The concept of the method of scientific knowledge.

1. Method (the path of research, or knowledge) is a way of building and substantiating a system of philosophical knowledge. This is a set of techniques and operations of practical and theoretical development of reality.

The roots of the method go back to the practical activity of man. The methods of practical activity had to be consistent with the properties and laws of reality.

The development and differentiation of methods of thinking in the course of the development of knowledge led to the doctrine of the method - methodology.

In our time, there are several opinions regarding the classification of methods of scientific knowledge. Among them: general, general, partial. Universal, that is, dialectical - materialistic.

The American philosopher R. Merton came to the conclusion that there are not two - empirical and theoretical, but three levels of scientific knowledge: empirical, empirical-theoretical and actually theoretical.

Accordingly, the methods of scientific knowledge are divided into:

a) methods of the empirical level of the study;

b) methods that are used at the empirical and theoretical levels;

c) theoretical level methods.

The methods of the empirical level of research are:

Observations are carried out according to the plan with the help of sense organs, instruments, tools. The object is studied with the help of sensations.

Measurements - temperature, water level in the river, atmospheric pressure, radiation, etc.;

Description - recording of observational data and theoretical understanding;

Experiment - the purpose of this method is to obtain new knowledge about the object, process.

Experiments are divided into three groups: search, verification, and implementation.

The first are carried out to find previously unknown properties, features of the object;

The latter are carried out to confirm or refute the hypotheses put forward.

Still others are carried out in order to create previously unknown substances, to apply them in practice.

2. The methods that are used at the empirical and theoretical levels are as follows:

1 . Analysis and synthesis- they are defined as a process of conditional division of an object into parts in order to study each of them in detail and also conditionally combine them into a whole.

2.Induction and deduction. Induction is a form of inference and a method of scientific inquiry. There are 3 types of inductive reasoning:

a) Complete induction - a conclusion about a class of objects or phenomena based on the study of all its elements.

b) Popular induction - a statement based on the definition of the most characteristic features, features of several elements that are inherent in the entire class of objects;

c) Scientific induction determines the characteristic features, attributes, properties, but considers them taking into account the internal connections and relationships between them.

Deduction - this method characterizes the transition from the general to the individual.

Axiom: Everything that is affirmed or denied in relation to the whole class is necessarily affirmed or denied in relation to individual objects of this class.

This method is used in the construction of scientific theories, in economics in assessing the efficiency of production.

3. Abstraction is a mental detachment of a separate object or phenomenon for the purpose of studying it in detail, and then the same mental return, introduction into a system in which it interacts with its other elements.

4. Analogy and modeling. Analogy is a method of scientific research, when, based on the similarity of objects in one way, a conclusion is made about the possible similarity of these objects in other ways. But this knowledge must be checked (moon, mountains, seas, people).

Modeling - when they first create a model of a future object: a ship, an aircraft, they study its behavior in different situations..

5. Formalization - the content of this method is the replacement of the verbal form with symbols, formulas. Used in mathematics, physics, chemistry.

The methods of theoretical research include:

6. The method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete. The abstract is the result of thinking, and the concrete as a variety of sensually perceived things and phenomena. It expresses the movement of theoretical thought from abstractions in their most general form to an ever more complete and varied reproduction of an object or phenomenon.

The ascent from the abstract to the concrete is the enrichment of the abstract with new, varied content.

7. Unity of historical and logical:

a) Historical - it is a real historical process of development of nature and society.

This is a way of reproducing in thinking the historical process in chronological order and concreteness.

b ) Boolean- this is the same historical, but abstracted from specific historical ones, which expresses in theoretical form the direction of development.

in) System - structural analysis- thanks to this method, the study of the object is provided, both in the integrity of its structure and its components.

It is used in the study of complex phenomena in physics, biology, social, technical, agricultural sciences.

The study begins with the study of the properties characteristic of a certain structure of the object, then the next element of the structure is studied, and then the internal relationships between all elements of the object are analyzed. This approach avoids errors in the learning process.

Answer the questions:

1. What is the method?

2. What is the content of the method of science?

3. What methods of scientific knowledge do you know?

4. What levels of scientific knowledge do you know?

5. What refers to the methods of the empirical level of research?

6. What three groups of experiments do you know?

7. What methods are used at the empirical and theoretical levels?

8. The essence of analysis and synthesis?

9. Essence and types of induction?

10. The essence of deduction?

11. What is abstraction, analogy, modeling, formalization?

12. What methods of theoretical research do you know?

13. What is the essence of the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete?

14. What is the essence of the historical and logical?

15. The essence of system-structural analysis?

Literature: 1. Spirkin A.G. "Philosophy" Moscow 2000

2. Kalashnikov V.L. "Philosophy (lecture course) Moscow 1999

3. Gerasimchuk A.A. "Philosophy" (course of lectures) Kiev 1999

Methods are inherent in scientific knowledge, i.e. special rules and techniques of cognitive activity.

Method It is a way to achieve certain results in knowledge and practice. The scientific method includes a system of rules, techniques and procedures used to obtain reliable knowledge. The whole seriousness of the research depends on the method, on the mode of action. F. Bacon compared the method with a lamp that illuminated the way for a traveler walking in the dark.

In ancient Greece, one of the most common methods of cognition was observation. Democritus called for observing nature and revealing its laws. Socrates actively applied the method discussion and dialogue with your listeners. Plato used dialogue as a way to connect opposing points of view. Aristotle developed logic as the science of the forms and methods of correct thinking and the search for truth.

In the Middle Ages, it was widely practiced in Ph. method of logical proof as a way to justify your point of view. The methods of self-observation and self-analysis were also used as methods of comprehending one's own spiritual world.

In modern times, F. Bacon developed inductive, and R. Descartes - deductive methods. In Ph.i., it prevailed metaphysical a method that posited being as something unchanging, motionless. In F.I actively declared himself dialectical method of knowledge.

Methods of cognition are usually divided into general (used in all types of human cognitive activity), and purely scientific (general scientific), used primarily in scientific research.

To general methods cognitions include such as observation (obtaining primary material), analysis and synthesis (decomposition into parts and their combination), abstraction (highlighting the most important properties and features in objects). These are also such methods as generalization (highlighting the general properties of objects), induction and deduction. This should also include analogy (searching for similarities between objects), modeling, experiment and other methods.

The methods of scientific knowledge include those that are used in empirical and theoretical research.

Methods of empirical scientific knowledge- this is primarily an observation, a description, an analogy. They are very actively used in many sciences, and especially in biology and astronomy.

Methods of theoretical research very varied. Thus, formalization is the operation of signs and symbols, formulas. They seem to replace the real object or process. This method is actively used in mathematics, chemistry, physics.

Axiomatic Method is based on the use of axioms, i.e. provisions, the truth of which is not in doubt due to their repeated proof and even evidence.

genetic method allows you to trace the occurrence of certain phenomena and processes. For example, to reveal the genesis of life on Earth, to study the origin of man-

historical method reproduces the entire history of the object, taken in all its details and forms of manifestation.

Unlike the historical boolean method traces only the general logic (direction) of the development of the subject, the most important trends and contradictions of this process. This method also reproduces the history of an object, but, as it were, “cleanses” it of the accidental and insignificant in it, of small details, and singles out the laws of development in it.

Modeling as a method is the creation of ideal (mental) models (substitutes) of objects. This makes it possible, as it were, to reproduce the processes under study and analyze them. It is possible, for example, to create a theoretical model of society's transition to market relations and trace all possible manifestations of this process.

Via ascending from the abstract to the concrete the transition from incomplete knowledge to complete (concrete) knowledge is achieved. The method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete is the path and regularity of the development of all sciences without exception, the entire history of human cognitive activity.

Scientific knowledge has various forms of its existence.

scientific fact represents a real event or phenomenon recorded by our consciousness as objectively existing or existing. It is known, for example, that A.S. Pushkin died in a duel. Facts are the "air of science", its empirical basis.

Hypothesis- this is a scientifically based assumption or a system of assumptions about the causes of facts and phenomena. There are, for example, hypotheses about the origin of life on Earth, about the nature of the Tunguska meteorite, etc. Hypotheses push the search for truth, but they are "not yet a fact." They represent only probabilistic knowledge about something. In the case of reasoned evidence, the hypothesis becomes reliable knowledge.

Idea is a generalized knowledge that explains the essence (essence) of objects, processes and phenomena. These are, for example, the idea of ​​the development of everything that exists in dialectical philosophy, the idea of ​​the class struggle in Marxism, and other ideas.

Theory is a system of generalized, reliable and ordered knowledge about an object. It describes, explains and predicts its development and functioning. There is, for example, the theory of man, the theory of the atomic nucleus, the theory of natural selection, and others.

The scientific picture of the world is a picture of how the world works and how it moves and develops. It is a very complex synthesis of knowledge, a holistic image of the world obtained with the help of various sciences. There are also concepts of F., a religious picture of the world. The scientific picture of the world is not only a system of knowledge, but also the ideal towards which scientific knowledge strives.

Basic methods of scientific knowledge

The process of cognition is a solution to various kinds of problems, which is achieved by using special techniques that allow you to move from what is already known to new knowledge. Such a system of techniques is called a method. Method is a set of techniques and operations of practical and theoretical knowledge of reality. Methods of scientific knowledge are usually divided according to the degree of their generality into general, general scientific and private scientific.

There are two general methods in the history of knowledge: dialectical and metaphysical. At metaphysical method objects and phenomena of the surrounding world are considered in isolation from each other, without taking into account their mutual connection and, as it were, in a frozen, unchanging state. Dialectical method, on the contrary, it involves the study of objects, phenomena with all the richness of their relationship, taking into account the real processes of their change and development.

The second group of cognitive methods are general scientific methods, which are widely used in various fields of science. These are, for example, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, abstraction, generalization, description etc. Unlike general General scientific methods are not used at all stages of the cognitive process, but only at certain ones. If we take, for example, analysis, then it is used mainly at the initial stages of cognition, and synthesis completes a certain stage of the cognitive process.

Private scientific methods applied only within the individual sciences. Since each science has its own special subject, it inevitably creates its own research method, the requirements of which reflect the specifics of its subject, and hence its own methodology. Special methods are organically included in the content of this science and are developed by representatives of this field of knowledge. Private scientific methods include, for example, methods of qualitative analysis in chemistry, a method for determining heat-resistant alloys in metallurgy, a method of radioactive decay in cosmology,

There are two levels of knowledge in science: empirical and theoretical. The empirical level is characterized by a direct study of real-life, sensually perceived objects. At this level, the process of accumulating information about the phenomena and objects under study is carried out and the primary systematization of the results obtained is carried out. The theoretical level is carried out at the rational level of knowledge. Here, the most profound essential aspects, connections and patterns inherent in the phenomena under study are revealed. The result of theoretical knowledge are hypotheses and theories.

The most important methods of empirical knowledge are observation and experiment. Observation is a purposeful process of sensory perception of objects of reality. Observation is used either where an experiment is impossible or very difficult (in astronomy, volcanology, hydrology), or where the task is to study the natural functioning or behavior of an object (in ethology, social psychology). One of the main requirements for observation is not to introduce any changes in the observed reality by the process of observation.

Experiment, on the contrary, it implies an active, purposeful and strictly controlled influence of the researcher on the object under study in order to identify and study certain aspects, properties, and relationships. Within the framework of the experiment, the phenomenon under study is placed in special, specific and variable conditions in order to reveal the essential characteristics. For example, a physical object is studied under extreme conditions - at ultra-low or ultra-high temperatures, at enormous pressures or voltages of electric or magnetic fields. In such artificially created conditions, it is possible to discover amazing, sometimes unexpected properties of objects and thereby to better understand their essence.

To create a new scientific theory, as a rule, new factual material is needed, but the theory does not appear as a direct generalization of empirical facts. A. Einstein wrote that "no logical path leads from observations to the basic principles of the theory." Theories arise in the complex interaction of empirical knowledge of reality and theoretical thinking, as a result of the resolution of internal, purely theoretical problems.

In theoretical studies, methods such as idealization and formalization. Idealization is the process of mentally creating such abstractions that do not simply fix the existing essential properties of an object, but involve fantasy, imagination. As a result of idealization, such a mental construct, such an idealized object, is created, which differs significantly from the real one in content. This, for example , mathematical point, which has no dimensions, line, having no thickness , absolutely solid or perfect black body, ideal gas in physics, etc. The introduction of idealized objects into the research process makes it possible to construct abstract schemes of real processes necessary for a deeper penetration into the patterns of their course.

Formalization is a way of fixing the content by highlighting its form. This research method involves replacing the object under study with a sign model and allows you to operate information within the framework of this model according to a certain pattern, algorithm. All reasoning about the object under study, about its properties and characteristics is transferred to the plane of operation with signs. Only through the formalization of the thought process is it possible to automate it, the use of computers.

Scientists widely use procedures for modeling real processes in their research. Modeling is a reproduction of certain properties and relationships of the object under study in another, specially created object - in the model. Modeling is used when the direct study of the object is difficult or not economically viable. Modeling is based on analogy, correspondence between an object and its model. But this correspondence is not absolute. The model reproduces only some aspects of the original that are important in this study, digressing from its other aspects.

Models are material and ideal (sign). Material models physically reproduce certain properties and connections characteristic of the phenomenon under study (models of bridges, dams, ships and aircraft).

Ideal or sign models are mental constructions, theoretical schemes that reproduce in sign form the properties and relationships of the object under study. The iconic model is devoid of visibility, its nature has nothing to do with the nature of the object reflected in it. It reflects, reproduces reality with the help of signs and symbols (geographical and topographic maps, all kinds of graphs, structural formulas in chemistry and physics).

Using various methods, methods and techniques of research, the scientist carries out knowledge in various forms. The highest form of cognition, in which the synthesis of all his cognitive activity takes place, is a scientific theory. On the way to creating a theory, the subject of knowledge uses such a form of scientific knowledge as a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a scientific assumption based on experience and prior knowledge. Unlike a theory, a hypothesis contains knowledge that is not reliable, but probable, conjectural. A hypothesis is a form of development of natural science. All modern physics, emphasized Academician V.I. Vavilov, grew up on the "forests" of dead hypotheses. The hypothesis has a purely auxiliary, but exceptionally great heuristic value: it helps to make a discovery.

It is of great importance for scientific knowledge philosophical understanding of scientific s problems. The great achievements of science have always been associated with the advancement of bold philosophical generalizations that have had an effective impact not only on individual areas of science, but also on its development as a whole.

In modern science, the use of mathematics is becoming increasingly important. Even Galileo argued that the book of Nature was written in the language of mathematics. Indeed, since the time of Galileo, all of physics has evolved as a manifestation of mathematical structures in physical reality. The process of mathematization is proceeding to an ever-increasing degree in other sciences as well. Evolutionary genetics in biology differs little from physical theory in this respect. No one is surprised by the phrase "mathematical linguistics". Even in history, attempts are being made to construct mathematical models of individual historical processes.

Modern scientific research is unthinkable without the creation of special observational facilities and experimental facilities. Let us recall what a huge role the microscope played in the development of biology, which opened up new worlds to mankind. The modern electron microscope makes it possible to see atoms that for several decades were considered fundamentally unobservable.

Modern elementary particle physics could not develop without special installations, accelerators, similar to synchrophasotrons. Astronomy is unthinkable without a wide variety of telescopes that allow you to observe processes in space, located many billions of kilometers from the Earth. The creation of radio telescopes in the 20th century turned astronomy into an all-wave astronomy and marked a real revolution in the comprehension of space.

There is a movement from ignorance to knowledge. Thus, the first stage of the cognitive process is the definition of what we do not know. It is important to clearly and rigorously define the problem, separating what we already know from what we do not yet know. problem(from the Greek. problema - task) is a complex and controversial issue that needs to be resolved.

The second step in is the development of a hypothesis (from the Greek. Hypothesis - assumption). Hypothesis - this is a scientifically based assumption that needs to be tested.

If a hypothesis is proved by a large number of facts, it becomes a theory (from the Greek theoria - observation, research). Theory is a system of knowledge that describes and explains certain phenomena; such, for example, are evolutionary theory, the theory of relativity, quantum theory, etc.

When choosing the best theory, the degree of its testability plays an important role. A theory is reliable if it is confirmed by objective facts (including newly discovered ones) and if it is distinguished by clarity, distinctness, and logical rigor.

Scientific facts

Distinguish between objective and scientific facts. objective fact is a real-life object, process or event. For example, the death of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov (1814-1841) in a duel is a fact. scientific fact is knowledge that is confirmed and interpreted within the framework of a generally accepted system of knowledge.

Estimates are opposed to facts and reflect the significance of objects or phenomena for a person, his approving or disapproving attitude towards them. Scientific facts usually fix the objective world as it is, and assessments reflect the subjective position of a person, his interests, the level of his moral and aesthetic consciousness.

Most of the difficulties for science arise in the process of moving from hypothesis to theory. There are methods and procedures that allow you to test a hypothesis and prove it or reject it as incorrect.

Method(from the Greek methodos - the path to the goal) is the rule, method, method of knowledge. In general, a method is a system of rules and regulations that allows you to explore an object. F. Bacon called the method "a lamp in the hands of a traveler walking in the dark."

Methodology is a broader concept and can be defined as:

• a set of methods used in any science;
• general doctrine of method.

Since the criteria of truth in its classical scientific understanding are, on the one hand, sensory experience and practice, and on the other hand, clarity and logical distinctness, all known methods can be divided into empirical (experimental, practical methods of cognition) and theoretical (logical procedures).

Empirical methods of knowledge

basis empirical methods are sensory cognition (sensation, perception, representation) and instrumental data. These methods include:

• observation- purposeful perception of phenomena without interference in them;
• experiment— study of phenomena under controlled and controlled conditions;
• measurement - determination of the ratio of the measured value to
• standard (for example, a meter);
• comparison- identifying the similarities or differences of objects or their features.

There are no pure empirical methods in scientific knowledge, since even for simple observation, preliminary theoretical foundations are necessary - the choice of an object for observation, the formulation of a hypothesis, etc.

Theoretical methods of cognition

Actually theoretical methods based on rational knowledge (concept, judgment, conclusion) and logical inference procedures. These methods include:

• analysis- the process of mental or real dismemberment of an object, phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships);
• synthesis - connection of the sides of the subject identified during the analysis into a single whole;
• - combining various objects into groups based on common features (classification of animals, plants, etc.);
• abstraction - distraction in the process of cognition from some properties of an object with the aim of in-depth study of one specific side of it (the result of abstraction is abstract concepts such as color, curvature, beauty, etc.);
• formalization - displaying knowledge in a sign, symbolic form (in mathematical formulas, chemical symbols, etc.);
• analogy - inference about the similarity of objects in a certain respect on the basis of their similarity in a number of other respects;
• modeling— creation and study of a substitute (model) of an object (for example, computer modeling of the human genome);
• idealization- creation of concepts for objects that do not exist in reality, but have a prototype in it (geometric point, ball, ideal gas);
• deduction - moving from the general to the particular;
• induction- the movement from the particular (facts) to the general statement.

Theoretical methods require empirical facts. So, although induction itself is a theoretical logical operation, it still requires experimental verification of each particular fact, and therefore is based on empirical knowledge, and not on theoretical. Thus, theoretical and empirical methods exist in unity, complementing each other. All the methods listed above are methods-techniques (specific rules, action algorithms).

Wider methods-approaches indicate only the direction and general way of solving problems. Methods-approaches can include many different techniques. These are the structural-functional method, hermeneutic, etc. The most common methods-approaches are philosophical methods:

• metaphysical- consideration of the object in mowing, static, out of connection with other objects;
• dialectical- disclosure of the laws of development and change of things in their interconnection, internal inconsistency and unity.

Absoluteization of one method as the only true one is called dogma(for example, dialectical materialism in Soviet philosophy). An uncritical piling up of various unrelated methods is called eclecticism.

Theory of knowledge was first mentioned by Plato in his book The State. Then he singled out two types of knowledge - sensory and mental, and this theory has survived to this day. Cognition - it is the process of acquiring knowledge about the world, its laws and phenomena.

AT structure of knowledge two elements:

• subject(“cognizing” - a person, a scientific society);
• an object(“knowable” - nature, its phenomena, social phenomena, people, objects, etc.).

Methods of knowledge.

Methods of knowledge summarized on two levels: empirical level knowledge and theoretical level.

empirical methods:

1. Observation(study of the object without interference).
2. Experiment(the study takes place in a controlled environment).
3. Measurement(measurement of the degree of magnitude of an object, or weight, speed, duration, etc.).
4. Comparison(comparison of similarities and differences of objects).

1. Analysis. Mental or practical (manual) process of dividing an object or phenomenon into components, disassembling and inspecting components.
2. Synthesis. The reverse process is the integration of components into a whole, the identification of relationships between them.
3. Classification. The decomposition of objects or phenomena into groups according to certain characteristics.
4. Comparison. Finding differences and similarities in compared elements.
5. Generalization. A less detailed synthesis is a combination based on common features without identifying links. This process is not always separated from synthesis.
6. Specification. The process of extracting the particular from the general, clarifying for a better understanding.
7. abstraction. Consideration of only one side of an object or phenomenon, since the rest are of no interest.
8. Analogy(identification of similar phenomena, similarities), a more extended method of cognition than comparison, as it includes the search for similar phenomena in a time period.
9. Deduction(movement from the general to the particular, a method of cognition in which a logical conclusion emerges from a whole chain of inferences) - in life this kind of logic became popular thanks to Arthur Conan Doyle.
10. Induction- movement from facts to the general.
11. Idealization- creation of concepts for phenomena and objects that do not exist in reality, but there are similarities (for example, an ideal fluid in hydrodynamics).
12. Modeling- creating and then studying a model of something (for example, a computer model of the solar system).
13. Formalization- the image of the object in the form of signs, symbols (chemical formulas).

Forms of knowledge.

Forms of knowledge(some psychological schools simply call types of cognition) there are the following:

1. scientific knowledge. Type of knowledge based on logic, scientific approach, conclusions; also called rational cognition.
2. Creative or artistic knowledge. (It is - art). This type of cognition reflects the surrounding world with the help of artistic images and symbols.
3. Philosophical knowledge. It consists in the desire to explain the surrounding reality, the place that a person occupies in it, and how it should be.
4. religious knowledge. Religious knowledge is often referred to as a form of self-knowledge. The object of study is God and his connection with man, the influence of God on man, as well as the moral foundations characteristic of this religion. An interesting paradox of religious knowledge: the subject (man) studies the object (God), which acts as the subject (God), who created the object (man and the whole world in general).
5. mythological knowledge. Knowledge inherent in primitive cultures. A way of cognition for people who have not yet begun to separate themselves from the surrounding world, identifying complex phenomena and concepts with gods, higher powers.
6. self-knowledge. Knowledge of one's own mental and physical properties, self-understanding. The main methods are introspection, self-observation, the formation of one's own personality, comparing oneself with other people.

To summarize: cognition is the ability of a person to mentally perceive external information, process it and draw conclusions from it. The main goal of knowledge is both to master nature and to improve the person himself. In addition, many authors see the goal of cognition in a person's desire for