Contemporary Philosophy: Science and Social Critique
Contemporary Philosophy
Philosophy developed from the nineteenth century onward is characterized by diverse, sometimes conflicting, currents and trends, but primarily by its critical and suspicious attitude. The dialogue with science and the technical implications for society and individuals will be a benchmark of contemporary philosophy. Science, like philosophy, also seeks rational explanations. However, philosophy is not a science or a similar type of knowledge, nor does it add to science. Why then speak of a relationship between science and philosophy? From modernity, the world and reality are seen as illustrated by science, through the image offered by scientific knowledge. Therefore, any reflection on the world will be a reflection on the discourse of science.
Keep in mind that the relationship between science and philosophy is often conflictive, made evident when considering that:
- Science is not free of assumptions, many of which are far from scientific.
- There is no single body of knowledge that can be called “science.” What we call science, as a scientific endeavor, is working on problems using methods that are likewise reviewable. The term “science” includes a variety of ways of doing science, and only by taking such diversity into account can we try to place meaning on the philosophy of science.
According to Ferrater Mora, there is only one way to understand the relationship between science and philosophy, and this is to assume that philosophy is, in some way, what the scientist does. Philosophy operates scientifically when it takes science itself as its object of study. This work must be done from three perspectives:
Linguistic Analysis
Philosophy clarifies the meaning and the logical connection between the terms of science.
Conceptual Review
Philosophy reviews the changes that occur in concepts, as these changes occur with history and through the development and evolution of knowledge. Thus, the concepts of “physical sciences,” “psychology,” or “space” are not the same as they were a century ago.
Social Criticism
From the nineteenth century, with the Industrial Revolution, we entered a new stage of scientific and technical development. This is what Charles Paris has called the neotechnic stage. From this stage, scientific development is more closely linked to industrial production than to scientific research. Economic and military power becomes aware of the force that research involves and tries to control it. As a result, the ideal of knowledge enters a crisis, and science loses its independence. It is therefore necessary to say that neither science nor technology can be considered apart from social relations. Since there is no technological neutrality—because technology is always of “dual use”—it is necessary to demand social responsibility in scientific activity. This is the critical task that philosophy plays concerning science.
As if it were the slate of House himself, the following ills are attributed to philosophy:
- Lack of agreement on methodology.
- Residual, as a result of the subjects’ own philosophy, have become self-disciplines and autonomous, with the exception of logic.
- The futility of their problems, considered by many thinkers as subtle intellectual pursuits.
- Hermeticism caused by the use of obscure terminology.