.

The sociopsychological factors of scientific creativity include the opponent circle of the scientist. The concept of it was introduced in order to analyze the scientist's communications from the point of view of the dependence of the dynamics of his work on confrontational relations with colleagues. From the etymology of the term "opponent" it is clear that it means "the one who objects", who acts as a contestant of someone's opinion. It will be about the relationship of scientists who object, refute or dispute someone's ideas, hypotheses, conclusions. Each researcher has “his” opponent circle. It can be initiated by a scientist when he challenges colleagues. But it is created by these colleagues themselves, who do not accept the ideas of the scientist, perceive them as a threat to their views (and thus their position in science) and therefore defend them in the form of opposition.

Since confrontation and opposition take place in the zone controlled by the scientific community, which is judging its members, the scientist is forced not only to take into account the opinion and position of opponents in order to clarify for himself the degree of reliability of his data that has come under fire of criticism, but also to respond to opponents. Controversy, even if hidden, becomes a catalyst for the work of thought.

Meanwhile, just as behind every product scientific work there are invisible processes taking place in the creative laboratory of a scientist, they usually include the construction of hypotheses, the activity of the imagination, the power of abstraction, etc., opponents invisibly participate in the production of this product, with whom he conducts a hidden polemic. It is obvious that hidden controversy acquires the greatest intensity in those cases when an idea is put forward that claims to radically change the established body of knowledge. And this is not surprising. The community must have a kind of "protective mechanism" that would prevent the "omnivorous", the immediate assimilation of any opinion. Hence the natural resistance of society, which has to be experienced by anyone who claims to be recognized for his achievements of an innovative nature.

Recognizing the social nature of scientific creativity, it should be borne in mind that along with the macroscopic aspect (which covers both social norms and principles of organization of the world of science, and a complex set of relations between this world and society) is microsocial. It is represented, in particular, in the opponent's circle. But in it, as in other microsocial phenomena, the personal principle of creativity is also expressed. At the level of the emergence of new knowledge - whether it is a discovery, a fact, a theory, or a research direction in which various groups and schools work - we find ourselves face to face with creative personality scientist.

Scientific information about things merges with information about the opinions of others about these things. V broad sense and getting information about things, and getting information about the opinions of others about these things can be called information activities. It is as old as science itself. In order to successfully fulfill his main social role (which is the production of new knowledge), the scientist must be informed about what was known before him. Otherwise, he may find himself in the position of a discoverer of already established truths.

Literature

1. Alekseev P.V., Panin A.V. Philosophy. Textbook. - M.: Prospekt, 1999.

2. Karlov N.V. About fundamental and applied in science and education. // "Questions of Philosophy", 1995, No. 12

3. Pechenkin A.A. Substantiation of scientific theory. Classic and modern. - M., Nauka, 1991

4. Popper K. Logic and growth of scientific knowledge. - M.: Nauka, 1993.

5. Skachkov Yu.V. Polyfunctionality of science. “Questions of Philosophy”, 1995, No. 11

6. Philosophy of science: History and methodology. - M., Publishing Center "Academy", 2001.

7. Philosophical encyclopedia. v.1-5. - M., 1993.

There are many definitions, each of which reflects certain aspects of such a complex concept as science. Let's give some definitions.

The science is a form of human knowledge, an integral part of the spiritual culture of society.

The science is a system of concepts about phenomena and laws of reality.

The science is a system of all proven knowledge that is common product development of society.

The science- this is the final experience of mankind in a concentrated form, elements of the spiritual culture of all mankind, many historical epochs and classes, as well as a way of foresight and active comprehension through a theoretical analysis of the phenomena of objective reality for the subsequent use of the results obtained in practice.

The science- this is a special sphere of purposeful human activity, which includes scientists with their knowledge and abilities, scientific institutions and has as its task the study (based on certain methods of cognition) of the objective laws of the development of nature, society and thinking in order to foresee and transform reality in the interests of society [ Burgin and others.].

Each of the above definitions reflects one or another aspect of the concept of "science", some statements are duplicated.

As a basis for the subsequent analysis, we put the fact that science is a specific human activity [ Philosophy and methodology of science].

Let's take a look at what makes this activity special. Any activity:

Has a purpose;

The final product, methods and means of obtaining it;

It is directed at some objects, revealing its object in them;

It is the activity of subjects who, solving their tasks, enter into certain social relations and form various forms of social institutions.

In all these parameters, science differs significantly from other spheres of human activity. Let's consider each of the parameters separately.

The main defining goal scientific activity is to gain knowledge of reality. Knowledge is acquired by a person in all forms of his activity - both in everyday life, and in politics, and in economics, and in art, and in engineering. But in these areas of human activity, the acquisition of knowledge is not the main goal.

For example, art is meant to create aesthetic value. In art, the attitude of the artist to reality, and not a reflection of it, is in the foreground. The same is true in engineering. Its product is a project, the development of a new technology, an invention. Of course, engineering developments are based on science. But in any case, the product of engineering developments is evaluated from the point of view of its practical usefulness, the optimal use of resources, and the expansion of the possibilities for transforming reality, and not by the amount of knowledge acquired.

From the examples given, it can be seen that science differs from all other activities in its purpose.

Knowledge can be scientific or non-scientific. Let's take a closer look distinctive features exactly scientific knowledge.

The word "science" in Russian has a very broad meaning. Science is physics, literary criticism, the doctrine of welding (it is not for nothing that there are welding institutes), science is also the art of weaving bast shoes (the turnover "he comprehended the science of weaving", in Russian is quite acceptable, but there is no institute for the latest science only because it is not now relevant).

Ancient Greece can be considered the European homeland of science, it was there in the 5th century. BC. science arose as a demonstrative kind of knowledge, different from mythological thinking. "by scientists" ancient Greek thinkers v modern meaning this word made them interested in the very process of thinking, its logic and content.

Ancient science has given us a hitherto unsurpassed example of a complete system of theoretical knowledge. - Euclid's geometry. Besides mathematical theory ancient science created cosmological models(Aristarchus of Samos), formulated valuable ideas for a number of future sciences - physics, biology, etc.

But science has become a full-fledged socio-spiritual education since the 17th century, when the first natural science theory was created by the efforts of G. Galileo and, especially, I. Newton and the first scientific associations of scientists (scientific communities) arose.

Over 2.5 thousand years of its existence, science has become a complex entity with its own structure. Now it covers a huge field of knowledge with 15 thousand disciplines. The number of scientists by profession in the world by the end of the 20th century reached over 5 million people.

In general terms:

Science is a system of people's consciousness and activity aimed at achieving objectively true knowledge and systematizing information available to a person and society.

Science is a form of human knowledge, proven by practice, which is a common product of the development of society and integral part spiritual culture of society; it is a system of concepts about phenomena and laws of reality;

In a private sense:

The science- this is a special sphere of purposeful human activity both to obtain new knowledge (the main goal) and to develop new methods for obtaining it; which includes scientists with their knowledge and abilities, scientific institutions and has as its task the study (on the basis of certain methods of cognition) of the objective laws of nature, society and thought in order to foresee and transform reality in the interests of society. [Burgen M.S. Introduction to the modern exact methodology of science. Structures of knowledge systems. M.: 1994].

On the other hand, science is also a story about what exists in this world and, in principle, can be, but what “should be” in the world in social terms, it does not say - leaving it for choice by the “majority” humanity.

Scientific activity includes the following elements: subject (scientists), object (all states of being of nature and man), goal (goals) - as a complex system expected results of scientific activity, means (methods of thinking, scientific instruments, laboratories), final product (indicator of scientific activity carried out - scientific knowledge), social conditions (organization of scientific activity in society), activity of the subject - without initiative actions of scientists, scientific communities scientific creativity cannot be implemented.

Today, the goals of science are diverse - this is a description, explanation, prediction, interpretation of those processes and phenomena that have become its objects (subjects), as well as the systematization of knowledge and the implementation of the results obtained in management, production and other areas of public life, in improving its quality.

But the main defining goal of scientific activity is to obtain knowledge about reality, i.e. scientific knowledge.

Science in its modern sense is a fundamentally new factor in the history of mankind, which arose in the bowels of the new European civilization in the 16th-17th centuries. It was in the 17th century. something happened that gave reason to talk about scientific revolution- a radical change in the main components of the content structure of science, the promotion of new principles of knowledge, categories and methods.

The social stimulus for the development of science was the growing capitalist production, which required new natural resources and cars. Science was needed as the productive force of society. If ancient Greek science was a speculative study (translated from Greek, “theory” means speculation), little connected with practical problems, then only in the 17th century. science began to be regarded as a means of ensuring the dominance of man over nature. Rene Descartes wrote: “It is possible, instead of speculative philosophy, which only in retrospect conceptually dismembers a pre-given truth, to find one that directly proceeds to being and steps on it, so that we gain knowledge about power ... Then ... realize and apply this knowledge for all purposes for which they are suitable, and thus these knowledges (these new modes of representation) will make us the masters and possessors of nature.(Descartes R. Reasoning about the method. Selected works. M., 1950, p. 305).

Science with its special rationality should be considered as a phenomenon Western culture XVII century: science is a special rational way of knowing the world, based on empirical verification or mathematical proof.

Detailed decision paragraph § 11 on social science workbook for 8th grade students, authors Kotova O.A., Liskova T.E.

1. What are the three meanings currently meant by the word "science"? Write them out.

Science is a field of human activity aimed at developing and systematizing objective knowledge about reality. The basis of this activity is the collection of facts, their constant updating and systematization, critical analysis and, on this basis, the synthesis of new knowledge or generalizations that not only describe observed natural or social phenomena, but also allow building cause-and-effect relationships with the ultimate goal of forecasting. Those theories and hypotheses that are confirmed by facts or experiments are formulated in the form of laws of nature or society.

Science in a broad sense includes all the conditions and components of the relevant activity: the division and cooperation of scientific labor; scientific institutions, experimental and laboratory equipment; research methods; conceptual and categorical apparatus; scientific information system; the total amount of previously accumulated scientific knowledge.

Science - as a process of cognition, research of matter and phenomena. Science is like a public institution, including an army of scientists and research complexes.

Science is like lessons learned from events.

2. What is characteristic of scientific knowledge?

1) objectivity

2) rationalistic validity

3) ordering

4) verifiability

3. Fill in the gaps in the diagram, complete the tasks and answer the questions. What does the term system mean?

System - a set of elements that are in relationships and connections with each other, which forms a certain integrity, unity.

1. natural science example: science news.

2. technoscience, example: mathematical and computer modeling

3. social science, an example of sociology, history, etc.

4. human science, example: biology.

Natural science is a body of knowledge about natural objects, phenomena and processes. Natural science arose before the formation of separate natural sciences. It actively developed in the XVII-XIX centuries. Scientists engaged in natural science or the accumulation of primary knowledge about nature were called naturalists.

Social science is a complex of disciplines, the object of study of which are various aspects of society. As an academic subject, it includes the foundations of the social sciences (philosophy, sociology, social psychology, jurisprudence, economics, political science, etc.) and focuses on the special knowledge necessary for effective solution the most typical problems in the social, economic, political, spiritual spheres of life.

Anthropology is a set of scientific disciplines dealing with the study of man, his origin, development, existence in the natural (natural) and cultural (artificial) environments. Anthropology studies the physical differences between people, historically formed in the course of their development in various natural and geographical environments.

Explain why scientific knowledge is a system.

One of the important distinctive qualities of scientific knowledge is its systematization. It is one of the criteria of scientific character.

But knowledge can be systematized not only in science. A cookbook, a telephone directory, a travel atlas, etc., etc. - everywhere knowledge is classified and systematized. Scientific systematization is specific. It is characterized by the desire for completeness, consistency, clear grounds for systematization. scientific knowledge as a system has a certain structure, the elements of which are facts, laws, theories, pictures of the world. Separate scientific disciplines are interconnected and interdependent.

The desire for validity, evidence of knowledge is important criterion scientific.

Justification of knowledge, bringing it into a single system has always been characteristic of science. The very emergence of science is sometimes associated with the desire for evidence-based knowledge. Apply different ways substantiation of scientific knowledge. To substantiate empirical knowledge, multiple checks are used, an appeal to statistical data, etc. When substantiating theoretical concepts, their consistency, compliance with empirical data, and the ability to describe and predict phenomena are checked.

In science, original, "crazy" ideas are valued. But the orientation towards innovations is combined in it with the desire to eliminate from the results of scientific activity everything subjective, associated with the specifics of the scientist himself. This is one of the differences between science and art. If the artist had not created his creation, then it simply would not exist. But if a scientist, even a great one, had not created a theory, then it would still have been created, because it is necessary step development of science, is intersubjective.

Scientific knowledge is a system of knowledge about the laws of nature, society, and thinking. Scientific knowledge forms the basis of the scientific picture of the world and reflects the laws of its development.

4. What role do funds play in the development of science? mass media?

The mass media popularize the development of science by posting this or that information that does not contain any information of a secret nature. It should be remembered that the mass media are designed for the layman, and convey information in a simplified, accessible form and nothing more. Reason for receiving funding and various grants for further research.

In the past, there were a huge number of popular science magazines, a rare newspaper did without an article on scientific topics. Programs about science enjoyed great popularity on television and radio. Scientists were welcome guests of any book, the main goodies. this attitude contributed to the creation of a romantic halo around science and awakened in young people the desire to become real scientists, to discover new secrets of nature.

Now scientific journals are published in small print runs, special channels are assigned to science on television, far from the most popular among viewers, on the Internet they talk only about pseudo-sensations, which often turn out to be a duck.

Name some modern popular science magazines.

Popular science magazine "Around the World"; Scientific journal "Popular Mechanics"; Popular science magazine "Discovery"; National Geographic.

What popular science TV channels, TV shows do you know?

TV SHOW: What? Where? When?; The cleverest; Mythbusters; Brainstorm

TV CHANNELS: My Planet; Science 2.0; Story; Viasat History; Viasat Explorer; Discovery Channel; National Geographic.

5. Read the text and do the tasks.

Since 1991, the Ig Nobel Prize has been awarded in America, most often translated into Russian as the Anti-Nobel Prize or the Ig Nobel Prize. In most cases, these awards draw attention to scientific papers that contain elements of the funny. For example, the award-winning conclusion that black holes are suitable for the location of hell, the work on whether food that fell to the floor and lay there for less than five seconds would be infected.

Every year, real Nobel laureates - in fake glasses, false noses, fez and similar attributes - come to present their awards to Ig Nobel laureates. The laureates' speech time is limited to 60 seconds. Those who talk longer are stopped by a girl who exclaims: "Please stop, I'm bored!" Ig Nobel laureates are presented with a prize, which can be made, for example, in the form of a foil medal or in the form of clattering jaws on a stand, as well as a certificate certifying the receipt of the prize and signed by three Nobel Prize winners.

The ceremony traditionally ends with the words: "If you did not win this award - and especially if you did - we wish you good luck next year!"

(According to the materials of the Internet encyclopedia)

1) What do you think is the true meaning of this award?

Ig Nobel Prizes - a parody of the prestigious international award - Nobel Prize. Ten Shnobel Prizes are awarded at the beginning of October, that is, at the time when the winners of the real Nobel Prize are named, “for achievements that make you laugh first, and then think.”

And yet no one is trying to say that the research presented by the Ig Nobel Prize has no meaning or value. The organizers don't try to say: "Look what weirdos", they say: "Even the strangest or mundane research is important for science." For example, in 2006, a study won a prize: a group of scientists found that the malarial mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae were equally attracted to the smell of human feet and Limburg cheese. Thanks to this research, special traps were created that helped fight the malaria epidemic in Africa.

Firstly, people are accustomed to look at science superficially - and demand simple and understandable results from it. If something looks serious and brings visible benefit or meaning, then it is treated with respect: for example, the Large Hadron Collider, which is rather difficult to understand, seems to be something significant - after all, with its help, physicists understand the structure of the world. The levitation of a frog with the help of magnets is nonsense. What would be the use here? The scientific process is layered and complex, and even seemingly stupid research can be important. Moreover, science does not have to be practical.

Secondly, the authors of the Ig Nobel Prize remind that trivial research can lead to breakthroughs in human understanding of the world. Even to chicken eggs should be treated carefully. For example, the mathematician Blaise Pascal developed the theory of probability in the 17th century while doing an extremely mundane thing: he was trying to predict the probability of winning in a dice game. Physicist Richard Feynman watched the rotating plate in the university cafeteria - and eventually began to study the rotation of the electron and received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1965. There is nothing banal or ridiculous in nature, and any research can be valuable - even if you just attach a dinosaur tail to a chicken.

2) Suggest why serious scientists, Nobel laureates, take part in the awarding of the prize.

Scientists who receive the Shnobel Prize are quite respected in scientific community. There are several examples when a scientist received both the Nobel Prize and the Shnobel Prize. For example, Andrei Game: in 2010 he received the Nobel Prize for experiments with graphene, and in 2000 - the Ig Nobel Prize for making a frog float in the air using magnets. The same scientists received the Nobel Prize and the Ig Nobel Prize three times at the same time.

The organizers of the Ig Nobel Prize raise an important question: "How to decide what is important and what is not, what deserves attention and what does not - in science and in everything else?" In fact, they reveal several important things about our relationship with science.

6. Explain the meaning of the statements.

1) “Science is a systematic expansion of the field of human ignorance” (R. Gutovsky, a modern Polish writer).

How more people learns, the less he knows. Imagine that you have just discovered the phenomenon of photosynthesis; we already kind of know that it exists, but we don’t know how it all happens.

2) “Science is often confused with knowledge. This is a gross misunderstanding. Science is not only knowledge, but also consciousness, that is, the ability to use our knowledge properly ”(V. O. Klyuchevsky (1841 - 1911), Russian historian).

Knowledge is simply the possession of information. And science is the ability to use this information (as a tool) for certain purposes.

To know is to have knowledge; science is the ability to use it. People have always known that they have internal organs, but only biology, as a science, gives an idea of ​​what it is, how it works and how to treat it.

7. What is the essence of the problem of social responsibility of scientists?

Scientists have a great responsibility in the development new technology, technology of the future. Society develops thanks to them.

Scientists may not know what the practical consequences of this or that discovery will be, but they know too well that “knowledge is power”, and not always good, and therefore they must strive to foresee what this or that will bring to humanity and society. another discovery.

Unlike professional, the social responsibility of scientists is realized in the relationship between science and society. Therefore, it can be characterized as an external (sometimes called social) ethics of science.

At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in real life scientists, the problems of internal and external ethics of science, professional and social responsibility of scientists are closely intertwined.

It is known that fundamental scientific discoveries unpredictable, and the range of their potential applications is extremely wide. By virtue of this alone, we have no right to say that ethical problems are the property of only certain areas of science, that their emergence is something exceptional and transient, something external and accidental for the development of science.

At the same time, it would be wrong to see them as a consequence of the original, but only now revealed "sinfulness" of science in relation to humanity.

The fact that they are becoming an integral and highly visible side of modern scientific activity is, among other things, one of the evidence of the development of science itself as social institution, its ever-increasing and increasingly multifaceted role in the life of society.

Valuable and ethical foundations have always been necessary for scientific activity. However, while the results of this activity only sporadically influenced the life of society, one could be content with the idea that knowledge in general is good, and therefore the pursuit of science in itself, with the aim of increasing knowledge, is an ethically justified activity.