Stages of development of science. Draw qualitative conclusions and compare them with experimental data

In everyday language the word "the science" used in several senses and means:

System of special knowledge; - type of specialized activity - a public institution (a set of specialized institutions in which people either engage in science or prepare for these activities).

Science in all three senses did not always exist, and the experimental and mathematical natural science we are accustomed to did not appear everywhere. The differences in the forms of science that existed in local cultures gave rise to the problem of defining the concept of science in the specialized literature.

Today there are many such definitions. One of them is given in the textbook “Concepts of modern natural science,” ed. Professors V.N. Lavrinenko and V.P. Ratnikov: “Science is a specialized system of ideal, sign-semantic and natural-objective human activity, aimed at achieving the most reliable true knowledge about reality”. In the New Philosophical Encyclopedia, science is defined more simply: “Science is a special type of cognitive activity aimed at developing objective, systematically organized and substantiated knowledge about the world.” Science as a special type of activity differs from other types of activity by five main characteristics: 1) systematization of knowledge; 2) evidence; 3) using special methods (research procedures); 4) cooperation of efforts of professional scientists; 5) institutionalization (from the Latin institutum - “establishment”, “institution”) - in the sense of creating a special system of relations and institutions. Human cognitive activity did not acquire these qualities immediately, which means that science also did not appear in a ready-made form. In the development of knowledge, which culminated in the emergence of science, three stages are distinguished:

The first stage, as I. T. Kasavin believes, begins approximately 1 million years ago, when human ancestors left the tropical corridor and began to settle throughout the Earth. Changing living conditions forced them to adapt to them, creating cultural inventions. Pre-hominids (pre-humans) begin to use fire, produce tools and develop language as a means of communication. Knowledge at this stage was obtained as a by-product of practical activity. So, when making, for example, a stone ax, in addition to the main result - obtaining an ax - there was also a side result in the form of knowledge about the types of stone, its properties, processing methods, etc. At this stage, knowledge was not recognized as something special and was not considered as a value.

The second stage of the evolution of cognitive activity begins with the emergence of Ancient civilizations 5-6 thousand years ago: Egyptian (IV millennium BC), Sumerian, Chinese and Indian (all in the 3rd millennium BC), Babylonian ( II millennium BC). At the second stage, knowledge begins to be recognized as a value. It is collected, recorded and passed on from generation to generation, but knowledge is not yet considered a special type of activity; it is still included in practical activity, very often in cult practice. Priests almost everywhere acted as monopolists of such knowledge.

At the third stage, cognition appears in the form of specialized activities to obtain knowledge, that is, in the form of science. The initial form of science - ancient science - bears little resemblance to science in the modern sense of the word. In Western Europe, ancient science appeared among the Greeks at the end of the 7th century. BC e. together with philosophy, for a long time does not differ from it and develops along with it. Thus, the first mathematician and philosopher of Greece is called the merchant Thales (about 640-562 BC), who was also involved in politics, astronomy, meteorology and invention in the field of hydraulic engineering. Ancient science cannot be considered a complete “science”, because of the five specific features of science that we named, it had only three (evidence, systematicity and research procedures), and even then in its infancy, the rest were still absent.

The Greeks were an extremely inquisitive people. From wherever fate took them, they brought texts containing pre-scientific information. Their comparison revealed discrepancies and raised the question: what is true? For example, the calculations of mathematical quantities (such as the number p) by the priests of Egypt and Babylon led to significantly different results. This was a completely natural consequence, since Eastern pre-science did not contain a system of knowledge, formulations of fundamental laws and principles. It was a conglomerate of disparate provisions and solutions to special problems, without any rational justification for the chosen method of solution. For example, in Egyptian papyri and cuneiform tables from Sumer containing computational problems, they were presented in the form of instructions and only sometimes accompanied by verification, which can be considered a kind of justification. The Greeks put forward new criteria for organizing and obtaining knowledge - systematicity, evidence, the use of reliable cognitive methods - which turned out to be extremely productive. Computational issues became secondary in Greek science.

Initially, in Ancient Greece there was no division into different “sciences”: diverse knowledge existed in a single complex and was called “wisdom”, then around the 6th - 5th centuries. BC e. it came to be called "philosophy". Later, various sciences began to separate from philosophy. They did not separate simultaneously; the process of specialization of knowledge and the acquisition of the status of independent disciplines by sciences lasted for many centuries. Medicine and mathematics were the first to form independent sciences.

The founder of European medicine is considered to be the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC), who systematized the knowledge accumulated not only by ancient Greek, but also Egyptian doctors, and created a medical theory. Theoretical mathematics is formalized by Euclid (330-277 BC) in the work “Elements,” which is still used today in the school geometry course. Then in the 1st half of the 3rd century. BC e. Geography was systematized by the ancient scientist Eratosthenes (about 276-194 BC). A major role in the process of the evolution of science was played by the development by Aristotle (384-322 BC) of logic, proclaimed as a tool of scientific knowledge in any field. Aristotle gave the first definition of science and the scientific method, distinguishing all sciences by their subjects.

The close connection of ancient science with philosophy determined one of its features - speculativeness, underestimation of the practical usefulness of scientific knowledge. Theoretical knowledge was considered valuable in itself, and not for the benefits that could be derived from it. For this reason, philosophy was considered the most valuable, about which Aristotle said: “Other sciences may be more necessary, but there is none better.”

The intrinsic value of science was so obvious to the ancient Greeks that, according to contemporaries, the mathematician Euclid asked him: “Who needs this geometry?” instead of answering, he handed the unfortunate man an obol with a sorrowful face, saying that nothing could be done to help the poor fellow.

In late antiquity (II - V centuries) and the Middle Ages (III - XV centuries), Western science, together with philosophy, turned out to be the “handmaiden of theology”. This significantly narrowed the range of scientific problems that could be considered and were considered by theological scientists. With its appearance in the 1st century. Christianity and the subsequent defeat of ancient science in the fight against it <> Theorists and theologians had the task of substantiating Christian teaching and transferring the skills to substantiate it. The solution to these problems was taken up by the then “science” - scholasticism (in Latin, “school philosophy”).

The scholastics were not interested in the study of nature and mathematics, but they were very interested in logic, which they used in disputes about God.

During the late Middle Ages, called the Renaissance (XIV - XVI centuries), practitioners - artists, architects ("titans of the Renaissance" like Leonardo da Vinci) - again awakened interest in nature and the idea of the need for experimental study of nature arose. Natural science then develops within the framework of natural philosophy - literally, the philosophy of nature, which includes not only rationally based knowledge, but also pseudo-knowledge of occult sciences, such as magic, alchemy, astrology, palmistry, etc. This peculiar combination of rational knowledge and pseudo-knowledge was due to the fact that religion still occupied an important place in ideas about the world; all Renaissance thinkers considered nature to be the work of divine hands and full of supernatural powers. This worldview is called magical-alchemical, not scientific.

Science in the modern sense of the word appears in modern times (XVII - XVIII centuries) and immediately begins to develop very dynamically. First in the 17th century. the foundations of modern natural science are laid: experimental and mathematical methods of the natural sciences are developed (with the efforts of F. Bacon, R. Descartes, J. Locke) and classical mechanics, which underlies classical physics (with the efforts of G. Galileo, I. Newton, R. Descartes, H. Huygens), based on classical mathematics (in particular, Euclidean geometry). During this period, scientific knowledge becomes, in the full sense of the word, evidence-based, systematized, based on special research procedures. Then, finally, a scientific community appears, consisting of professional scientists, which begins to discuss scientific problems, and special institutions (Academies of Sciences) appear that help accelerate the exchange of scientific ideas. Therefore, it was from the 17th century. talk about the emergence of science as a social institution.

The development of Western European science was not only due to the accumulation of knowledge about the world and about itself. Changes in the entire system of existing knowledge occurred periodically - scientific revolutions, when science changed greatly. Therefore in the history of Western European science distinguishes 3 periods and associated types of rationality: 1) the period of classical science (XVII - early XX century); 2) the period of non-classical science (1st half of the twentieth century); 3) the period of post-non-classical science (2nd half of the twentieth century). In each period, the field of objects under study expands (from simple mechanical to complex, self-regulating and self-developing objects) and the foundations of scientific activity and the approaches of scientists to the study of the world—as they say, “types of rationality”—change. (see Appendix No. 1)

Classical science emerges as a result of the scientific revolution of the 17th century. It is still connected by an umbilical cord with philosophy, because mathematics and physics continue to be considered branches of philosophy, and philosophy continues to be considered a science. The philosophical picture of the world is constructed by natural scientists as a scientific mechanistic picture of the world. Such a scientific and philosophical doctrine of the world is called “metaphysical”. It is obtained on the basis classical type of rationality, which develops in classical science. He is characterized by determinism(idea about the cause-and-effect relationship and interdependence of phenomena and processes of reality), understanding the whole as a mechanical sum of parts, when the properties of the whole are determined by the properties of the parts, and each part is studied by one science, and belief in the existence of objective and absolute truth, which is considered reflection, copy of the natural world. The founders of classical science (G. Galileo, I. Kepler, I. Newton, R. Descartes, F. Bacon, etc.) recognized the existence of a creator God. They believed that he creates the world in accordance with the ideas of his mind, which are embodied in objects and phenomena. The task of the scientist is to discover the divine plan and express it in the form of scientific truths. Their idea of the world and knowledge became the reason for the appearance of the expression “scientific discovery” and the understanding of the essence of truth: as soon as a scientist discovers something that exists apart from him and underlies all things, scientific truth is objective and reflects reality. However, as knowledge about nature increased, classical natural science increasingly came into conflict with the idea of immutable laws of nature and the absoluteness of truth.

Then at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. a new revolution is taking place in science, as a result of which the existing metaphysical ideas about the structure, properties, and laws of matter have collapsed (views of atoms as immutable, indivisible particles, of mechanical mass, of space and time, of motion and its forms, etc.) and a new type of science appeared - non-classical sciences. For non-classical type of rationality It is typical to take into account that object of knowledge, and consequently, and knowledge about it depend on the subject, on the means and procedures he uses.

The rapid development of science in the twentieth century again changes the face of science, so they say that science in the second half of the twentieth century becomes different, post-non-classical. For post-non-classical science and post-non-classical type of rationality characteristic: the emergence of interdisciplinary and systemic research, evolutionism, the use of statistical (probabilistic) methods, humanitarization and ecologization of knowledge. These features of modern science should be discussed in more detail.

The emergence of interdisciplinary and systems research is closely related. In classical science, the world was represented as consisting of parts, its functioning was determined by the laws of its constituent parts, and each part was studied by a specific science. In the twentieth century, scientists began to understand that the world cannot be considered as “consisting of parts,” but must be considered as consisting of various wholes that have a certain structure - that is, from systems at various levels. Everything in it is interconnected; it is impossible to single out a part, because a part does not live outside the whole. There are problems that cannot be solved within the framework of old disciplines, but only at the intersection of several disciplines. Awareness of new tasks required new research methods and a new conceptual apparatus. Involving knowledge from different sciences to solve similar problems led to the emergence of interdisciplinary research, the drawing up of comprehensive research programs, which did not exist within the framework of classical science, and the introduction of a systematic approach.

An example of a new synthetic science is ecology: it is built on the basis of knowledge drawn from many fundamental disciplines - physics, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, as well as hydrography, sociology, etc. It considers the environment as a single system, including a number of subsystems, such as living matter, biogenic matter, bioinert matter and inert matter. They are all interconnected and cannot be studied outside of the whole. Each of these subsystems has its own subsystems that exist in relationships with others, for example, in the biosphere - communities of plants, animals, humans as part of the biosphere, etc.

In classical science, systems were also identified and studied (for example, the Solar System), but in a different way. The specificity of the modern systems approach is the emphasis on systems of a different kind than in classical science. If previously the main attention in scientific research was paid to stability, and it was about closed systems (in which conservation laws apply), today scientists are primarily interested in open systems characterized by instability, variability, development, self-organization (they are studied by synergetics).

The increasing role of the evolutionary approach in modern science is associated with the spread of the idea of the evolutionary development of living nature, which arose in the 19th century, to inanimate nature in the 20th century. If in the 19th century the ideas of evolutionism were characteristic of biology and geology, then in the 20th century evolutionary concepts began to take shape in astronomy, astrophysics, chemistry, physics and other sciences. In the modern scientific picture of the world, the Universe is considered as a single evolving system, starting from the moment of its formation (the Big Bang) and ending with sociocultural development.

Statistical methods are increasingly being used. Statistical methods are methods for describing and studying mass phenomena and processes that can be expressed numerically. They do not give one truth, but they give different percentages of probability. Humanitarianization and ecologization of post-non-classical science imply the advancement of new goals for all scientific research: if previously the goal of science was scientific truth, now serving the goals of improving human life and establishing harmony between nature and society are coming to the fore. The humanitarianization of knowledge is demonstrated, in particular, by the adoption in cosmology (the study of space) of the principle of anthropy (from the Greek “anthropos” - “man”), the essence of which is that the properties of our Universe are determined by the presence of a person, an observer, in it. If previously it was believed that man cannot influence the laws of nature, the principle anthropicity recognizes the dependence of the Universe and its laws on man.

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5. Science of the Middle Ages (V- XIVcenturies n. e). The problem of the relationship between faith and knowledge
10. Methods of scientific knowledge
12. Physical picture of the world
22. The subject of chemistry as a science. The evolution of chemical knowledge and the modern chemical picture of the world
23. Reasons for the diversity of chemical substances. Classification and basic chemical properties of inorganic and organic compounds
24. The role of chemistry in modern society. Environmental and social aspects of chemistry
25. Features of biological knowledge and its evolution
26. The essence and definition of life. Conceptual approaches to the study of the phenomenon of life
27. Principles of evolutionism in biological sciences
28. A living organism as a self-organizing and self-developing system
29. Levels of organization of living nature: molecular genetic, ontogenetic, supraorganismal, population-biocenotic, biosphere
30. Modern science about factors, patterns and stages of anthroposociogenesis
31. Man as a unity of biological, social and spiritual
32. Teachings of V.I. Vernadsky on the role of “living matter”. Biosphere and noosphere
33. Basic concepts of the origin of life: creationism, spontaneous generation hypothesis, panspermia hypothesis, hypothesis of A. Oparin and J. Haldane
34. Evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin - A.R. Wallace, the main factors of the evolutionary process
35. The concept of global evolutionism (V.S. Stepin). Concept of coevolution
36. Social aspect of biological cognition. Biotechnologies and their role in the modern world
37. Environmental parameters of social development and global problems of our time
38. The phenomenon of pseudoscience in culture
39. Science and technology
40. Science and education of Belarus in the context of globalization: finding your own path

1. Natural science knowledge in the system of universal human culture

The term "natural science" comes from the combination of the words "nature", that is, nature, and "knowledge". Thus, the literal interpretation of the term is knowledge about nature.

Natural science in the modern sense is a science that is a complex of sciences about nature, taken in their interrelation. At the same time, nature is understood as everything that exists, the whole world in the diversity of its forms.

Culture is a manifestation of the creative principle in the human personality, the disclosure of its capabilities, its social significance, the synthesis of its abilities and functions. That is why at present there is a rapprochement between natural science and the humanitarian areas of human activity, which is not only natural, but also objectively logical, since they are based on a single principle - creativity. The complementarity of natural science and humanities is also manifested in the fact that in real life they are closely intertwined with each other.

Natural science culture in the modern understanding is a human worldview, embodied practically and predicted theoretically, based on the belief that the World around us exists outside of our consciousness. In other words, it is a universal complex of material and spiritual values, created by man on the basis of objectively (whether we like it or not) existing phenomena of Nature. This is science (methods, theories, hypotheses, laws, etc.), industry (factories, transport, communications, etc.), architecture, agriculture, medicine, everyday life, etc., which is included in the concept of material .

2. Features of scientific knowledge, criteria of knowledge

The problem of distinguishing science from other forms of cognitive activity is the problem of demarcation, i.e. this is a search for criteria for distinguishing between scientific knowledge itself and non-(extra) scientific constructions. What are the main features of scientific knowledge? Such criteria include the following:

1. The main task of scientific knowledge is the discovery of objective laws of reality - natural, social (public), laws of knowledge itself, thinking, etc.

2. Based on knowledge of the laws of functioning and development of the objects under study, science predicts the future with the aim of further practical development of reality.

3. The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended primarily by rational means and methods, but, of course, not without the participation of living contemplation and non-rational means.

4. An essential feature of cognition is its systematic nature, i.e. a body of knowledge put in order on the basis of certain theoretical principles, which combine individual knowledge into an integral organic system.

5. Science is characterized by constant methodological reflection. This means that in it the study of objects, the identification of their specificity, properties and connections is always accompanied - to one degree or another - by an awareness of the methods and techniques by which these objects are studied.

6. Scientific knowledge is characterized by strict evidence, validity of the results obtained, and reliability of the conclusions. Knowledge for science is demonstrative knowledge.

7. Scientific knowledge is a complex, contradictory process of production and reproduction of new knowledge, forming an integral and developing system of concepts, theories, hypotheses, laws and other ideal forms, enshrined in language - natural or (more typically) artificial: mathematical symbolism, chemical formulas and so on.

8. Knowledge that claims to be scientific must allow the fundamental possibility of empirical verification.

9. In the process of scientific knowledge, such specific material means as instruments, instruments, and other so-called “scientific equipment” are used, often very complex and expensive.

10. The subject of scientific activity has specific characteristics - an individual researcher, a scientific community, a “collective subject”.

In modern philosophy of science, other criteria of scientific character are also called. This, in particular, is the criterion of logical consistency, the principles of simplicity, beauty, heuristics, coherence and some others. At the same time, it is noted that the philosophy of science rejects the existence of definitive criteria for scientific character.

3. Main stages of the development of science

Stage 1 - ancient Greece - the emergence of science in society with the proclamation of geometry as the science of measuring the earth.

The object of study is the megaworld (including the universe in all its diversity).

a) they worked not with real objects, not with an empirical object, but with mathematical models - abstractions.

b) An axiom was derived from all concepts and, based on them, new concepts were derived with the help of logical justification.

Ideals and norms of science: knowledge is the value of knowledge. The method of cognition is observation.

Scientific picture of the world: is integrative in nature, based on the relationship between the micro and macrocosmos.

science knowledge scientific theory

Philosophy foundations of science: F. - science of sciences. The style of thinking is intuitively dialectical. Anthropocosmism - man is an organic part of the world cosmic process. Ch. is the measure of all things.

Stage 2 - Medieval European science - science turned into the handmaiden of theology. The confrontation between nominalists (singular things) and realists (universal things).

The object of study is the macrocosm (Earth and near space).

Ideals and norms of science: Knowledge is power. An inductively empirical approach. Mechanism. Contrasting object and subject.

Scientific picture of the world: Newtonian classic. Mechanics; heliocentrism; divine origin the world and its objects; The world is a complex operating mechanism.

Philosophy foundations of science: Mechanistic determinism. Thinking style - mechanistic metaphysical (denial of internal contradiction)

· scientific knowledge is oriented towards theology

· focused on specific servicing of the interests of a limited number

· scientific schools emerge, the priority of empirical knowledge in the study of the surrounding reality is proclaimed (the division of sciences is underway).

Stage 3: New European classical science (15-16 centuries). The object of research is the microworld. A collection of elementary particles. The relationship between the empirical and rational levels of knowledge.

Ideals and norms of science: the principle of dependence of the object on the subject. Combination of theoretical and practical directions.

Scientific picture of the world: formation of private scientific pictures of the world (chemical, physical...)

Philosophy foundations of science: dialectics - the style of natural scientific thinking.

· Culture is gradually freeing itself from the domination of the church.

· first attempts to remove scholasticism and dogmatism

· intensive economic development

· avalanche-like interest in scientific knowledge.

Features of the period:

scientific thought begins to focus on obtaining objectively true knowledge with an emphasis on practical usefulness

· an attempt to analyze and synthesize the rational grains of pre-science

· experimental knowledge begins to predominate

· science is being formed as a social institution (universities, scientific books)

· technical and social sciences and humanities begin to stand out Auguste Comte

Stage 4: 20th century - non-classical science is gaining strength. The object of research is the micro-, macro- and megaworld. The relationship between empirical, rational and intuitive knowledge.

Ideals and norms of science: axiologization of science. Increasing the degree of “fundamentalization” of applied sciences.

Scientific picture of the world: formation of a general scientific picture of the world. The predominance of the idea of global evolutionism (development is an attribute inherent in all forms of objective reality). The transition from anthropocentrism to biospherecentrism (man, biosphere, space - in interconnection and unity).

Philosophy foundations of science: synergetic style of thinking (integrativity, nonlinearity, bifurcation)

Stage 5: post-non-classical science - the modern stage of development of scientific knowledge.

Another division into periods is possible:

· pre-classical (early antiquity, search for absolute truth, observation and reflection, method of analogies)

· classical (XVI-XVII centuries, planning of experiments appears, the principle of determinism is introduced, the importance of science increases)

· non-classical (end of the 19th century, the emergence of powerful scientific theories, for example, the theory of relativity, the search for relative truth, it becomes clear that the principle of determinism is not always applicable, and the experimenter influences the search for experiment)

· post-non-classical (end of the 20th century, synergetics appears, the subject field of knowledge expands, science goes beyond its boundaries and penetrates into other areas, search for the goals of science).

4. Social prerequisites and features of ancient science

The term antiquity is used to refer to everything that was associated with Greco-Roman antiquity, from Homeric Greece to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, arose during the Renaissance. At the same time, the concepts of “ancient history”, “ancient culture”, “ancient art”, “ancient city”, etc. appeared.

I.D. Rozhansky identifies 4 main features of any science, and for antiquity these are also signs of its difference from the non-science of previous history.

1. Science - as a type of activity to acquire new knowledge. To carry out such activities, certain conditions are necessary: a special category of people; means for its implementation and sufficiently developed methods of recording knowledge.

2. The intrinsic value of science, its theoretical nature, the desire for knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself.

3. The rational nature of science, which is primarily expressed in the evidence of its provisions and the presence of special methods for acquiring and testing knowledge.

4. Systematicity (consistency) of scientific knowledge, both in the subject field and in phases: from hypothesis to grounded theory.

Periodization

The first period is the period of early Greek science, which the ancient authors called the science of “nature.” This “science” was an undifferentiated, speculative discipline, the main problem of which was the problem of the origin and structure of the world, considered as a single whole. Until the end of the 5th century. BC. "science" was inseparable from philosophy. The highest point of development and, at the same time, the final stage of the science of “nature” was the comprehensive scientific and philosophical system of Aristotle.

The second period is Hellenistic sciences. This is the period of differentiation of sciences. The process of disciplinary fragmentation of the “unified science” began in the 5th century. BC, when, simultaneously with the development of the method of deduction, the isolation of mathematics occurred.

The third period is the period of gradual decline of ancient science. Although the works of Ptolemy, Diophenes, Galen and others date back to this time, in the first centuries of our era there was an increase in regressive trends associated with the growth of irrationalism, the emergence of occult disciplines, and the revival of attempts at the syncretistic unification of science and philosophy.

5. Science of the Middle Ages (V-XIV centuries AD). The problem of the relationship between faith and knowledge

In the Middle Ages, the power of the church in the state was firmly established in Western Europe. This period is usually called the dominance of the church over science. This understanding is not adequate. Christianity, aimed at the spiritual healing of every person, does not reject physical and medical healing. The Church of the Middle Ages in Western and Eastern Europe sought to convey the spiritual content of the Bible to the broad masses and peoples. For this purpose it is necessary to teach people to read the Bible. The Middle Ages contributed to the development of education and medicine. In medicine during this period, the Arab scientist and philosopher Avicenna was considered an authority. His “Medical Canon” consists of five books that contain medical information about a person. In physics, astronomy, cosmology, philosophy, logic and other sciences, the Middle Ages recognized the authority of Aristotle. His teaching was based on the concept of purpose as one of the reasons for development and change in the real world.

During the Middle Ages, the question of the relationship between the truths of faith and the truths of reason was acutely raised. A solution to this issue was proposed by the Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas. He believed that science and philosophy derive their truths from experience and reason, while religion draws them from the Holy Scriptures.

The problem of the relationship between faith and reason in medieval culture and science.

The main type of thinking was religious (dogmatic), based on experiences, rather than phenomena of the external world. However, the irreversible process of growth of knowledge, new inventions, and geographical discoveries constantly improved the role of reason in knowledge, which initiated an accelerated transition to the rational development of the world, as a result, irrational knowledge was relegated to the background. The rationalization of medieval knowledge could be traced by changes in some of the attitudes of medieval thinkers. In the 13th century another outstanding thinker, Thomas Aquinas, substantiated a theory in which both rational and irrational methods of exploring the world were used. (Inorganic world, plant world, animal world - external, target and active forms) - the world of pure forms created by God.

1) Both faith and reason cognize the same thing (object).

2) Both human abilities are not in a relationship of mutual exclusion, but also in a relationship of complementarity.

3) Both of these human abilities were created by God and therefore each of these abilities has the right to exist and be used (modern religious figures also adhere to this orientation).

But still, Thomas Aquinas as a thinker gave priority to religious knowledge.

The concept of the possibility of combining rational and irrational knowledge is still recognized by the church (Catholic, Orthodox), which, in turn, creates the prerequisites for the interaction of science and religion.

Due to the dogmatic type of thinking, the main achievements were the Works on alchemy and astrology, which stand on the line between rational and irrational (mystical) knowledge. Despite this nature of these sources, they contain many fairly subtle experimental observations of chemical reactions and astrological phenomena (the movement of celestial bodies), albeit with religious overtones. In addition, during this period the wheel was invented, and as a result the windmill and water wheel.

6. The formation of classical science and its main features

Chronologically, the formation of classical natural science begins approximately in the 16th-17th centuries. and ends at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. This period can be divided into 2 stages:

1) the stage of mechanistic natural science (until the 30s of the 19th century);

2) the stage of the emergence and formation of evolutionary ideas (until the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century).

The primary contribution to the development of the ideas of classical science was made by G. Galileo and I. Newton. G. Galileo studied mechanics, physics and astronomy and went down in history as the creator of the experimental method.I. Newton summarizes the scientific achievements of the Renaissance and Modern times. His main work is called “Athematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.” This work is called the Bible of the new science.

Based on the understanding of the laws of mechanics, a mechanical scientific picture of the world was formed, which went down in history as the Newtonian picture of the world.

I. Newton's ideas had a positive impact on the natural sciences. Thanks to these ideas, physics, chemistry and biology developed rapidly. However, later, at the end of the 19th century, new scientific facts required a change in Newton’s picture of the world.

Main features of classical science

1. is naturalism - recognition of the objectivity of the existence of nature, governed by natural, objective laws, that is, the only true reality is the material world, existing outside and independently of human consciousness. In this case, materiality is understood only as materiality.

2. mechanistic - the representation of the world as a machine, a gigantic mechanism that clearly functions on the basis of the eternal and unchanging laws of mechanics.

3. Consideration of nature as from century to century an unchanging, always identical to itself, non-developing whole shaped the metaphysics of classical science.

4. The mechanistic and metaphysical nature of classical science was clearly manifested not only in physics, but also in chemistry and biology.

7. Principles and main problems of postclassical science.

Post-non-classical science was formed in the 70s of the twentieth century. This stage in the development of science is associated with the process of transition of modern society to the stage of post-industrial society and the globalization of socio-economic life.

Chronologically, the formation of this stage of science coincided with the following scientific achievements:

a) Revolution in storing and obtaining knowledge (computerization of science);

b) Development of gene technologies, as a result of which genes that do not exist in nature are constructed.

For postclassical science - the main characteristics:

1) recognition of the subjectivity of knowledge, i.e. the impact of the cognizing subject on the object being studied;

2) accounting for non-rational balance;

3) recognition of the dominance of probabilistic-statistical laws;

4) the object of study, in addition to micro and macro, also nano and mega worlds;

5) an important means of cognition - modeling;

6) blurring the line between the natural and human sciences (for example, when solving environmental problems, drug addiction problems);

7) development of general scientific disciplines (systems theory, synergetics), integration of humanities and natural sciences.

8. Science at the present stage of social development

In the 20th century, natural science developed at an incredibly fast pace, which was determined by the needs of practice. Industry demanded new technologies based on natural science knowledge.

The world wars, as well as the economic and military confrontation between two military-political blocs, led by the USSR and the USA, became a powerful stimulus for the development of science and technology. Developed industrial countries began to allocate large funds for the development of the education system, training and reproduction of scientific personnel. The network of research institutions funded by both the state and private companies has expanded significantly.

If at the end of the 19th century scientific discoveries were made in the small laboratory of a professor or in the workshop of an inventor, then in the 20-30s of the 20th century the era of industrial science began, large research centers spending hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. From the end of the 19th century, science began to pay for itself. Capital invested in scientific developments begins to bring profit.

In the 20th century, science ceased to be a private matter, as it was in the 18th-19th centuries, when it was developed by inquisitive self-taught people: lawyers, priests, doctors, artisans, etc. Science is becoming a profession for a huge number of people. Modern research shows that the development of science can be expressed by an exponential law. The volume of scientific activity doubles every 10-15 years. This is manifested in the accelerating growth of the number of scientific discoveries and the volume of scientific information, as well as the number of people employed in science. The result is phenomenal achievements in all areas of science and, above all, in natural science, which the bygone 20th century was so rich in.

In the 20th century, science changed not only the sphere of production, but also the way of life of people. Radio, television, tape recorders, computers are becoming everyday things, as well as clothes made of synthetic fabrics, washing powders, medicines, etc.

9. Scientific theory and its structure

Science includes both the activity of obtaining new knowledge and its result - the sum of knowledge that underlies the scientific picture of the world.

Scientific theory is knowledge based on a certain scientific form and containing methods of explanation and prediction of a certain subject area. A form of reliable scientific knowledge about a certain set of objects, representing an integral system of statements and evidence. This is a reflection of the basic laws of nature. Science is characterized by:

dialectical, i.e. reflecting development and universal connection, a combination of processes;

differentiation and integration;

development of fundamental and applied research.

In the development of science, extensive (associated with an increase in the volume of research, its expansion) and revolutionary periods alternate - entire scientific revolutions, leading to changes in the structure of science and the principles of its knowledge, categories, methods and forms of its organization.

The structure of natural science theory. To build a natural science theory it is necessary:

1. Have a certain range (bank) of experimental data.

2. Select the difference between experimental data and experimental patterns and create models and theories based on them.

3. Provide feedback between the model and experimental data.

4. Draw qualitative conclusions and compare them with experimental data.

5. Adjust the model.

6. Be sure to translate the model into the language of mathematics.

7. Draw an analogy with any theory, identify similar connections found between experimental patterns.

8. Determine the physical meaning of the introduced concepts. All physical theories are model in nature and require proof of the existence theorem.

10. Methods of scientific knowledge

Scientific knowledge is objectively true knowledge about nature, society and man, obtained as a result of scientific research activities and, as a rule, tested (proven) by practice.

A method is a set of actions designed to help achieve the desired result.

Methods of scientific knowledge are usually divided according to the breadth of applicability in the process of scientific research. There are general, general scientific and specific scientific methods.

There are two universal methods in the history of knowledge: dialectical and metaphysical. Metaphysical method since the middle of the 19th century. began to be increasingly replaced by the dialectical.

General scientific methods are used in a variety of fields of science. The classification of general scientific methods is closely related to the concept of levels of scientific knowledge.

There are two levels of scientific knowledge: empirical and theoretical. The main methods of the empirical level of scientific knowledge are observation, measurement and experiment. Theoretical methods include: abstraction, formalization, induction and deduction.

1. General scientific methods of empirical knowledge

Observation is a sensory (visual) reflection of objects and phenomena of the external world.

Measurement is a cognitive operation that provides a numerical expression of measured quantities.

An experiment is a scientifically conducted experience with the help of which an object is either reproduced artificially or placed in precisely taken into account conditions, which makes it possible to study their influence on the object in its pure form

2. General scientific methods of theoretical knowledge

Abstraction is a method of cognition in which mental distraction occurs and discards those objects, properties and relationships that make it difficult to consider the object of study in the “pure” form necessary at this stage of study

Formalization is understood as a special approach in scientific knowledge, which consists in the use of special symbols, which allows one to escape from the study of real objects, from the content of the theoretical provisions describing them, and to operate instead with a certain set of symbols (signs)

Induction is a process of logical inference based on the transition from a particular situation to a general one.

Deduction is a method of thinking in which a particular situation is logically deduced from the general, a conclusion according to the rules of logic.

3. General scientific methods applied at the empirical and theoretical level of knowledge

Analysis is the actual or mental division of an integral object into its component parts (sides, characteristics, properties, relationships or connections) with the aim of its comprehensive study.

Synthesis is the actual or mental reunification of a whole from parts, elements, sides and connections identified through analysis.

Analogy is a method of cognition, which is an inference during which, based on the similarity of objects in some properties and connections, a conclusion is drawn about their similarity in other properties and connections.

Modeling is the study of an object by creating and studying its model (copy), replacing the original, from certain aspects of interest to the researcher

11. Structural levels of organization of matter

In modern science, the basis for ideas about the structure of the material world is a systems approach, according to which any object of the material world, be it an atom, planet, organism or galaxy, can be considered as a complex formation, including component parts organized into integrity. To denote the integrity of objects in science, the concept of a system was developed.

A system is a collection of elements and connections between them.

In the natural sciences, two large classes of material systems are distinguished: systems of inanimate nature and systems of living nature. In inanimate nature, the structural levels of organization of matter are:

· vacuum;

· fields and elementary particles;

· atoms;

· molecules;

· macroscopic bodies;

· planets and planetary systems;

· stars and star systems;

· galaxies;

· metagalaxy (observable part of the Universe);

· Universe.

In living nature, there are two most important structural levels of the organization of matter - biological and social. The biological level includes:

· precellular level (proteins and nucleic acids);

· cell as a “building block” of living things and single-celled organisms;

· multicellular organism, its organs and tissues;

· population - a collection of individuals of the same species occupying a certain territory, freely interbreeding and partially or completely isolated from other groups of their species;

· biocenosis - a set of populations in which the waste products of some are the conditions for the existence of other organisms inhabiting a certain area of land or water;

· biosphere - the living matter of the planet (the totality of all living organisms, including humans).

At a certain stage in the development of life on Earth, intelligence arose, thanks to which the social structural level of matter appeared. At this level, the following are distinguished: individual, family, collective, social group, class and nation, state, civilization, humanity as a whole.

According to another criterion - the scale of representation - in natural science there are three main structural levels of matter:

· microworld - the world of extremely small, not directly observable micro-objects, the spatial dimension of which is calculated from 10-8 to 10-16 cm, and the lifetime is from infinity to 10-24 seconds;

· macroworld - the world of macroobjects commensurate with a person and his experience. Spatial quantities of macro-objects are expressed in millimeters, centimeters and kilometers (10-6-107 cm), and time - in seconds, minutes, hours, years, centuries;

· megaworld - a world of enormous cosmic scales and speeds, distances in which are measured in astronomical units, light years and parsecs (up to 1028 cm), and the lifetime of space objects is measured in millions and billions of years.

12. Physical picture of the world

The history of science shows that natural science, which arose during the scientific revolution of the 16th - 17th centuries, was associated for a long time with the development of physics. It is physics that has been and remains today the most developed and systematized natural science. Therefore, when the worldview of the European civilization of modern times arose, a classical picture of the world took shape, it was natural to turn to physics, its concepts and arguments, which largely determined this picture. The degree of development of physics was so great that it could create its own physical picture of the world, in contrast to other natural sciences, which only in the 20th century were able to set themselves this task (creating a chemical and biological picture of the world).

The concept of “physical picture of the world” has been used for a long time, but only recently has it begun to be considered not only as a result of the development of physical knowledge, but also as a special independent type of knowledge. The physical picture of the world, on the one hand, generalizes all previously acquired knowledge about nature, and on the other, introduces new philosophical ideas and the concepts, principles and hypotheses determined by them into physics.

The development of physics itself is directly related to the physical picture of the world. With a constant increase in the amount of experimental data, the picture of the world remains relatively unchanged for a very long time.

The key concept in the physical picture of the world is the concept of “matter”, which addresses the most important problems of physical science. Therefore, a change in the physical picture of the world is associated with a change in ideas about matter. This has happened twice in the history of physics. First, a transition was made from atomistic, corpuscular concepts of matter to field - continual ones. Then, in the 20th century, continuum concepts were replaced by modern quantum ones. Therefore, we can talk about three successively replacing each other physical pictures of the world.

13. Possibilities for integrating natural science and social and humanitarian knowledge

Awareness of the need to consolidate sciences in search of the unity of the world is associated with the idea of integrating multidisciplinary knowledge and different ways of knowing and mastering the surrounding reality.

The deepening of integrative trends contributes to the emergence of new directions in science. The interaction of physics with other branches of knowledge gave rise to biophysics, chemical physics, astrophysics, geophysics and others. Thanks to the close cooperation of chemistry with other sciences, such areas as electrochemistry, biochemistry, geochemistry, agrochemistry and others emerged. Technical and applied sciences - metallurgy, glass making, chemical technology - are based on the laws of chemistry. The combination of geology and chemistry gives birth to a new science - geochemistry. The synthesis of astronomy, physics and technology contributed to the development of astronautics, the interaction of which with biology made it possible to develop such areas of science as space biology and space medicine. The interaction of biology with physics and technology contributed to the development of bionics.

Mathematics plays a special role in combining multidisciplinary knowledge. The joint efforts of mathematics with other natural sciences made it possible to create modern information systems, mathematical linguistics and the theory of machine translation, unravel the mechanisms of heredity, establish the structure of DNA and RNA molecules, develop the chromosome theory, genetic engineering and many others.

In modern science, integration is understood not simply as summation, addition, rapprochement or addition, but as their deep interaction on the basis of general principles of knowledge of the surrounding world, common invariants that make it possible to combine diverse knowledge into a single, holistic, harmonious system. However, if in the natural sciences general logical foundations, general structures, characteristics, general qualities or generalized concepts used by different areas of natural science can act as invariants, then the search for grounds for the integration of natural science and humanities knowledge causes serious difficulties, especially in the area where they come into contact with non-scientific knowledge. At the same time, a holistic image of the world, its generalized picture in the ideas of an individual, his worldview and his activities are formed on the basis of a synthesis of both scientific and non-scientific knowledge, reflecting different aspects of knowledge of the world. The search for the foundations of this synthesis for modern philosophy and methodology of science represents an extremely serious problem, the theoretical solution of which has not yet been found.

But there is another equally, and perhaps more important, aspect of the need to integrate natural science and humanities knowledge - this is overcoming technical centrism and the humanitarization of natural science and technical knowledge. Having created truly grandiose science and technology, society was unable, and perhaps did not want, to develop a moral basis that would limit the possibilities of using the achievements of science and technology to the detriment of humanity.

14. Features of the physical description of reality (solid body, particle, vacuum, medium, field, wind, wave)

A solid is one of the four states of aggregation of matter, which differs from other states of aggregation (liquids, gases, plasma) in the stability of its shape and the nature of the thermal motion of atoms that perform small oscillations around equilibrium positions.

A physical field is a special type of matter that ensures the physical interaction of material objects and their systems. Researchers include physical fields: electromagnetic and gravitational fields, the field of nuclear forces, wave fields corresponding to various particles. The source of physical fields are particles.

The physical vacuum is the lowest energy state of the quantum field. This term was introduced into quantum field theory to explain certain processes. The average number of particles - field quanta - in a vacuum is zero, but particles in intermediate states that exist for a short time can be born in it.

Wind is an atmospheric phenomenon that is the horizontal movement of air from an area with a high atmospheric phenomenon to an area with a low one; in a broader sense - generally the flow of any gas

Wave is a change in the state of a medium or physical field, propagating or oscillating in space and time or in phase space. In other words, “...waves or waves are the spatial alternation of maxima and minima of any physical quantity that changes over time - for example, the density of a substance, electric field strength, temperature.”

The environment is a set of external data that enter into subject-object relationships with the object of study.

Elementary particles, in the precise meaning of the term, are the primary, further indecomposable particles of which all matter is supposed to consist.

15. Modern scientific ideas about matter. Properties of the material world

The word "matter" has many meanings. In everyday life it is used to designate a particular fabric. Sometimes they give an ironic meaning when talking about “high matter”. A person is surrounded by many different things and processes: animals and plants, machines and tools, chemical compounds, works of art, natural phenomena, etc. Modern astronomy reports that the visible Universe contains hundreds of thousands of stars, stellar nebulae and other celestial bodies. All objects and phenomena, despite their diversity, have a common feature: they all exist outside of human consciousness and independently of him, i.e. are material. People are discovering more and more new properties of natural bodies and processes, producing an infinite number of things that do not exist in nature, therefore, matter, as noted above, is inexhaustible.

Among the properties of material objects, we can distinguish general, universal ones, called attributes. The universal attributes of matter include: connection, interaction, movement, space and time, structure, systemic organization, eternity in time, structural and spatial infinity, the ability for self-development, reflection, the unity of discontinuity and continuity, which was mentioned above.

Matter and its attributes are uncreated and indestructible, exist forever and are infinitely varied in the form of their manifestations. All phenomena in the world are caused by natural material connections and interactions, causal relationships and laws of nature. In this sense, there is nothing supernatural or opposed to matter in the world. The human psyche and consciousness are also determined by material processes in the human brain and are the highest form of reflection of the external world.

16. Movement and the modern concept of space-time

When they talk about the movement of an object, they mean one or another material process of its interaction with other bodies. When this or that property is called, it means the ability of a given object to enter into certain interaction processes. If a material object falls into some other communication system, then it may acquire a property, the ability to react in a specific way to new external influences. The manifestation of specific properties of an object is possible only in specific interactions into which the object can enter.

For ordinary everyday ideas, space and time are something familiar, known, obvious. But if you think about it, complex questions arise that have been intensely discussed in all periods of the development of natural science.

We can say that each object is characterized by a peculiar “packing” of its constituent elements, their location relative to each other, and this makes any objects extended. In addition, each object occupies a certain place among other objects and borders on them. All these extremely general properties that express the structural organization of the material world act as the first, most general characteristics of space.

Space and time are among the most important forms of existence of matter or its attributes, without which the existence of matter is impossible. There is no matter in the world that does not have spatiotemporal properties, just as space and time themselves do not exist outside of matter or independently of it.

Space is a form of existence of matter, characterizing its extension, structure, coexistence and interaction of elements in all material systems. Space expresses the coexistence, extent and structure of any interacting objects.

Time characterizes the sequence of changes in states and the duration of existence of any objects and processes, the internal connection of changing and remaining states.

17. The concept of scientific revolution. Types of scientific revolution and their role in the development of scientific knowledge

In natural science, there are 4 global scientific revolutions that contributed to a change in historical types of scientific rationality.

The first revolution (XVII-XVIII) marked the formation of classical natural science. The first physical picture of the world was formed, representing a mechanical picture of nature.

second global revolution (late 18th - early 19th centuries) By the middle of the 19th century. - the emergence of disciplinary-organized science. There is a development of specialized branches of natural science research. At this time, the mechanical picture of the world loses its general scientific status. In biology, chemistry and other fields of knowledge, specific pictures of reality are formed that are irreducible to the mechanical.

The first and second global revolutions in natural science participated in the design and development of the classical type of scientific rationality, with the norms and ideals inherent in this particular type.

The third global revolution in science (covers the period from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century) marked the transition to a non-classical type of scientific rationality. Based on the achievements of non-classical natural science, a general scientific picture of nature as a complex dynamic integrity, a self-organizing system was formed. In non-classical natural science, the fact of the dependence of science on social circumstances and the value and target orientations of the subject of science becomes obvious.

In this era, a kind of chain reaction of revolutionary changes occurs in various fields of knowledge:

· In physics, this was expressed in the discovery of the divisibility of the atom, the formation of relativistic and quantum theories.

· In cosmology, models of a non-stationary evolving Universe were formed.

· Quantum chemistry arose in chemistry, essentially erasing the line between physics and chemistry.

· One of the main events in biology was the formation of genetics.

· New scientific directions have emerged, such as cybernetics and systems theory.

In the process of all these revolutionary transformations, the ideals and norms of a new, non-classical science were formed. They were characterized by an understanding of the relative truth of theories and the picture of nature developed at one or another stage in the development of natural science.

The fourth global scientific revolution (the end of the twentieth century) manifested itself in a radical restructuring of all the foundations of science.

The main manifestations of the fourth global scientific revolution: science is becoming a social force, interdisciplinary problems, ideas of synergetics, self-developing systems (for example, ecosystems) are becoming objects of science, truth and argumentation in science are being revised. The fourth global revolution led to the formation of post-non-classical (modern) science. Which is characterized by the inclusion of human-dimensional research, value standards and the convergence of natural science and the humanities.

18. The concept of entropy as a measure of irreversibility or chaos. Law of increasing entropy

Entropy, translated from Greek, means transformation. This concept was first introduced in thermodynamics to determine the measure of energy dissipation. The role of entropy as a measure of chaos became obvious after the establishment of the connection between mechanical and thermal phenomena, the discovery of the principle of conservation of energy and the concept of irreversibility.

Entropy characterizes the probability with which a particular state is established and is a measure of chaos or irreversibility. It is a measure of disorder in systems of atoms, electrons, photons and other particles. The more order, the less entropy. Degradation of energy quality means an increase in disorder in the arrangement of atoms and in the nature of the electromagnetic field within the system. That is, all processes “left to chance” always proceed in such a way that their disorder increases.

The first law of thermodynamics is the law of conservation of energy as applied to thermal processes. This law states the impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine of the first kind, which would produce work without supplying energy.

This law states that thermal energy supplied to a closed system is spent to increase its internal energy and work done against external forces.

The second law of thermodynamics can be formulated as a law according to which the entropy of a thermally insulated system will increase during irreversible processes or remain constant if the processes are reversible. This provision applies only to isolated systems.

The second law of thermodynamics says that in a closed system, in the absence of any processes, a temperature difference cannot arise on its own, i.e. heat cannot spontaneously transfer from colder to hotter parts.

19. Development of ideas about elementary particles and their properties

In accordance with the achievements of quantum physics, the fundamental concept of modern atomism is the concept of an elementary particle, but they have properties that had nothing in common with the atomism of antiquity.

The development of microworld physics has shown the inexhaustibility of the properties of elementary particles and their interactions. All particles with sufficiently high energy are capable of interconversion, but subject to a number of conservation laws. The number of known elementary particles is constantly growing and already exceeds 300 varieties, including unstable resonant states. The most important property of a particle is its rest mass. Based on this property, particles are divided into 4 groups:

1. Light particles - leptons (photon, electron, positron). Photons have no rest mass.

2. Particles of average mass - mesons (mu-meson, pi-meson).

3. Heavy particles - baryons. These include nucleons - components of the nucleus: protons and neutrons. The proton is the lightest baryon.

4. Superheavy - hyperons. There are few resistant varieties:

? photons (quanta of electromagnetic radiation);

? gravitons (hypothetical quanta of the gravitational field);

? electrons;

? positrons (antiparticles of electrons);

? protons and antiprotons;

? neutrons;

? neutrinos are the most mysterious of all elementary particles.

Neutrino was discovered in 1956, while its name was given in 1933 by E. Fermi, and the hypothesis about its existence was expressed in 1930 by the Swiss physicist W. Pauli. Neutrinos play a large role in cosmic processes in the entire evolution of matter in the Universe. Their lifespan is almost endless. According to scientists, neutrinos carry away a significant portion of the energy emitted by stars. Our Sun loses approximately 7% of its energy due to neutrino radiation; approximately 300 million neutrinos fall per second on every square centimeter of the Earth perpendicular to the sun's rays. However, they are not registered by our senses and instruments due to their weak interaction with matter. The further fate of this radiation is unknown, but, obviously, the neutrino must re-enter the cycle of matter in nature. The speed of neutrino propagation is equal to the speed of light in vacuum.

A feature of elementary particles is that most of them can arise in collisions with other particles of sufficiently high energy: a high-energy proton turns into a neutron with the emission of a pi-meson. In this case, elementary particles decay into others: a neutron into an electron, a proton and an antineutrino, and a neutral pi-meson into two photons. Pi mesons are thus nuclear field quanta that unite nucleons and nuclei.

As science develops, new properties of elementary particles are being discovered. The mutual dependence of the properties of particles indicates their complex nature, the presence of multifaceted connections and relationships. Depending on the specifics of the elementary particle, one or another type of interaction may appear: strong, electromagnetic, weak. Strong interaction is caused by nuclear forces; it ensures the stability of atomic nuclei. Electromagnetic interactions, weak interactions - in the processes of decay of neutrons and radioactive nuclei and assume the participation of neutrinos in these interactions. Weak interactions are 1010-1012 times weaker than strong ones. This type of interaction is currently quite well studied.

Most elementary particles have antiparticles, distinguished by opposite signs of electric charges and magnetic moments: antiprotons, antineutrons, etc. Antiparticles can be used to form stable atomic nuclei and antimatter, which obeys the same laws of motion as ordinary matter. Antimatter has not been found in large quantities in space, so the existence of an “anti-world”, i.e. galaxies made of antimatter is problematic.

Thus, with each new discovery, the structure of the microworld is refined and turns out to be more and more complex. The deeper we go into it, the more new properties science discovers.

20. Modern cosmology: the physical structure of the Universe

Modern cosmology is an astrophysical theory of the structure and dynamics of change in the Metagalaxy, which includes a certain understanding of the properties of the entire Universe. Cosmology is based on astronomical observations of the Galaxy and other stellar systems, general relativity, physics of microprocesses and high energy densities, relativistic thermodynamics and a number of other new physical theories.

This definition of cosmology takes only the Metagalaxy as the subject of this science. This is due to the fact that all the data that modern science has relates only to the final system - the Metagalaxy, and scientists are not sure that by simply extrapolating the properties of this Metagalaxy to the entire Universe, true results will be obtained. At the same time, of course, judgments about the properties of the entire Universe are a necessary component of cosmology. Cosmology today is a fundamental science. And more than any other fundamental science, it is associated with various philosophical concepts that differently understand the structure of the world.

21. Modern scientific ideas about the Earth. Anthropic principle

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Stages of science development

Note 1

Science, in the course of its development, went through the following stages: ancient science, medieval science, modern, classical science and modern science.

Stage 1. Science in ancient times is characterized by syncretism and undivided knowledge. Knowledge most often became skill. In addition, the beginnings of science of this period were based on religious, mythological, and magical views.

A real breakthrough for the science of antiquity was the discoveries in geometry made in Ancient Egypt, Babylon and Ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks began to think about the world in abstract categories and were able to make theoretical generalizations of what they observed. This is evidenced by the reasoning of ancient Greek philosophers about the principles of the world and nature.

The subject of scientific discussion at the stages of its inception was the universe as a whole. Man was understood as an organic part of this integrity.

Stage 2. The Christian stage of the development of science is associated with a rethinking of ancient scientific achievements. Medieval science did not reject the ancient heritage, but incorporated it in its own way. Theology came to the forefront among sciences in the era of Christianity.

The development and level of medieval science was influenced by the emergence of universities.

The subject of medieval science was to clarify the nature of God, the world as His creation and the relationship between God and man.

Stage 3. The science of modern times is distinguished by its anti-religious orientation. Christian maxims and provisions are removed from the sphere of science, remaining entirely the domain of theology, which is also losing its priority position in this era. Natural science based on mathematics becomes the authority. The beginning of the modern era was marked by the scientific revolution.

The modern era is busy developing methodology (F. Bacon). For F. Bacon, science is the collection of empirical data and their analysis. Having reached a certain quantity, knowledge can give birth to a new quality, form patterns, thereby expanding a person’s ideas about the world. For modern science, experience and experiment are extremely important.

The science of modern times introduced a new ontology, which has materialistic principles, and finally established the heliocentric system of the world. For a scientist of the 17th century, the surrounding world is a research laboratory, a space open for research.

In the 18th-19th centuries, these trends in the development of science continued. The natural sciences of finality have secured for themselves the standard of scientificity. During the Age of Enlightenment, philosophers came up with the idea of popularizing science. Through the Encyclopedia they created, science became open to a wider circle of the public. Science of the 19th century was marked by discoveries in the field of thermodynamics and electricity, Charles Darwin formulated the evolutionary theory, etc. $XIX century$ – the flourishing of classical science.

The subject of research of modern science is the microworld.

Stage 4. The emergence of the modern stage of development of science is associated with the development of quantum physics at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. and the discovery of the theory of relativity by A. Einstein. Modern science includes non-classical and post-non-classical types of rationality. Its methodology is based on probabilistic and synergetic methods of cognition.

Several stages can be distinguished in the history of natural science. The period is approximately from the 6th century BC. (the beginning of the emergence of philosophy) and until the 16th – 17th centuries is characterized by the existence of natural philosophy. Further, from the 16th – 17th centuries, classical natural science appeared, which ended at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries.

This historical period, in turn, can be divided into two stages: the stage of formation of a mechanistic picture of the world (until the 30s of the 19th century) and the stage of the emergence and formation of evolutionary models of the world (until the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century). This is followed by the so-called period of non-classical natural science, which ends by the middle of the 20th century. And the last period in the history of natural science, which continues to this day, is usually designated as the period of post-non-classical natural science.

The main components of the foundation of science are the ideals and methods of research (ideas about the goals of scientific activity and methods of achieving them); scientific picture of the world (a holistic system of ideas about the world, its general properties and patterns, formed on the basis of scientific concepts and laws); philosophical ideas and principles that justify the goals, methods, norms and ideals of scientific research. The stages of the development of science associated with the restructuring of research strategies set by the foundations of science are called scientific revolutions.

The restructuring of the foundations of science, accompanied by scientific revolutions, can be, firstly, the result of intradisciplinary development, during which problems arise that are insoluble within the framework of a given scientific discipline. For example, in the course of its development, science encounters new types of objects that do not fit into the existing picture of the world; their knowledge requires new cognitive means. This leads to a revision of the foundations of science. Secondly, scientific revolutions are possible thanks to interdisciplinary interactions based on the transfer of ideals and norms of research from one discipline to another, which often leads to the discovery of phenomena and laws that previously did not fall within the scope of scientific research.

Depending on which component of the foundation of science is being rebuilt, two types of scientific revolution are distinguished: a) the ideals and norms of scientific research remain unchanged, but the picture of the world is revised; b) simultaneously with the picture of the world, not only the ideals and norms of science, but also its philosophical foundations change radically.

The main condition for the emergence of the idea of scientific revolutions was the recognition of the historicity of reason, and, consequently, the historicity of scientific knowledge and the corresponding type of rationality.

Philosophy of the 17th - first half of the 18th century. considered reason as a non-historical, self-identical ability of man as such. The principles and norms of rational reasoning, with the help of which true knowledge is obtained, were recognized as constant for any historical time. Philosophers saw their task as “cleansing” the mind from subjective additions that distort the purity of true knowledge.

Only in the 19th century. the idea of the ahistorical nature of reason was called into question. French positivists (Saint-Simon, O. Comte) identified the stages of knowledge in human history, and German philosophers of the post-Kantian period introduced the concept of the historical subject of knowledge. But if the subject of cognition is historical, then this, first of all, means the historicity of the mind with the help of which the process of cognition is carried out. As a result, truth began to be defined as being “bound” to a specific historical time. The principle of the historicism of reason was further developed in Marxism, neo-Hegelianism, neo-Kantianism, and philosophy of life. These philosophical schools, completely different in their problems and the way they were solved, were united by the recognition of the concrete historical nature of the human mind.

In the middle of the 20th century. A whole research direction appeared, called “sociology of knowledge.” Within this direction, scientific knowledge was considered as a social product. In other words, it was recognized that the ideals and norms of scientific knowledge, the methods of activity of the subjects of scientific knowledge are determined by the level of development of society, its concrete historical existence.

The principle of historicity, having become key in the analysis of scientific knowledge, allowed the American philosopher T. Kuhn to present the development of science as a historical change of paradigms that occurs during scientific revolutions. He divided the stages of development of science into periods of “normal science” and scientific revolution. During the period of “normal science”, the overwhelming number of scientists accept established models of scientific activity or paradigms (paradigm - example, sample) and with their help solve all scientific problems. The content of paradigms includes a set of theories, methodological principles, values and worldviews. The period of “normal science” ends when problems and tasks appear that cannot be resolved within the framework of the existing paradigm. Then it “explodes” and is replaced by a new paradigm. This is how a revolution in science occurs.

The restructuring of the foundations of science, which occurs during scientific revolutions, leads to a change in the types of scientific rationality. And although historical types of rationality are a kind of abstract idealization, historians and philosophers of science still identify several such types.

Historically, primary rationality was discovered in Ancient Greece (the period between 800 and 200 BC). The hidden or explicit basis of rationality is the recognition of the identity of thinking and being. This identity itself was first discovered by the Greek philosopher Parmenides. By being, he understood not the present reality given to the senses, but something indestructible, unique, motionless, endless in time, indivisible, not needing anything, devoid of sensory qualities.

Being is the truly existing One (God, the Absolute). The identity of thinking (mind) and being meant the ability of thinking to go beyond the sensory world and “work” with ideal “models” that do not coincide with everyday ideas about the world. Thinking can realize the ability to “work” with ideal models only in words. Thinking was understood by ancient philosophers as “contemplation that likens the soul to God,” as intellectual insight that likens the human mind to the divine mind. The main function of the mind was seen in the knowledge of the target cause. Only the mind has access to the concepts of purpose, good, and best.

The first scientific revolution occurred in the 17th century. Its result was the emergence of classical European science, first of all mechanics, and later physics. During this revolution, a special type of rationality was formed, called scientific (classical type of scientific rationality).

It was the result of the fact that European science abandoned metaphysics.

Existence ceased to be considered as the Absolute, God, the One. The majestic ancient Cosmos was identified with nature. The human mind lost its cosmic dimension, began to resemble not the Divine mind, but itself, and was endowed with the status of sovereignty. Without abandoning the ability of thinking to work with ideal objects, discovered by ancient philosophy, modern science narrowed their spectrum: the idea of ideality was joined by the idea of an artifact (made thing), incompatible with pure contemplation, discovered by ancient rationality. Scientific rationality has recognized the validity of only those ideal constructs that can be reproduced in a controlled manner, constructed an infinite number of times in an experiment. The main content of the identity of thinking and being is the recognition of the possibility of finding such a single ideal construction that would fully correspond to the object being studied, thereby ensuring the unambiguity of the content of true knowledge. Science refused to introduce into the procedures of explanation not only the final goal as the main one in the universe and in the activity of the mind, but also the goal in general. Spinoza argued that “nature does not act according to a purpose.”

The second scientific revolution occurred at the end of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. There was a transition from classical science, focused mainly on the study of mechanical and physical phenomena, to disciplinary organized science. Biology and geology introduce into the picture of the world the idea of development, which was not present in the mechanistic picture of the world, and therefore new ideals of explanation were needed that take into account the idea of development. The attitude towards the mechanistic picture of the world as the only possible and true one was shaken.

The emergence of the sciences of living things undermined the claims of classical scientific rationality to the status of the only and absolute. There is a differentiation of ideals and norms of scientificity and rationality. Thus, in biology and geology, the ideals of evolutionary explanation arise, and a picture of the world is formed that cannot be reduced to a mechanical one.

The type of scientific explanation and justification of the object being studied through the construction of a visual mechanical model began to give way to another type of explanation, expressed in the requirements of a consistent mathematical description of the object, even to the detriment of clarity. The move towards mathematization made it possible to construct in the language of mathematics not only strictly deterministic, but also random processes, which, according to the principles of classical rationalism, could only be considered irrational. In this regard, many physicists are beginning to realize the insufficiency of the classical type of rationality. The first hints of the need to introduce a subjective factor into the content of scientific knowledge appear, which inevitably led to a weakening of the rigidity of the principle of the identity of thinking and being, characteristic of classical science. As is known, physics was the leader of natural science, therefore the “turn” of physicists towards non-classical thinking can certainly be considered as the beginning of the emergence of a paradigm of non-classical science.

The third scientific revolution covers the period from the end of the 19th century. until the middle of the 20th century. and is characterized by the emergence of non-classical natural science and the corresponding type of rationality (non-classical type of scientific rationality). The study of microworld objects is moving to the center of research programs. The peculiarities of studying the microworld contributed to the further transformation of the principle of the identity of thinking and being, which is basic for any type of rationality. There have been changes in the understanding of the ideals and norms of scientific knowledge.

Scientists agreed that thinking is not given an object in its original state: it studies not the object as it is in itself, but how the interaction of the object with the device appeared to the observer. Since any experiment is carried out by a researcher, the problem of truth becomes directly related to activity. Some thinkers commented on this situation as follows: “The scientist asks nature questions and I answer them myself.” Scientists and philosophers raised the question of the “opacity” of existence, which blocked the ability of the subject of knowledge to implement ideal models and projects developed by rational consciousness. As a result, the principle of the identity of thinking and being continued to be “eroded.” In contrast to the ideal of a single scientific theory that “photographs” the objects under study, the truth of several different theoretical descriptions of the same object began to be accepted. Researchers were faced with the need to recognize the relative truth of theories and pictures of nature developed at one or another stage in the development of natural science.

The fourth scientific revolution took place in the last third of the 20th century. It is associated with the emergence of special objects of research, which led to radical changes in the foundations of science. Post-non-classical science is born, the objects of study of which are historically developing systems (the Earth as a system of interaction of geological, biological and technogenic processes; the Universe as a system of interaction of the micro-, macro- and megaworld, etc.). Rationality of a post-non-classical type is being formed.

If in non-classical science the ideal of historical reconstruction was used mainly in the humanities (history, archeology, linguistics, etc.), as well as in a number of natural disciplines, such as geology, biology, then in post-non-classical science historical reconstruction began to be used as a type of theoretical knowledge in cosmology, astrophysics and even in particle physics, which led to a change in the picture of the world.

In the course of developing ideas on the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium processes characteristic of phase transitions and the formation of dissipative structures, a new direction in scientific disciplines arose - synergetics. Synergetics is based on the idea that historically developing systems move from one relatively stable state to another. At the same time, a new level organization of system elements and its self-regulation appears in comparison with the previous state.

Post-non-classical science was the first to turn to the study of such historically developing systems, the direct component of which is man himself. When studying complex systems of this kind, including a person with his transformative production activities, the ideal of value-neutral research turns out to be unacceptable. An objectively true explanation and description of such systems requires the inclusion of assessments of a social and ethical nature. eleven

Rental block

OGBOU SPO "Ivanovo Energy College"

“The main stages of the development of science”

Completed

Ivanovo 2015

Introduction:

Two and a half thousand years of the history of science leave no doubt that it is developing, i.e. changes irreversibly qualitatively over time. Science is constantly increasing its volume, continuously branching out, becoming more complex, etc. This development turns out to be uneven: with a “ragged” rhythm, a bizarre interweaving of the slow painstaking accumulation of new knowledge with the “landslide” effect of introducing “crazy ideas” into the body of science, overturning the pictures of the world that have developed over centuries in an incomprehensibly short time. The actual history of science looks quite fragmented and chaotic. But science would have betrayed itself if, in this “Brownian movement” of hypotheses, discoveries, theories, it had not tried to find some kind of orderliness, a natural course of formation and change of ideas and concepts, i.e. discover the hidden logic of the development of scientific knowledge.

Identifying the logic of the development of science means understanding the patterns of scientific progress, its driving forces, causes and historical conditionality. The modern vision of this problem differs significantly from what prevailed, perhaps, until the middle of our century. Previously, it was believed that in science there is a continuous increase in scientific knowledge, a constant accumulation of new scientific discoveries and more and more accurate theories, which ultimately creates a cumulative effect in different areas of knowledge of nature. Nowadays, the logic of the development of science seems different: the latter develops not through the continuous accumulation of new facts and ideas, not step by step, but through fundamental theoretical shifts, which at one point reshape the hitherto familiar general picture of the world and force scientists to rebuild their activities on the basis of fundamentally different worldviews . The step-by-step logic of the slow evolution of science was replaced by the logic of scientific revolutions and disasters. Due to the novelty and complexity of the problem in the methodology of science, there has not yet been a generally accepted approach or model of the logic of the development of scientific knowledge. There are many such models. But some still emerged as clear leaders.

This topic is currently very relevant, since science permeates our entire lives and penetrates into all areas.

The purpose of the work is to study the philosophical understanding of science and the stages of its historical development. The objectives of the research can be formulated in accordance with the goal to study scientific materials related to this topic.

Introduction.
History of science.
1. Philosophy of Science.
2. The main stages of the development of science.
1. Scientific organizations.
2. Scientific picture of the world.
3. Pseudoscience.
Conclusion.
List of sources used.
History of science.

History of science is the study of the phenomenon of science in its history. Science, in particular, is the totality of empirical, theoretical and practical knowledge about the World obtained by the scientific community. Since, on the one hand, science represents objective knowledge, and on the other, the process of its acquisition and use by people, a conscientious historiography of science must take into account not only the history of thought, but also the history of the development of society as a whole.

The study of the history of modern science relies on many surviving original or reprinted texts. However, the words “science” and “scientist” themselves came into use only in the 18th and 20th centuries, and before that, natural scientists called their work “natural philosophy.”

Although empirical research has been known since ancient times (for example, the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus), and the scientific method was basically developed in the Middle Ages (for example, Ibnal-Haytham, Al-Biruni or Roger Bacon), the beginnings of modern science go back to the New Age. time, a period called the scientific revolution, which occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries in Western Europe.

The scientific method is considered so essential to modern science that many scientists and philosophers consider work done before the Scientific Revolution to be "pre-scientific." Therefore, historians of science often give science a broader definition than is customary in our time in order to include the period of Antiquity and the Middle Ages in their studies.

The first and main reason for the emergence of science is the formation of subject-object relations between man and nature, between man and his environment. This is due, first of all, to the transition of humanity from gathering to producing economy. Thus, already in the Paleolithic era, man created the first tools from stone and bone - an ax, knife, scraper, spear, bow, arrows, mastered fire and built primitive dwellings. In the Mesolithic era, a person weaves a net, makes a boat, engages in woodworking, and invents a bow drill. During the Neolithic period (before 3000 BC), man developed pottery, mastered agriculture, made pottery, used a hoe, sickle, spindle, clay, log, and pile buildings, and mastered metals. Uses animals as draft power, invents wheeled carts, a potter's wheel, a sailboat, and furs. By the beginning of the first millennium BC, iron tools appeared.

The second reason for the formation of science is the complication of human cognitive activity. “Cognitive”, search activity is also characteristic of animals, but due to the complication of human subject-practical activity, human mastery of various types of transformative activities, profound changes occur in the structure of the human psyche, the structure of his brain, and changes are observed in the morphology of his body.

The development of science was an integral part of the general process of intellectual development of the human mind and the formation of human civilization. The development of science cannot be considered in isolation from the following processes:

Speech formation;

Account development;

The emergence of art;

Formation of writing;

Formation of worldview (myth);

The emergence of philosophy.

Periodization of science.

One of the primary problems in the history of science is the problem of periodization. Usually the following periods of development of science are distinguished:

Pre-science the origin of science in the civilizations of the Ancient East: astrology, pre-Euclidean geometry, literacy, numerology.

Ancient science the formation of the first scientific theories (atomism) and the compilation of the first scientific treatises in the era of Antiquity: Ptolemy’s astronomy, Theophrastus’ botany, Euclid’s geometry, Aristotle’s physics, as well as the emergence of the first proto-scientific communities represented by the Academy

Medieval magical science formation of experimental science using the example of Jabir's alchemy

Scientific revolution and classical science formation of science in the modern sense in the works of Galileo, Newton, Linnaeus

Non-classical science science in the era of crisis of classical rationality: Darwin's theory of evolution, Einstein's theory of relativity, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, the Big Bang hypothesis, René Thom's catastrophe theory, Mandelbrot's fractal geometry.

Another division into periods is possible:

pre-classical (early antiquity, search for absolute truth, observation and reflection, method of analogies)

classical (XVI-XVII centuries, planning of experiments appears, the principle of determinism is introduced, the importance of science increases)

non-classical (end of the 19th century, the emergence of powerful scientific theories, for example, the theory of relativity, the search for relative truth, it becomes clear that the principle of determinism is not always applicable, and the experimenter influences the search for experiment)

post-non-classical (end of the 20th century, synergetics appears, the subject field of knowledge expands, science goes beyond its boundaries and penetrates into other areas, search for the goals of science).

Background of modern science:

The accumulation of knowledge occurs with the advent of civilizations and writing; the achievements of ancient civilizations (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, etc.) in the field of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, etc. are known. However, under the dominance of mythological, pre-rational consciousness, these successes did not go beyond a purely empirical and practical framework. For example, Egypt was famous for its geometers; but if you take an Egyptian geometry textbook, then you can see only a set of practical recommendations for a land surveyor, presented dogmatically (“if you want to get this, do this and that”); the concept of theorem, axiom and especially proof was absolutely alien to this system. Indeed, the demand for “evidence” would seem almost blasphemous in conditions that presupposed an authoritarian transfer of knowledge from teacher to student.

It can be considered that the true foundation of classical science was laid in Ancient Greece, starting around the 6th century. BC e., when mythological thinking was first replaced by rationalistic thinking. Empirics, largely borrowed by the Greeks from the Egyptians and Babylonians, is supplemented by scientific methodology: the rules of logical reasoning are established, the concept of hypothesis is introduced, etc., a number of brilliant insights appear, such as the theory of atomism. Aristotle played a particularly important role in the development and systematization of both methods and knowledge itself. The difference between ancient science and modern science was its speculative nature: the concept of experiment was alien to it, scientists did not seek to combine science with practice (with rare exceptions, for example, Archimedes), but on the contrary were proud of their involvement in pure, “disinterested” speculation. Partly, this is explained by the fact that Greek philosophy assumed [source not specified 582 days] that history repeats itself cyclically, and the development of science is meaningless, since it will inevitably end in a crisis of this science.

Christianity, which spread in Europe, abolished the view of history as repeating periods (Christ, as a historical figure, appeared on earth only once) and created a highly developed theological science (born in fierce theological disputes with heretics in the era of the Ecumenical Councils), built on the rules of logic . However, after the division of churches in 1054, a theological crisis worsened in the western (Catholic) part. Then interest in empirics (experience) was completely discarded, and science began to be reduced to the interpretation of authoritative texts and the development of formal logical methods in the form of scholasticism. However, the works of ancient scientists who received the status of “authorities”: Euclid in geometry, Ptolemy in astronomy, him and Pliny the Elder in geography and natural sciences, Donatus in grammar, Hippocrates and Galen in medicine and, finally, Aristotle, as a universal authority in most fields of knowledge brought the foundations of ancient science to the New Time, serving as the real foundation on which the entire edifice of modern science was laid.

During the Renaissance, there was a turn to empirical and rationalistic research free from dogmatism, in many ways comparable to the revolution of the 6th century. BC e. This was facilitated by the invention of printing (mid-15th century), which dramatically expanded the basis for future science. First of all, there is the formation of the humanities, or studia humana (as they were called in contrast to theology studia divina); in the middle of the 15th century. Lorenzo Valla publishes the treatise “On the Forgery of the Donation of Constantine,” thereby laying the foundations for scientific criticism of texts; a hundred years later, Scaliger lays the foundations for scientific chronology.

In parallel, there is a rapid accumulation of new empirical knowledge (especially with the discovery of America and the beginning of the Age of Discovery), undermining the picture of the world bequeathed by the classical tradition. The theory of Copernicus also deals a severe blow to it. Interest in biology and chemistry is being revived.

The Birth of Modern Science

Vesalius' anatomical studies revived interest in the structure of the human body.

Modern experimental natural science emerged only at the end of the 16th century. Its appearance was prepared by the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, when the very foundations of the medieval worldview were called into question. Just as Luther and Calvin transformed religious doctrines, the works of Copernicus and Galileo led to the abandonment of Ptolemy's astronomy, and the works of Vesalius and his followers brought significant changes to medicine. These events marked the beginning of the process now called the scientific revolution.

Newton, Isaac

The theoretical justification of the new scientific methodology belongs to Francis Bacon, who substantiated in his “New Organon” the transition from the traditional deductive approach (from a general speculative assumption or authoritative judgment to a particular one, that is, to a fact) to an inductive approach (from a particular empirical fact to general, that is, to a pattern). The emergence of the systems of Descartes and especially Newton - the latter was entirely built on experimental knowledge - marked the final severance of the “umbilical cord” that connected the emerging science of modern times with the ancient medieval tradition. The publication of the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in 1687 was the culmination of the scientific revolution and gave rise to an unprecedented surge of interest in scientific publications in Western Europe. Among other scientists of this period, Brahe, Kepler, Halley, Brown, Hobbes, Harvey, Boyle, Hooke, Huygens, Leibniz, and Pascal also made outstanding contributions to the scientific revolution.

Philosophy of Science.

Philosophy of science branch of philosophy that studies the concept, boundaries and methodology of science. There are also more specialized sections of philosophy of science, for example philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of physics, philosophy of chemistry, philosophy of biology.

The philosophy of science as a direction of Western and domestic philosophy is represented by many original concepts that offer one or another model for the development of science and epistemology. It is focused on identifying the role and significance of science, the characteristics of cognitive and theoretical activity.

Philosophy of science as a philosophical discipline, along with the philosophy of history, logic, methodology, and cultural studies, which explores its cross-section of the reflexive relationship of thinking to being (in this case, to the being of science), arose in response to the need to comprehend the sociocultural functions of science in the conditions of scientific and technological revolution. This is a young discipline that declared itself only in the second half of the 20th century. While the direction called “philosophy of science” arose a century earlier.

“The subject of the philosophy of science,” as researchers note, “is the general patterns and trends of scientific knowledge as a special activity for the production of scientific knowledge, taken in their historical development and considered in a historically changing sociocultural context.”

Philosophy of science has the status of historical sociocultural knowledge, regardless of whether it is focused on the study of natural sciences or social sciences and humanities. The philosopher of science is interested in scientific research, the “discovery algorithm,” the dynamics of the development of scientific knowledge, and research methods. (It should be noted that the philosophy of science, although interested in the reasonable development of sciences, is still not intended to directly ensure their reasonable development, as multidisciplinary metascience is called upon to do.) If the main goal of science is to obtain truth, then the philosophy of science is one of the most important areas for humanity application of his intellect, within which the question “how is it possible to achieve truth?” is discussed.

Main directions of philosophy of science

The immediate predecessor of the philosophy of science is epistemology of the 17th and 18th centuries. (both empirical and rationalistic), at the center of which was an understanding of the essence of scientific knowledge and methods of obtaining it. Epistemological issues were the central theme of the classical stage of modern philosophy, from R. Descartes and J. Locke to I. Kant. Without understanding these issues, it is impossible to understand the philosophy of science of the 19th and 20th centuries.

As a separate direction of philosophy, the philosophy of science took shape in the 19th century. Several stages can be distinguished in its development.

Positivism:

Positivism goes through a series of stages, traditionally called first positivism, second positivism (empirio-criticism) and third positivism (logical positivism, neopositivism). A common feature of all of these movements is empiricism, dating back to F. Bacon, and the rejection of metaphysics, by which positivists understand the classical philosophy of the New Age - from Descartes to Hegel. Also, positivism in general is characterized by a one-sided analysis of science: it is believed that science has a significant impact on the culture of mankind, while it itself is subject only to its internal laws and is not influenced by social, historical, aesthetic, religious and other external factors.

Main features of positivism:

science and scientific rationality are recognized as the highest value;

the requirement to transfer natural science methods to the humanities;

an attempt to rid science of speculative constructions, the requirement to verify everything by experiment;

faith in the progress of science.

Criticism of positivism:

1. The world is considered as a mechanical aggregate of particular areas, where the sum of the particulars gives the whole.

2. The world does not contain any holistic, universal properties and laws.

3. Denial of philosophy, which leads to the denial of the partisanship of philosophy, which entails falling into the worst philosophy.

4. The last reality sensations, which indicates the borrowing of the logic of subjective idealism (it is impossible to verify whether anything lies behind the sensations).

1.2. The main stages of the development of science.

In early human societies, cognitive and production aspects were inseparable; initial knowledge was of a practical nature, acting as a guide to certain types of human activity. The accumulation of such knowledge constituted an important prerequisite for future science.

For the emergence of science proper, appropriate conditions were needed: a certain level of development of production and social relations, the division of mental and physical labor, and the presence of broad cultural traditions that ensured the perception of the achievements of other peoples and cultures.

The corresponding conditions first developed in Ancient Greece, where the first theoretical systems arose in the 6th century. BC. Thinkers such as Thales and Democritus already explained reality through natural principles as opposed to mythology. The ancient Greek scientist Aristotle was the first to describe the laws of nature, society and thinking, bringing to the fore the objectivity of knowledge, logic, and persuasiveness. At the moment of cognition, a system of abstract concepts was introduced, the foundations of an evidence-based method of presenting the material were laid; Separate branches of knowledge began to separate out: geometry (Euclid), mechanics (Archimedes), astronomy (Ptolemy).

A number of areas of knowledge were enriched in the Middle Ages by scientists of the Arab East and Central Asia: Ibn Sta, or Avicenna, (9801037), Ibn Rushd (11261198), Biruni (9731050). In Western Europe, due to the dominance of religion, a specific philosophical science, scholasticism, was born, and alchemy and astrology also developed. Alchemy contributed to the creation of the basis for science in the modern sense of the word, since it relied on the experimental study of natural substances and compounds and prepared the ground for the development of chemistry. Astrology was associated with the observation of celestial bodies, which also developed the experimental base for future astronomy.

The most important stage in the development of science was the New Age of the 16th and 17th centuries. Here the needs of nascent capitalism played a decisive role. During this period, the dominance of religious thinking was undermined, and experiment (experience) was established as the leading method of research, which, along with observation, radically expanded the scope of knowable reality. At this time, theoretical reasoning began to be combined with the practical exploration of nature, which sharply strengthened the cognitive capabilities of science. This profound transformation of science, which occurred in the 16th-17th centuries, is considered the first scientific revolution, which gave the world such names as G. Galshey (1564-1642) , (15711630), W. Harvey (15781657), R. Descartes (15961650), H. Huygens (16291695), I. Newton (16431727), etc.

The scientific revolution of the 17th century is associated with a revolution in natural science. The development of productive forces required the creation of new machines, the introduction of chemical processes, the laws of mechanics, and the construction of precision instruments for astronomical observations.

The scientific revolution went through several stages, and its formation took a century and a half. It began with N. Copernicus and his followers Bruno, Galileo, Kepler. In 1543, the Polish scientist N. Copernicus (14731543) published the book “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,” in which he established the idea that the Earth, like the other planets of the Solar System, revolves around the Sun, which is the central body of the Solar System. systems. Copernicus established that the Earth is not an exceptional celestial body, which dealt a blow to anthropocentrism and religious legends, according to which the Earth supposedly occupies a central position in the Universe. Ptolemy's geocentric system was rejected.

Galileo was responsible for the largest achievements in the field of physics and the development of the most fundamental problem of motion; his achievements in astronomy were enormous: the justification and approval of the heliocentric system, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter out of 13 currently known; the discovery of the phases of Venus, the extraordinary appearance of the planet Saturn, created, as is now known, by rings representing a collection of solid bodies; a huge number of stars invisible to the naked eye. Galileo achieved success in scientific achievements to a large extent because he recognized observations and experience as the starting point for knowledge of nature.

The modern world is characterized as a period of rapid development of scientific and technical aspects of human life, which naturally find their application in the economic sphere, reducing physical stress on humans. However, the obvious advantages of using scientific and technological achievements also have a downside, which in the course of cultural studies is fixed as the problem of the sociocultural consequences of the scientific and technological revolution.

Newton created the foundations of mechanics, discovered the law of universal gravitation and developed on its basis the theory of the motion of celestial bodies. This scientific discovery made Newton famous forever. He owns such achievements in the field of mechanics as the introduction of the concepts of force, inertia, the formulation of the three laws of mechanics; in the field of optics discovery of refraction, dispersion, interference, diffraction of light; in the field of mathematics algebra, geometry, interpolation, differential and integral calculus.

In the 18th century, revolutionary discoveries were made in astronomy by I. Kant (172-41804) and P. Laplace (17491827), as well as in chemistry; its beginning is associated with the name of AL.Lavoisier (17431794). The activities of M.V. date back to this period. Lomonosov (17111765), who anticipated much of the subsequent development of natural science.

In the 19th century, science experienced continuous revolutionary upheavals in all branches of natural science.

The reliance of modern science on experiment and the development of mechanics laid the foundation for establishing a connection between science and production. At the same time, by the beginning of the 19th century. The experience and material accumulated by science in certain areas no longer fit into the framework of a mechanistic explanation of nature and society. A new round of scientific knowledge and a deeper and broader synthesis was required, combining the results of individual sciences. During this historical period, science was glorified by Yu.R. Mayer (18141878), J. Joule (18181889), G. Helmgolts (18211894), who discovered the laws of conservation and transformation of energy, which provided a unified basis for all branches of physics and chemistry. Of great importance in understanding the world was the creation of the cellular theory by T. Schwann (18101882) and M. Schleiden (18041881), which showed the uniform structure of all living organisms. Charles Darwin (18091882), who created the theory of evolution in biology, introduced the idea of development into natural science. Thanks to the periodic system of elements discovered by the brilliant Russian scientist D.I. Mendeleev (18341907), the internal connection between all known types of matter was proven.

Thus, by the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. major changes occurred in the foundations of scientific thinking, the mechanistic worldview exhausted itself, which led classical science of the modern era to a crisis. This was facilitated, in addition to those mentioned above, by the discovery of the electron and radioactivity. As a result of the resolution of the crisis, a new scientific revolution took place, which began in physics and covered all the main branches of science. It is associated primarily with the names of M. Planck (18581947) and A. Einstein (18791955), the discovery of the electron, radium, the transformation of chemical elements, the creation of the theory of relativity and quantum theory marked a breakthrough into the field of the microworld and high speeds. Advances in physics influenced chemistry. Quantum theory, having explained the nature of chemical bonds, opened up wide possibilities for science and production for the chemical transformation of matter; penetration into the mechanism of heredity began, genetics developed, and the chromosomal theory was formed.

By the middle of the 20th century, biology moved to one of the first places in natural science, where such fundamental discoveries were made as the establishment of the molecular structure of DNA by F. Crick (born 1916) and J. Watson (born 1928), and the discovery of the genetic code.

Science today is an extremely complex social phenomenon that has multilateral connections with the world. It is considered from four sides (like any other social phenomenon - politics, morality, law, art, religion):

1) from the theoretical, where science is a system of knowledge, a form of social consciousness;

2) from the point of view of the social division of labor, where science is a form of activity, a system of relations between scientists and scientific institutions;

3) from the point of view of a social institution;

4) from the point of view of the practical application of scientific findings from the perspective of its social role.

Currently, scientific disciplines are usually divided into three large groups: natural, social and technical. Branches of science differ in their subjects and methods. At the same time, there is no sharp line between them and a number of scientific disciplines occupy an intermediate interdisciplinary position, for example, biotechnology, radiogeology.

Sciences are divided into fundamental and applied. Fundamental sciences are the knowledge of the laws governing behavior and interaction of the basic structures of nature, society and thinking. These laws are studied in their “pure form,” which is why fundamental sciences are sometimes called pure sciences.

The goal of applied sciences is to apply the results of fundamental sciences to solve not only cognitive, but also social and practical problems.

The creation of a theoretical foundation for applied sciences determines, as a rule, the rapid development of fundamental sciences compared to applied ones. In modern society, in developed industrial countries, the leading place belongs to theoretical, fundamental knowledge, and its role is constantly increasing. In the cycle “basic research development implementation” focus on reducing movement times.

The role of science in modern society.

The 20th century became the century of a victorious scientific revolution. Scientific and technological progress has accelerated in all developed countries. Gradually, there was an increasing increase in the knowledge intensity of products. Technology was changing production methods. By the mid-20th century, the factory method of production became dominant. In the second half of the 20th century, automation became widespread. By the end of the 20th century, high technologies developed and the transition to an information economy continued. All this happened thanks to the development of science and technology. This had several consequences. Firstly, demands on employees have increased. They began to be required to have greater knowledge, as well as an understanding of new technological processes. Secondly, the share of mental workers and scientists has increased, that is, people whose work requires deep scientific knowledge. Thirdly, the growth in well-being caused by scientific and technical progress and the solution of many pressing problems of society gave rise to the faith of the broad masses in the ability of science to solve the problems of mankind and improve the quality of life. This new faith was reflected in many areas of culture and social thought. Such achievements as space exploration, the creation of nuclear energy, the first successes in the field of robotics gave rise to the belief in the inevitability of scientific, technological and social progress, and raised the hope of a quick solution to such problems as hunger, disease, etc.

And today we can say that science in modern society plays an important role in many industries and spheres of people’s lives. Undoubtedly, the level of development of science can serve as one of the main indicators of the development of society, and it is also, undoubtedly, an indicator of the economic, cultural, civilized, educated, modern development of the state.

The functions of science as a social force in solving global problems of our time are very important. An example here is environmental issues. As is known, rapid scientific and technological progress is one of the main causes of such dangerous phenomena for society and people as the depletion of the planet’s natural resources, air, water, and soil pollution. Consequently, science is one of the factors in the radical and far from harmless changes that are taking place today in the human environment. The scientists themselves do not hide this. Scientific data also plays a leading role in determining the scale and parameters of environmental hazards.

The growing role of science in public life has given rise to its special status in modern culture and new features of its interaction with various layers of public consciousness. In this regard, the problem of the characteristics of scientific knowledge and its relationship with other forms of cognitive activity (art, everyday consciousness, etc.) is acutely raised.

This problem, being philosophical in nature, at the same time has great practical significance. Understanding the specifics of science is a necessary prerequisite for the introduction of scientific methods in the management of cultural processes. It is also necessary for constructing a theory of management of science itself in the conditions of scientific and technological revolution, since elucidation of the laws of scientific knowledge requires an analysis of its social conditionality and its interaction with various phenomena of spiritual and material culture.

As the main criteria for identifying the functions of science, it is necessary to take the main types of activities of scientists, their range of responsibilities and tasks, as well as the areas of application and consumption of scientific knowledge. Some of the main functions are listed below:

1) the cognitive function is given by the very essence of science, the main purpose of which is precisely the knowledge of nature, society and man, the rational and theoretical comprehension of the world, the discovery of its laws and patterns, the explanation of a wide variety of phenomena and processes, the implementation of predictive activities, that is, the production of new scientific knowledge;

2) the worldview function is, of course, closely related to the first, its main goal is to develop a scientific worldview and a scientific picture of the world, study the rationalistic aspects of man’s relationship to the world, substantiate the scientific worldview: scientists are called upon to develop worldview universals and value orientations, although, of course, the leading Philosophy plays a role in this matter;

3) the production, technical and technological function is designed to introduce innovations, innovations, new technologies, forms of organization, etc. into production. Researchers talk and write about the transformation of science into a direct productive force of society, about science as a special “shop” of production, classifying scientists as productive workers, and all this precisely characterizes this function of science;

4) the cultural, educational function lies mainly in the fact that science is a cultural phenomenon, a noticeable factor in the cultural development of people and education. Her achievements, ideas and recommendations have a noticeable impact on the entire educational process, on the content of curriculum plans, textbooks, on technology, forms and methods of teaching. Of course, the leading role here belongs to pedagogical science. This function of science is carried out through cultural activities and politics, the education system and the media, the educational activities of scientists, etc. Let us not forget that science is a cultural phenomenon, has a corresponding orientation, and occupies an extremely important place in the sphere of spiritual production.

2.1. Scientific organizations.

There are quite a large number of scientific organizations in the scientific community. Voluntary scientific societies play an active role in the development of science, the main task of which is the exchange of scientific information, including during conferences and through publications in periodicals published by the society. Membership in scientific societies is voluntary, often free, and may require membership fees. The state can provide various types of support to these societies, and society can express a consistent position to the authorities. In some cases, the activities of voluntary societies also cover broader issues, such as standardization. One of the most authoritative and widespread societies is IEEE. International scientific unions allow both collective and individual membership. National academies of sciences in some European countries have historically grown out of national scientific societies. In Great Britain, for example, the role of the Academy is played by the Royal Scientific Society.

The first scientific societies appeared in Italy in the 1560s - these were the “Academy of the Secrets of Nature” (Academia secretorum naturae) in Naples (1560), the “Academy of Lynchians” (Accademia dei Lincei literally, “academy of lynx-eyed”, that is, those with a special vigilance) in Rome (1603), “Academy of Experienced Knowledge” (“Academy of Experiments”, 1657) in Florence. All of these Italian academies, which included many important thinkers and public figures led by visiting honorary member Galileo Galilei, were created with the aim of promoting and expanding scientific knowledge in the field of physics through regular meetings, the exchange of ideas and experiments. Undoubtedly, they influenced the development of European science as a whole.

The need for accelerated development of science and technology required the state to take a more active role in the development of science. Accordingly, in a number of countries, for example, in Russia, Academies were created by decree from above. However, most Academies of Sciences have adopted democratic charters, ensuring their relative independence from the state

Popularization of science

Popularization of science is the process of disseminating scientific knowledge in a modern and accessible form to a wide range of people (who have a certain level of preparedness to receive information).

Popularization of science, “translation” of specialized knowledge into the language of an unprepared listener or reader is one of the most important tasks facing popularizers of science. The task of a science popularizer is to transform boring scientific data into information that is interesting and understandable to the majority. The popularization of science can be aimed both at society as a whole and at part of it, for example, the younger generation. Science fiction plays an important role in this process, having anticipated and inspired many scientific discoveries. A significant contribution to this was made by the science fiction writer Jules Verne, one of the pioneers of the genre. The arrival of young people in science and high-tech areas of production, the attention of the uninitiated part of society to scientific problems depend on the degree of popularity of science. Scientists, as bearers of scientific knowledge, are interested in their preservation, development and increase, which is facilitated by the influx of young people into it. Popularization of science increases the number of people interested in science by stimulating interest in it.

Expressions such as entertaining science (the term was coined by Yakov Perelman), popular science, pop science (a synonym for the cliche “popular science”) are used as synonyms for the popularization of science. A survey conducted by the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in which scientists were asked whether they knew about the existence of pop science and their attitude towards it, showed that the majority of scientists perceive pop science not only as popular science, but also as:

“primitivization of science for the crowd”, “transformation of science into a spectacle in the worst sense of the word”, “profanation of science”, “vulgarized interpretation of scientific achievements to the point of perversion”, “bringing science to the level of comics”, etc.

Tycho Brahe believed that scientific knowledge should be available only to rulers who know how to use it. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ludwig Faddeev spoke about the popularization of science:

“We are aware that we must still explain to people, taxpayers, what we are doing. But we need to popularize those areas of science that are already fully understood. Modern science is more difficult to popularize. Talking about all sorts of quarks, strings, Yang-Mills fields... it turns out bad with deceptions"

Pseudo science.

Pseudoscience (from the Greek ψευδής “false” + science; synonym pseudoscience, terms similar in meaning: parascience, quasiscience, alternative science, non-academic science) activity or teaching that consciously or unconsciously imitates science, but in essence is not science.

Another common definition of pseudoscience is “an imaginary or false science; a body of beliefs about the world mistakenly regarded as being based on the scientific method or as having the status of modern scientific truths.”

Science and pseudoscience

The main difference between pseudoscience and science is the uncritical use of new unverified methods, dubious and often erroneous data and information, as well as the denial of the possibility of refutation, while science is based on facts (verified information), verifiable methods and is constantly developing, parting with refuted theories and offering new. Vitaly Ginzburg, Nobel laureate in physics 2003: “Pseudoscience is all kinds of constructions, scientific hypotheses, and so on, which contradict firmly established scientific facts. I can illustrate this with an example. Here, for example, is the nature of heat. We now know that heat is a measure of the chaotic motion of molecules. But this was once not known. And there were other theories, including the caloric theory, which is that there is some kind of liquid that flows and transfers heat. And then it was not pseudoscience, that's what I want to emphasize. But if a person comes to you now with the caloric theory, then he is an ignoramus or a swindler. Pseudoscience is something that is obviously false.”

According to the definition of Doctor of Philosophy V. Kuvakin: “Pseudoscience is such a theoretical construction, the content of which, as can be established during an independent scientific examination, does not correspond either to the norms of scientific knowledge or to any area of reality, and its subject either does not exist in principle, or substantially falsified.”

One of the possible reasons for issuing a verdict of pseudoscience (pseudoscience) is the not always conscious use of scientific methodology to explain real facts and observed phenomena, which in principle cannot be the object of scientific study. Thus, academician L. Mandelstam, referring to scientific research, said: “...In general, I believe that phenomena that are fundamentally non-repeatable, that occur in principle only once, cannot be the object of study.” At the same time, he mentioned the opinion of the English mathematician and philosopher Whiteted, who believed that the birth of theoretical physics was connected precisely with the application of the idea of periodicity to various issues.

Conclusion.

In my course work, I examined such an important topic in philosophy as “Science and its role in modern society.” Expanding on the topic, I showed that science was relevant in ancient times, and it is still relevant today. And undoubtedly, science will be relevant in the future.

They say that if Bach had not existed, the world would never have heard music. But if Einstein had not been born, the theory of relativity would sooner or later be discovered by some scientist.

The famous aphorism of F. Bacon: “Knowledge is power” is more relevant today than ever. Moreover, if in the foreseeable future humanity will live in the conditions of the so-called information society, where the main factor of social development will be the production and use of knowledge, scientific, technical and other information. The increasing role of knowledge (and, to an even greater extent, the methods of obtaining it) in the life of society must inevitably be accompanied by an increase in the knowledge of sciences that specifically analyze knowledge, cognition and research methods.

Science is the comprehension of the world in which we live. Accordingly, science is usually defined as a highly organized and highly specialized activity for the production of objective knowledge about the world, including man himself.

Abstract. History of science. Philosophy of Science. The main stages of the development of science. The role of science in modern society. The purpose of the work is to study the philosophical understanding of science and the stages of its historical development. Scientific picture of the world. The objectives of the research can be formulated in accordance with the goal to study scientific materials related to this topic.

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