Scientific Approach and Theory

• Science is associated with accuracy, rigor, and rationality
• From Latin, Scientia = knowledge/knowing

Definition of Science

• Science does not deal with events, but seeks to establish universal laws
• Aristotle described science as dealing with the general

Steps in the Scientific Approach

• Observation/interpretation: analysis of facts
• Problem: questioning to be resolved
• Hypothesis: starting point (proposition to be verified)
• Experimentation tests the hypothesis
• Consequence: result of an action (effect)
• Conclusion: result of logical reasoning

Scientific Objectives

• The goal is to move beyond particular phenomena to make connections
• Discover general laws by going beyond simple appearances through demonstration, using logical reasoning and experimentation to test hypotheses

Scientific Theory

• Scientific theory: a set of hypotheses proposing an explanatory model
• Abstraction that belongs to the domain of thought
• Theory must be verified through practice to be validated
• Testing hypotheses depends on the object of study, leading to different procedures among sciences
• Empirical sciences (based on experience): deal with particular phenomena (natural sciences: physics, chemistry)
• Empirical sciences use the experimental method (induction): starting from particular facts (experience) to deduce a general law (observing phenomena to establish a theory)
• Formal sciences, such as math and logic, use the demonstrative method (deduction): starting from the general (theory) to apply to the specific (application), using logical reasoning without relying on experience (1+1=2)
• Common requirement: need for proof

Dilthey's View

• Human sciences/humanities (sociology, psychology, history, etc.) are often devalued compared to natural sciences
• Human sciences study contingent phenomena related to humans, not subject to or escaping natural laws, making them comprehensive
• Natural sciences study necessary phenomena subject to natural laws, making them explanatory

Final Aim of Science

• To explain reality and phenomena of the real world
• Limitations exist, such as the role of human initiative and freedom, which are part of free will and inaccessible to science based on determinism (each cause has one effect)
• Jaspers states that humans can be studied scientifically with a metaphysical dimension

Freud and the Illusion of the Future

• Science and religion offer different explanations of the world
• Science relies on facts and evolves, while religion is fixed in beliefs
• Science progresses constantly over time, with true theories being potentially invalidated later on
• Scientific progress is cumulative, where general laws can be replaced by more precise ones
• Science offers an approximate and hypothetical truth, where hypotheses must be verified by experience and adapted to reality
• Scientific research involves formulating hypotheses, which are then validated or rejected based on experimental results

Science and Origins

• Science cannot explain the origin of things, but rather answers the "how" rather than the "why"
• Philosophy goes back to the origin of things and answers the "why"

Plato's Phaedo

• Socrates expresses his disappointment with the limits of science and turns to philosophy to answer questions of "why" and reach the origin of things

Nietzsche's Critique

• Nietzsche critiques science, seeing science as an idol, which resembles religion and philosophy
• Idolization stems from the desire to rationalize reality for better understanding and to take hold of a chaotic reality
• Science provides markers and general laws to organize the world's disorder, giving a sense of security (thanks to reason)
• Rationalization leads to overlooking the essence of the world and that the real world is chaotic with rich experiences
• Science is an illusion that reassures but veils the world's true nature

Materialist Thesis

• Based on doctrine of Epicurus, Lucretius, and Democritus
• Everything is reducible to matter, including consciousness as effects of material organisms
• All knowledge can be reduced to physical laws, meaning science can explain everything

Synonyms and Antonyms of Science

• Synonyms include: knowledge, study, expertise, discipline, specialty, technique
• Antonyms include: ignorance, inexperience, naivety, incompetence

Supporting Ideas/Arguments for Science

• Louis Pasteur
• Marie Curie
• Ethics in animal experiments and bioethics

Aristotle on Science

• The beginning of all science is astonishment at things being what they are
• Experimental philosophy
• All knowledge supposes the knowledge of causes and knowing is about understanding the causes for something
• Description is a step towards knowledge
• Everything exists for a purpose

Galilée on Science

• The universe is written in the language of mathematics
• Physical principle
• Interested in Copernican revolution of the celestial spheres
• It's impossible to rely on experimentation plus observation

Descartes on Science

• Knowledge must be based on mathematical truths
• Science is rational, predictable, and governed by causal laws
• It functions through induction and deduction to verify hypotheses

Limits of Science

• Problem of falsifiability: all hypotheses are neither verifiable nor refutable through experience
• Biases in the scientific method include the choice of the subject of study and cognitive biases of researchers, which can influence results

Philosophical Stakes of Science

• Question of knowledge: is science the only source of knowledge/What is the nature of scientific knowledge?
• Question of truth: does science allow to reach absolute truth/What is the nature of scientific truth?
• Question of ethics: should science be subject to ethical rules/What are the ethical limits of scientific research?

Science versus Religion

Historical Development of Science

• Antiquity: Science was synonymous with greatest knowledge, abstract exercises to address the world's mysteries with reason
• Middle Ages: Separated from philosophy and theology to split into mathematics, physics, astronomy, optics, etc
• XIX century: Sciences were based on demonstration and experiences, with the based Truth
• Science can be a coherent knowledge set related to categories of facts, tested in experimental methodologies
• In modern use of the term, refers to a discipline which seeks an objective understanding

Heidegger on Science

• Science does not think reflectively
• Scientists concentrate on problems and answers without reflecting on consequences or values

Husserl on Science

• Scientific questions deal with objective dimensions like physical appearance or phenomena without considering what's behind it, such as dimension of actual existence that depend on history and philosophy

Different Schools of Thought

• Positivism: Science is the only source of knowledge and must be limited to observable and verifiable facts
• Falsificationism: Science can never prove a hypothesis, but only refute it

Hume on Science

• Two types of truths:
  • Relations of ideas (necessary truths): mathematics, based on reason, cannot be disproven by experience (= a priori), certain (1+1=2)
  • Matters of fact (contingent truths): come from experience (= a posteriori), may be disproven by experience, probable (ex: the sun rises every morning)
  • Criticizes empirical sciences because they rely on induction, which lacks absolute certainty
  • Praises formal sciences (mathematics) because they produce certain, necessary, and universal truths

Bachelard on Science

• The sense of the problem gives the mark of the true scientific mind
• Replace problem of acquired notion
• Constantly questioning is progress
• Scientific mind refuse to find answers in common appearance, must research deeper for a comprehension

Explore the scientific approach, from observation and hypothesis to experimentation and conclusion. Understand how science seeks universal laws beyond particular events. Learn about scientific theory as an explanatory model, which needs verification through practical application.