Philosophy and Science: similarities and differences. What is common between philosophy and science?

How are philosophy and science connected ? The similarities and differences of these two disciplines continue to be discussed by scientists and researchers. For the most part, they are about the knowledge of scientists and thinkers.

Origin

It is known that even before our time in ancient Greece philosophy and science appeared. Similarities and differences should be sought precisely in that old age. Initially, philosophy arose as a universal science, which studied all things. In prosperous policies began to appear academies. They became a platform for discussion of various judgments by learned people. They were called philosophers - in the translation from the Greek language "lovers of wisdom."

Over time, the amount of knowledge increased. Gradually, the first independent sciences broke away from philosophy, for example, physics. Scientists who went deeper into their favorite subject, created special schools. Science arose at a time when philosophers came to the conclusion that real knowledge is knowledge about something stable and unchanging. He was opposed to private opinions - observations and random arguments of people who could not be proved.

Interconnection

Specific sciences study individual aspects of being. Philosophy unites all, and therefore it is more important than disparate disciplines. So the ancient Greeks reasoned. For example, the speakers of that time compared physics and philosophy: the first studies nature and its laws, while philosophy encompasses not only nature, but also man. It goes beyond narrow knowledge.

Disputes about the similarities of philosophy and science continued for many centuries. The relatively recent school of positivism and the Marxist teaching also attempted to answer this question. Supporters of these theories believe that the right to exist is only that philosophy, which is based on scientific achievements. Could this be in practice?

The universal method, which would determine the similarities of philosophy and science, was never formulated. A lot of research on this topic was conducted by Husserl. He became the author of the theory of "philosophy as a rigorous science." But neither he nor his supporters have been able to achieve satisfactory results in this direction. Philosophy and science, whose similarities and differences were especially closely studied in the twentieth century, gave rise to existentialist teaching. His postulates clearly emphasize that these two disciplines are not closely connected with each other.

Boundaries of knowledge

What is common between philosophy and science? Certainly, they are ways of knowing things. However, their methods and purposes differ significantly. Science is limited, it studies only those things that are within its narrow subject. Philosophy has no boundaries, it encompasses everything that exists around. This knowledge is vague, it is not based on clear facts.

Similarities and differences between philosophy and science can also be traced to the relationship to empiricism. For example, for physics and biology, the acquired experience and experiments are extremely important, since without them one can not prove a single theory. In philosophy, these things are treated more lightly.

Differentiation

Scientific disciplines are very different. This is because the world is very complicated - it has many sections. For each of them appears its own science. For example, physics and mathematics are closely related, but at the same time they have little in common with humanitarian subjects. Philosophy and science, whose similarities and differences can be visually studied by the example of differentiation, do not resemble the fact that the first is monumental, and the second is diverse and fragmented.

Scientists, as a rule, are busy with their narrow sphere. They are not very interested in how their work will affect the general scientific knowledge. Philosophers have always tried in their theories to embrace the whole world with all its laws and contradictions. Such were: Aristotle, Hegel, Kant and many other famous thinkers of mankind.

Relation to nonexistence

Important differences between philosophy and science are their relationship to the subject of study. Thinkers try to explain not only the real world, but also a conditional "nothing" - something that is beyond the limits of human consciousness. Science is only studying what really exists.

Non-existence is an important area for all philosophical schools, beginning with the ancient world. In China and India (one of the most ancient civilizations of the world), "nothing" was the fundamental basis of any teaching. A similar attitude existed in Western European philosophy. For thinkers, "nothing" is so important, because it is one of the materials with which you can find the basis of everything that exists. Philosophers over the centuries in various ways have tried to find some absolute - comprehensive knowledge. Scientists do not engage in similar projects. They explore specific facts and matter. It is interesting that the similarity and difference between philosophy, science and religion can also be drawn in relation to the absolute.

Objectivism and subjectivity

What else have a similar philosophy and science? The common thing in them is that they are both intellectual intellectual activity. Their result is expressed in certain systems. The result of such activities is always different. Science tends to be objective. It relies only on dry facts. The results of long studies and experiments form the basis of scientific theories. Their main advantage is that they consist only of impersonal knowledge.

Philosophy also tries to be objective, but since in the center of its study there is always a person, philosophers can not exclude from the results of their work the opinion and attitude of a person to the subject under study. The ideological position of any thinker rests on arguments that are very different from scientific ones. Therefore, any philosophy a priori subjective. This is also due to the fact that many different schools and doctrines arise in it, often contradicting each other. In science this can not be. If a scientist has proved a theory with the help of facts, then his successors will have to reckon with it in their works. Philosophers can reject and deny each other. For example, some trends of the 20th century denied the experience of the European schools of the XIX century, and so on.

The role of philosophy in science

Philosophy and science do not just have similarities and differences. They are an integral part of each other. The first scientific theories were built on philosophical principles. Even modern scientists use those methods of cognition, which were first tested by the sages of ancient Greece. And there is no contradiction in this.

Philosophy is a method of cognition, logic, world outlook schemes. All this lies at the basis of global and universal scientific knowledge. No scientist can understand and understand the processes of the surrounding world without the methods listed above. Thus, some philosophical devices are the true tools of any scientific researcher. The ability to think theoretically, add separate elements of systems in one picture - all these are important things for scientists.