Understanding Philosophy and Scientific Knowledge
Philosophy
Philosophy attempts to justify general knowledge and science. It is the activity of thinking that originated in the 6th century BC in Greek colonies in Asia Minor. It addresses the totality of beings (general knowledge), seeking to understand and study these entities in the light of reason, searching for the leading causes of all things.
Characteristics of Philosophy
- Rational: Based on reason.
- Rigorous: Methodical and precise.
- Thoughtful: Focuses on first causes.
- Abstract: Deals with intelligible concepts.
- Methodical: Uses a set of procedures to reach an end.
- Systematic: All knowledge must be interrelated and structured.
- Profound: Seeks root causes, the essence of things.
Key Concepts
Being
Being is what makes something what it is and nothing else; the act of existence; essence and existence.
Substance
Substance is being in itself; it exists by itself (e.g., pollen, honey).
Special Metaphysics
Special Metaphysics includes:
- Cosmology: The object of study is the physical being, the cosmos.
- Anthropology: The object of study is the human being.
- Theodicy: The object of study is God. Also known as theology (based on faith), theodicy studies the nature and essence of God through reason.
Relationship between Subject and Object
The subject (suj) is active because it perceives the qualities of the object (obj), which passively transfers its qualities.
Technology
Technology is a special type of technique that adopts scientific research.
Scientific Knowledge
Scientific knowledge uses formal, expressive, and deportative language, the proposed language of science.
Components of Scientific Knowledge
- Dynamic: The way in which our beliefs and knowledge systems are constituted and change; changes in theories; emergence of new discoveries.
- Structural: Internal relations of knowledge and its external referents.
Components and Relationships of Knowledge
Empirical data, concepts, propositions, hypotheses, and laws. Knowledge can be divided into two types: intellectual propositional knowledge and practical knowledge (technical and technological in nature).
Requirements of Scientific Knowledge
- Belief: The psychological operation of adherence to a proposition; to know is to believe.
- Truth: The relation of correspondence between a statement and a state of affairs.
- Proof: Based on a particular true belief.
- Justified Belief: True knowledge requires justified proof.
Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge
- Communicable: Must communicate transcendental knowledge.
- Verifiable: Anyone should be able to reproduce the conditions of an experiment.
- Fallible: Knowledge can have temporary confirmation or refutation, but never a demonstration of truth.
- Systematic: Science is an ordered system; rational ideas are logically connected.
- Analytical: Breaks down the object of study in its entirety.
- Methodical: Uses methods to serve a stated purpose.
- Specialized: A derivation of the analytical nature of belief.
- Clear and Accurate: Formulates problems clearly, leaving no room for ambiguity.
- Explanatory: Provides the reason for something, not just extensive descriptions.
- General: Aims to achieve understanding in all cases.
- Legal: Seeks general explanations formulated as universally applicable laws.
- Predictive: All scientific laws are expected to encompass determined cases, including future social life.
- Useful: All knowledge seeks results that can be successfully applied.
Concept
The uptake of sensible qualities of an object and the formation of an image; abstraction and formation of the idea; comparison with things that are essentially the same; generalization and nomination through the term (neither affirming nor denying).
Direct Observation
Requires dealing with certain aspects of something.
Indirect Observation (Hint)
The subject observes a phenomenon through another phenomenon associated with it.
Intersubjectivity
Seeks objective data that cannot be prevented from being observed by a unique and privileged observer.
Repeatability
Allows scientists to establish relationships, find regularities, and formulate laws to explain these regularities.