Foundations of Scientific Knowledge: Methodologies and Principles

Scientific Knowledge: Core Concepts

Scientific knowledge is built upon specific characteristics, a unique language, and rigorous methodologies.

Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge

• Neutrality or Absence of Prejudices: Addressing serious issues without bias.
• Critical Spirit: A continuous questioning and evaluation of findings.
• Intersubjectivity: The demand for shared understanding and verifiable results among different observers.

The Scientific Revolution (16th and 17th Centuries)

This period marked science's independence from philosophy. Early modern scientists included Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton.

Key Characteristics of the Scientific Revolution:

• Experimentation: Observation plays a crucial role, but not all phenomena are observable in daily life. Scientists created ideal situations by removing disruptive elements, utilizing specific instruments, or conducting experiments.
• Mathematization: All phenomena can be expressed with mathematical functions, as proposed by Galileo.

Classification of Sciences

• Formal Sciences:

  Do not describe the world (formal propositions); they deal with relationships between symbols (e.g., Logic and Mathematics).

• Empirical Sciences:

  Describe events or facts of reality (empirical propositions) and their relationships, derived from observation and experience. These include:

  • Natural Sciences: Focus on natural reality (e.g., Physics, Chemistry, Biology).
  • Social and Human Sciences: Focus on social and human phenomena (e.g., Sociology, Psychology, History).

Scientific Language and Structure

Science creates an artificial language to ensure objectivity and accuracy.

Components of Scientific Language:

• Concepts:

  Specific terms for scientific issues. There are three types:

  • Qualifiers: Organize reality into sets or groups.
  • Comparative: Allow gradual ordering of objects within a set.
  • Metric: Enable numerical measurement of object properties.

• Laws:

  Embody basic scientific knowledge and are characterized by using previously defined concepts and identifying universal regularities of nature.

• Theories:

  Compact, coherent, and systematic systems of interconnected laws.

Scientific Explanation: Addressing Phenomena

Classification of Scientific Explanations:

• Deductive:

  Infers a conclusion from general laws and initial circumstances. Common in natural and formal sciences.

• Probabilistic:

  Infers conclusions with a degree of probability rather than certainty. Characteristic of human sciences and medicine.

• Teleological:

  Explains phenomena based on intentions or purposes. Characteristic of history and human behavior.

• Genetic/Historical:

  Traces the origin or development of a phenomenon. Applicable to history and some natural sciences.

The Scientific Method

A scientific method is a fixed and stable procedure, comprising several steps or rules that permit achieving an objective.

Classes of Scientific Methods:

• Deductive Method:

  Infers a particular or specific conclusion from general principles or premises. The conclusion is implicitly contained within the initial premises; if the premises are certain, the conclusion is also certain (though this is not always possible in formal sciences).

• Inductive Method:

  Infers a general conclusion from a large number of particular cases or observations. (Note: The neutrality of observation and the validity/reliability of principles can be questionable).

• Hypothetico-Deductive Method:

  Combines the deductive and inductive methods. Its steps are:

  1. Definition of the problem.
  2. Formulation of hypotheses (proposed explanations or possible solutions).
  3. Deduction of consequences (using the deductive method to extract consequences).
  4. Contrasting hypotheses (checking for compliance with the predicted consequences through observation and experimentation).

Hypotheses and Falsificationism

Hypothesis:

An educated guess or proposed explanation, whose formulation can involve factors like imagination, ingenuity, luck, or chance. A hypothesis is tested through observation and experimentation and is accepted provisionally if supported by evidence.

Falsificationism:

A scientific law is one that can generate predictions capable of being proven false, as proposed by Karl Popper.