Scientific Worldviews: Ancient, Modern, and Current
Scientific Worldviews
The sociologist Max Weber used the term disenchantment of the world to explain the transformation implied by the rise of science in the relationship of man with reality. Man is no longer the center of Creation. Science and philosophy offer an explanation, answering why phenomena occur. This explanation of the universe creates a consistent image, compatible with known phenomena, determining both the essential components of reality and the laws governing them. These explanations can be considered scientific worldviews.
In the formation of a scientific worldview, theories involving themselves in these scientific disciplines:
- Astronomy: Is devoted to studying the positions of the stars and the laws governing their movements.
- Cosmology: The part of astronomy that deals with the general laws that explain the origin and development of the universe.
- Physics: A basic science for understanding the world, because it provides the laws that explain and predict the movements and forces that affect all bodies.
Science has not offered a constant vision of reality throughout history. On the contrary, representations of the world that we can qualify as scientific have abounded and proved incompatible. However, in all of them, we find an explanation of the form and structure of the universe and the position of humans.
Three Major Worldviews:
- The Ancient Worldview: Includes all those reality-based explanations that emerged in Greece in the 6th century BC with the first naturalistic thinkers, the philosophers of Miletus.
- The Modern Worldview: The image of the world that formed during the Scientific Revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries.
- The Current Worldview: The worldview now accepted by the scientific community, which emerged from two new branches of physics: the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Man has gone from being at the center of creation to occupying a tiny and irrelevant point in the universe.
Scientific Method
A method is a fixed and stable procedure, consisting of several steps that can reach a specific goal. In science, we use several methods to reach the development of scientific laws and theories:
- Deductive Method: Consists of extracting a specific and particular conclusion from general data. It possesses unquestionable validity but can only be used with formal sciences.
- Inductive Method: From certain observations or personal experiences, the general principle is implicit in them. It is not always valid, as there may be cases where a different conclusion is not met.
-
Hypothetical-Deductive Method: The most effective method in the empirical sciences. It combines the above methods and is equipped with several steps:
- Observation of Reality: Observation of the problem.
- Formulation of the Question: Defining the problem.
- Formulation of Hypothesis: Looking for a possible explanation, not yet tested, of the problem.
- Deduction of Consequences: Consequences of the problem are collected by hypothesis if this were true.
- Hypothesis Testing: Checking if the predicted consequences are met.
- Refutation/Confirmation of Hypotheses: If the expected consequences are not met, a new hypothesis is sought, and the process is repeated. If met, the hypothesis is confirmed.
- Obtaining Results: Formulating a new law or theory.