Philosophy and Science: Key Concepts & Contrasts
Philosophy and Science: A Comparison
Discipline of Philosophy
Metaphysics explores what lies beyond the physical, material appearances perceived by the senses, questioning essence and existence. Epistemology attempts to answer the question of how we know, leading to the philosophy of logic, which examines the conditions required for coherent thought. Philosophy of language explores the vehicle through which we express our thoughts. Ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics are crucial human sciences.
Science
Advances in science, such as the discovery of subatomic particles, necessitate revisions of classical concepts and a deeper understanding of scientific knowledge. This fosters a rapprochement between philosophy and science. The universe, according to the Big Bang theory, is expanding. Scientific explanations of reality are often indeterministic, with events not predetermined. Truth is relative, and reality can be explained from multiple perspectives. Science is also subject to limitations.
Greco-Medieval Science
Thinking during this period was geocentric, viewing the universe as heterogeneous with a qualitative approach and final causality. It relied on speculative theory, with the living organism as its model. Science and biology were intertwined with philosophical and theological frameworks.
Modern Science
Modern science embraces heliocentrism, viewing the universe as homogeneous with a quantitative approach and efficient cause. It emphasizes reproducing and modifying events, using the machine as its model. Science and mathematics are separated from philosophy and theology.
Similarities
Both share a causal and deterministic vision, perceiving the universe as orderly, stable, and predictable.
Contrasting Views
The problem of incomplete induction (Hume, S. XVIII) highlights a key difference.
Axioms
Propositions that require no demonstration.
The Scenario
A provisional explanation of a phenomenon, requiring validation.
Doxa
Opinion based on common sense, capable of grasping changes, and studies reason.
Contingent
Something that exists now but may cease to exist, and there was a time when it did not exist.
Deduction
Predicting what would happen if a provisional explanation is accepted.
Substance
Being that exists by itself.
Essence
What makes a being what it is; its definition.
Other Models of Knowledge
Art
Rational action that transforms human specifications, controls, and uses reality for its own purposes.
Theology
Attempts to know and intellectually approach divinity, nature, existence, and their relationship to the physical world and humanity.
Deductive Method
Consists of moving from general to particular, characteristic of formal science, and serves to construct valid arguments. It does not always need demonstration and is not always applicable to the real world.
Hypothetical-Deductive Method
Observation of a fact, formulation of a hypothesis, deduction of the consequences of the hypothesis, contrasting the consequences deduced from the hypothesis, and confirmation of the hypothesis. If it fails, the process repeats.
Epistemology or Philosophy of Science
Studies how scientific knowledge is produced, extracts the philosophical implications of major scientific theories, examines assumptions made by scientists, and examines scientific questions.
Episteme
Science that uses reason, the common, the constant.
Relativism
There is no objective truth; everything depends on the observer’s viewpoint.
Metaphysics
Deals with being in general, its essential characteristics. Its instrument is reason, with a totalizing and universalizing function, addressing very specific fields of knowledge.