Classification of sciences by subject of research
According to the subject of research, all sciences are divided into natural, humanitarian and technical.
Natural Sciences study phenomena, processes and objects of the material world. This world is sometimes called the outer world. These sciences include physics, chemistry, geology, biology and other similar sciences. Natural sciences also study man as a material, biological being. One of the authors of the presentation of the natural sciences as a unified system of knowledge was the German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919). In his book “World Mysteries” (1899), he pointed to a group of problems (mysteries) that are the subject of study of essentially all natural sciences as a unified system of natural scientific knowledge, natural science. Haeckel's can be formulated as follows: How did the Universe come into being? what types of physical interaction operate in the world and do they have a single physical nature? What does everything in the world ultimately consist of? what is the difference between living and nonliving things and what is the place of man in the endlessly changing Universe and a number of other questions of a fundamental nature. Based on the above concept of E. Haeckel about the role of natural sciences in understanding the world, the following definition of natural science can be given.
Natural science is a system of natural scientific knowledge created by natural sciences V the process of studying the fundamental laws of development of nature and the Universe as a whole.
Natural science is the most important branch of modern science. Unity and integrity are given to natural science by the natural scientific method that underlies all natural sciences.
Humanitarian sciences- these are sciences that study the laws of development of society and man as a social, spiritual being. These include history, law, economics and other similar sciences. Unlike, for example, biology, where a person is considered as a biological species, in the humanities we are talking about a person as a creative, spiritual being. Technical science- this is the knowledge that a person needs to create the so-called “second nature”, the world of buildings, structures, communications, artificial energy sources, etc. Technical sciences include astronautics, electronics, energy and a number of other similar sciences. In technical sciences, the interrelation between natural sciences and the humanities is more evident. Systems created on the basis of knowledge of technical sciences take into account knowledge from the field of humanities and natural sciences. In all the sciences mentioned above, it is observed specialization and integration. Specialization characterizes an in-depth study of individual aspects and properties of the object, phenomenon, or process under study. For example, an ecologist can devote his entire life to researching the causes of “blooming” in a reservoir. Integration characterizes the process of combining specialized knowledge from various scientific disciplines. Today there is a general process of integration of natural sciences, humanities and technical sciences in solving a number of pressing problems, among which global problems of the development of the world community are of particular importance. Along with the integration of scientific knowledge, the process of education of scientific disciplines at the intersection of individual sciences is developing. For example, in the twentieth century. Sciences such as geochemistry (geological and chemical evolution of the Earth), biochemistry (chemical interactions in living organisms) and others arose. The processes of integration and specialization eloquently emphasize the unity of science and the interconnection of its sections. The division of all sciences according to the subject of study into natural, humanitarian and technical faces a certain difficulty: what sciences include mathematics, logic, psychology, philosophy, cybernetics, general systems theory and some others? This question is not trivial. This is especially true for mathematics. Mathematics, as one of the founders of quantum mechanics, the English physicist P. Dirac (1902-1984), noted, it is a tool specially adapted to deal with abstract concepts of any kind, and in this area there is no limit to its power. The famous German philosopher I. Kant (1724-1804) made the following statement: there is as much science in science as there is mathematics in it. The peculiarity of modern science is manifested in the widespread use of logical and mathematical methods in it. There are currently discussions about the so-called interdisciplinary and general methodological sciences. The first ones can present their knowledge O laws of the objects under study in many other sciences, but as additional information. The latter develop general methods of scientific knowledge; they are called general methodological sciences. The question of interdisciplinary and general methodological sciences is debatable, open, and philosophical.
Theoretical and empirical sciences
According to the methods used in the sciences, it is customary to divide sciences into theoretical and empirical.
Word "theory" borrowed from ancient Greek and means “mental consideration of things.” Theoretical Sciences create various models of real-life phenomena, processes and research objects. They make extensive use of abstract concepts, mathematical calculations, and ideal objects. This allows us to identify significant connections, laws and patterns of the phenomena, processes and objects being studied. For example, in order to understand the laws of thermal radiation, classical thermodynamics used the concept of an absolutely black body, which completely absorbs the light radiation incident on it. In the development of theoretical sciences, the principle of putting forward postulates plays an important role.
For example, A. Einstein accepted the postulate in the theory of relativity that the speed of light is independent of the movement of the source of its radiation. This postulate does not explain why the speed of light is constant, but represents the initial position (postulate) of this theory. Empirical Sciences. The word “empirical” is derived from the first and last name of the ancient Roman physician, philosopher Sextus Empiricus (3rd century AD). He argued that only the data of experience should underlie the development of scientific knowledge. From here empirical means experienced. Currently, this concept includes both the concept of experiment and traditional methods of observation: description and systematization of facts obtained without the use of experimental methods. The word “experiment” is borrowed from the Latin language and literally means trial and experience. Strictly speaking, an experiment “asks questions” to nature, that is, special conditions are created that make it possible to reveal the action of an object under these conditions. There is a close relationship between theoretical and empirical sciences: theoretical sciences use data from empirical sciences, empirical sciences verify the consequences arising from theoretical sciences. There is nothing more effective than a good theory in scientific research, and the development of theory is impossible without original, creatively designed experiment. Currently, the term “empirical and theoretical” sciences has been replaced by the more adequate terms “theoretical research” and “experimental research”. The introduction of these terms emphasizes the close connection between theory and practice in modern science.
Basic and applied sciences
Taking into account the result of the contribution of individual sciences to the development of scientific knowledge, all sciences are divided into fundamental and applied sciences. The former greatly influence our way of thinking the second - to ours Lifestyle.
Fundamental Sciences explore the deepest elements, structures, laws of the universe. In the 19th century It was customary to call such sciences “purely scientific research,” emphasizing their focus exclusively on understanding the world and changing our way of thinking. We were talking about such sciences as physics, chemistry and other natural sciences. Some scientists of the 19th century. argued that “physics is the salt, and everything else is zero.” Today, such a belief is a delusion: it cannot be argued that the natural sciences are fundamental, and the humanities and technical sciences are indirect, depending on the level of development of the former. Therefore, it is advisable to replace the term “fundamental sciences” with the term “fundamental scientific research,” which is developing in all sciences.
Applied Sciences, or applied scientific research, set as their goal the use of knowledge from the field of fundamental research to solve specific problems in the practical life of people, i.e. they influence our way of life. For example, applied mathematics develops mathematical methods for solving problems in the design and construction of specific technical objects. It should be emphasized that the modern classification of sciences also takes into account the target function of a particular science. Taking this into account, we talk about exploratory scientific research to solve a specific problem or task. Exploratory scientific research makes a connection between fundamental and applied research in solving a specific task and problem. The concept of fundamentality includes the following features: the depth of research, the scale of application of research results in other sciences and the functions of these results in the development of scientific knowledge as a whole.
One of the first classifications of natural sciences is the classification developed by a French scientist (1775-1836). The German chemist F. Kekule (1829-1896) also developed a classification of natural sciences, which was discussed in the 19th century. In his classification, the main, basic science was mechanics, that is, the science of the simplest of types of movement - mechanical.
CONCLUSIONS
1. E. Haeckel considered all natural sciences as the fundamental basis of scientific knowledge, emphasizing that without natural science the development of all other sciences will be limited and untenable. This approach emphasizes the important role of natural science. However, the development of natural science is significantly influenced by the humanities and technical sciences.
2. Science is an integral system of natural sciences, humanities, technical, interdisciplinary and general methodological knowledge.
3. The level of fundamentality of science is determined by the depth and scope of its knowledge, which are necessary for the development of the entire system of scientific knowledge as a whole.
4. In jurisprudence, the theory of state and law belongs to the fundamental sciences; its concepts and principles are fundamental to jurisprudence as a whole.
5. The natural scientific method is the basis of the unity of all scientific knowledge.
QUESTIONS FOR SELF-TEST AND SEMINARS
1. Subject of study of natural sciences.
2. What do the humanities study?
3. What do technical sciences study?
4. Fundamental and applied sciences.
5. The connection between theoretical and empirical sciences in the development of scientific knowledge.
MAIN HISTORICAL STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL SCIENCE
Basic concepts: classical, non-classical and post-non-classical science, natural scientific picture of the world, development of science before the modern era, development of science in Russia
Classical, non-classical and post-non-classical science
Researchers studying science in general distinguish three forms of historical development of science: classical, non-classical and post-non-classical science.
Classical science refers to science before the beginning of the twentieth century, meaning scientific ideals, tasks of science and understanding of the scientific method that were characteristic of science before the beginning of the last century. This is, first of all, the belief of many scientists of that time in the rational structure of the surrounding world and in the possibility of an accurate cause-and-effect description of events in the material world. Classical science explored the two dominant physical forces in nature: the force of gravity and the electromagnetic force. The mechanical, physical and electromagnetic pictures of the world, as well as the concept of energy based on classical thermodynamics, are typical generalizations of classical science. Non-classical science- this is the science of the first half of the last century. The theory of relativity and quantum mechanics are the basic theories of non-classical science. During this period, a probabilistic interpretation of physical laws was developed: it is absolutely impossible to predict the trajectory of particles in quantum systems of the microworld. Post-non-classical science(fr. post- after) - science of the late twentieth century. and the beginning of the 21st century. During this period, much attention is paid to the study of complex, developing systems of living and inanimate nature based on nonlinear models. Classical science dealt with objects whose behavior could be predicted at any desired time. New objects appear in non-classical science (objects of the microworld), the forecast of whose behavior is given on the basis of probabilistic methods. Classical science also used statistical, probabilistic methods, but it explained the impossibility of predicting, for example, the movement of a particle in Brownian motion a large number of interacting particles, the behavior of each of them obeys the laws of classical mechanics.
In non-classical science, the probabilistic nature of the forecast is explained by the probabilistic nature of the objects of study themselves (the corpuscular-wave nature of objects in the microworld).
Post-non-classical science deals with objects, the prediction of whose behavior becomes impossible from a certain moment, i.e. at this moment the action of a random factor occurs. Such objects have been discovered by physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology.
Nobel laureate in chemistry I. Prigogine (1917-2003) rightly noted that Western science developed not only as an intellectual game or a response to practical needs, but also as a passionate search for truth. This difficult search found expression in the attempts of scientists of different centuries to create a natural scientific picture of the world.
The concept of the natural scientific picture of the world
The modern scientific picture of the world is based on the reality of the subject of science. “For a scientist,” wrote (1863-1945), “it is obvious, since he works and thinks like a scientist, there is and cannot be any doubt about the reality of the subject of scientific research.” The scientific picture of the world is a kind of photographic portrait of what actually exists in the objective world. In other words, the scientific picture of the world is an image of the world that is created on the basis of natural scientific knowledge about its structure and laws. The most important principle of creating a natural scientific picture of the world is the principle of explaining the laws of nature from the study of nature itself, without resorting to unobservable causes and facts.
Below is a brief summary of the scientific ideas and teachings, the development of which led to the creation of the natural scientific method and modern natural science.
Ancient science
Strictly speaking, the development of the scientific method is associated not only with the culture and civilization of Ancient Greece. The ancient civilizations of Babylon, Egypt, China and India saw the development of mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy. In 301 BC. e. The troops of Alexander the Great entered Babylon; representatives of Greek learning (scientists, doctors, etc.) always took part in his campaigns of conquest. By this time, the Babylonian priests had fairly developed knowledge in the fields of astronomy, mathematics and medicine. From this knowledge, the Greeks borrowed the division of the day into 24 hours (2 hours for each constellation of the zodiac), the division of the circle into 360 degrees, a description of the constellations and a number of other knowledge. Let us briefly present the achievements of ancient science from the point of view of the development of natural science.
Astronomy. In the 3rd century. BC e. Eratosthenes of Cyrenaia calculated the size of the Earth, and quite accurately. He also created the first map of the known part of the Earth in a degree grid. In the 3rd century. BC e. Aristarchus of Samos put forward a hypothesis about the rotation of the Earth and other planets known to him around the Sun. He substantiated this hypothesis with observations and calculations. Archimedes, the author of unusually profound works on mathematics, an engineer, built in the 2nd century. BC e. planetarium, powered by water. In the 1st century BC e. the astronomer Posidonius calculated the distance from the Earth to the Sun; the distance he obtained was approximately 5/8 of the actual one. The astronomer Hipparchus (190-125 BC) created a mathematical system of circles to explain the apparent motion of the planets. He also created the first catalog of stars, included 870 bright stars in it and described the appearance of a “new star” in a system of previously observed stars and thereby opened an important question for discussion in astronomy: whether any changes occur in the superlunar world or not. It was only in 1572 that the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) again addressed this problem.
The system of circles created by Hipparchus was developed by C. Ptolemy (100-170 AD), author geocentric system of the world. Ptolemy added descriptions of 170 more stars to Hipparchus's catalogue. The system of the universe of C. Ptolemy developed the ideas of Aristotelian cosmology and Euclid’s geometry (III century BC). In it, the center of the world was the Earth, around which the then-known planets and the Sun revolved in a complex system of circular orbits. Comparison of the locations of stars according to the catalogs of Hipparchus and Ptolemy - Tycho Brahe allowed astronomers in the 18th century. refute the postulate of Aristotle’s cosmology: “The constancy of the sky is a law of nature.” There is also evidence of significant achievements of ancient civilization in medicine. In particular, Hippocrates (410-370 BC) was distinguished by the breadth of his coverage of medical issues. His school achieved its greatest success in the field of surgery and in the treatment of open wounds.
A major role in the development of natural science was played by the doctrine of structure of matter and cosmological ideas of ancient thinkers.
Anaxagoras(500-428 BC) argued that all bodies in the world consist of infinitely divisible small and innumerably many elements (seeds of things, homeomerism). Chaos was formed from these seeds through their random movement. Along with the seeds of things, as Anaxagoras argued, there is a “world mind”, as the subtlest and lightest substance, incompatible with the “seeds of the world.” The world mind creates order in the world out of chaos: it connects homogeneous elements and separates heterogeneous ones from each other. The sun, as Anaxagoras claimed, is a red-hot metal block or stone many times larger than the city of the Peloponnese.
Leucippus(V century BC) and his student Democritus(V century BC), as well as their followers in a later period - Epicurus (370-270 BC) and Titus Lucretius Cara (I V. n. BC) - created the doctrine of atoms. Everything in the world consists of atoms and emptiness. Atoms are eternal, they are indivisible and indestructible. There are an infinite number of atoms, the shapes of atoms are also infinite, some of them are round, others are hooked, etc., ad infinitum. All bodies (solid, liquid, gaseous), as well as what is called the soul, are composed of atoms. The variety of properties and qualities in the world of things and phenomena is determined by the variety of atoms, their number and the type of their compounds. The human soul is the finest atoms. Atoms cannot be created or destroyed. Atoms are in perpetual motion. The reasons that cause the movement of atoms are inherent in the very nature of atoms: they are characterized by heaviness, “shaking” or, in modern language, pulsating, trembling. Atoms are the only and true reality, reality. The void in which the eternal movement of atoms occurs is just a background, devoid of structure, an infinite space. Emptiness is a necessary and sufficient condition for the eternal movement of atoms, from the interaction of which everything is formed both on Earth and throughout the Universe. Everything in the world is causally determined due to necessity, the order that initially exists in it. The “vortex” movement of atoms is the cause of everything that exists not only on planet Earth, but also in the Universe as a whole. There are an infinite number of worlds. Since atoms are eternal, no one created them, and, therefore, there is no beginning of the world. Thus, the Universe is a movement from atoms to atoms. There are no goals in the world (for example, such a goal as the emergence of man). In understanding the world, it is reasonable to ask why something happened, for what reason, and it is completely unreasonable to ask for what purpose it happened. Time is the unfolding of events from atoms to atoms. “People,” Democritus argued, “have invented for themselves the image of chance in order to use it as a pretext to cover up their own unreasonableness.”
Plato (IV century BC) - ancient philosopher, teacher of Aristotle. Among the natural scientific ideas of Plato's philosophy, a special place is occupied by the concept of mathematics and the role of mathematics in the knowledge of nature, the world, and the Universe. According to Plato, sciences based on observation or sensory knowledge, such as physics, cannot lead to adequate, true knowledge of the world. From mathematics, Plato considered arithmetic to be the main one, since the idea of number does not need its justification in other ideas. This idea that the world is written in the language of mathematics is deeply connected with Plato's teaching about the ideas or essences of things in the world around us. This teaching contains a deep thought about the existence of connections and relationships that are universal in the world. Plato found that astronomy is closer to mathematics than physics, since astronomy observes and expresses in quantitative mathematical formulas the harmony of the world created by the demiurge, or god, the best and most perfect, holistic, reminiscent of a huge organism. The doctrine of the essence of things and the concept of mathematics of Plato’s philosophy had a huge influence on many thinkers of subsequent generations, for example on the work of I. Kepler (1570-1630): “By creating us in his own image,” he wrote, “God wanted us to be able to perceive and share with him his own thoughts... Our knowledge (of numbers and quantities) is of the same kind as God’s, but at least insofar as we can understand at least something during this mortal life.” I. Kepler tried to combine earthly mechanics with celestial mechanics, suggesting the presence in the world of dynamic and mathematical laws governing this perfect world created by God. In this sense, I. Kepler was a follower of Plato. He tried to combine mathematics (geometry) with astronomy (the observations of T. Brahe and the observations of his contemporary G. Galileo). From mathematical calculations and observational data from astronomers, Kepler developed the idea that the world is not an organism, like Plato, but a well-oiled mechanism, a celestial machine. He discovered three mysterious laws, according to which planets do not move in circles, but By ellipses around the Sun. Kepler's laws:
1. All planets revolve in elliptical orbits, with the Sun at the focal point.
2. A straight line connecting the Sun and any planet describes the same area in equal periods of time.
3. The cubes of the average distances of the planets from the Sun are related as the squares of their periods of revolution: R 13/R 23 - T 12/T 22,
Where R 1, R 2 - the distance of the planets to the Sun, T 1, T 2 - period of revolution of the planets around the Sun. Kepler's theories were established on the basis of observations and contradicted Aristotelian astronomy, which was generally accepted during the Middle Ages and had its supporters in the 17th century. I. Kepler considered his laws illusory, since he was convinced that God determined the movement of planets in circular orbits in the form of a mathematical circle.
Aristotle(IV century BC) - philosopher, founder of logic and a number of sciences, such as biology and control theory. The structure of the world, or cosmology, of Aristotle is as follows: the world, the Universe, has the shape of a ball with a finite radius. The surface of the ball is a sphere, so the Universe consists of spheres nested within each other. The center of the world is the Earth. The world is divided into sublunar and supralunar. The sublunary world is the Earth and the sphere on which the Moon is attached. The whole world consists of five elements: water, earth, air, fire and ether (radiant). Everything that is in the superlunar world consists of ether: stars, luminaries, the space between the spheres and the superlunar spheres themselves. Ether cannot be perceived by the senses. In knowing everything that is in the sublunary world, which does not consist of ether, our feelings and observations, corrected by the mind, do not deceive us and provide adequate information about the sublunary world.
Aristotle believed that the world was created for a specific purpose. Therefore, everything in the Universe has its own purpose or place: fire, air strive upward, earth, water - towards the center of the world, towards the Earth. There is no emptiness in the world, that is, everything is occupied by ether. In addition to the five elements that Aristotle talks about, there is also something “indefinite”, which he calls “first matter,” but in his cosmology “first matter” does not play a significant role. In his cosmology, the supralunar world is eternal and unchangeable. The laws of the supralunar world differ from the laws of the sublunar world. The spheres of the superlunar world move uniformly in circles around the Earth, making a full revolution in one day. On the last sphere is the “prime mover”. Being motionless, it gives movement to the whole world. The sublunary world has its own laws. Changes, emergence, decay, etc. dominate here. The sun and stars consist of ether. It has no effect on celestial bodies in the supralunar world. Observations indicating that something flickers, moves, etc. in the firmament, according to Aristotle’s cosmology, are a consequence of the influence of the Earth’s atmosphere on our senses.
In understanding the nature of movement, Aristotle distinguished four types of movement: a) increase (and decrease); b) transformation or qualitative change; c) emergence and destruction; d) movement as movement in space. Objects with respect to movement, according to Aristotle, can be: a) motionless; b) self-propelled; c) moving not spontaneously, but through the action of other bodies. Analyzing the types of movement, Aristotle proves that they are based on a type of movement, which he called movement in space. Movement in space can be circular, rectilinear and mixed (circular + rectilinear). Since there is no emptiness in Aristotle’s world, the movement must be continuous, that is, from one point in space to another. It follows that rectilinear motion is discontinuous, so, having reached the boundary of the world, a ray of light, propagating in a straight line, must interrupt its movement, i.e., change its direction. Aristotle considered circular motion to be the most perfect and eternal, uniform; it is precisely this that is characteristic of the movement of the celestial spheres.
The world, according to Aristotle's philosophy, is a cosmos where man has the main place. In matters of the relationship between living and nonliving things, Aristotle was a supporter of, one might say, organic evolution. Aristotle's theory or hypothesis of the origin of life assumes “spontaneous generation from particles of matter” that have a certain “active principle”, entelechy (Greek. entelecheia- completion), which under certain conditions can be created by an organism. The doctrine of organic evolution was also developed by the philosopher Empedocles (5th century BC).
The achievements of the ancient Greeks in the field of mathematics were significant. For example, the mathematician Euclid (3rd century BC) created geometry as the first mathematical theory of space. Only at the beginning of the 19th century. a new one has appeared non-Euclidean geometry, the methods of which were used to create the theory of relativity, the basis of non-classical science.
The teachings of ancient Greek thinkers about matter, substance, and atoms contained a deep natural scientific thought about the universal nature of the laws of nature: atoms are the same in different parts of the world, therefore, atoms in the world are subject to the same laws.
Questions for the seminar
Various classifications of natural sciences (Ampere, Kekule)
Ancient astronomy
Ancient medicine
The structure of the world.
Mathematics
The concept of "science" has several basic meanings. Firstly, science is understood as the sphere of human activity aimed at developing and systematizing new knowledge about nature, society, thinking and knowledge of the surrounding world. In the second meaning, science appears as the result of this activity - a system of acquired scientific knowledge. Thirdly, science is understood as one of the forms of social consciousness, a social institution.
The immediate goal of science is to comprehend objective truth, obtained as a result of knowledge about the objective and subjective world.
Objectives of science: collecting, describing, analyzing, summarizing and explaining facts; discovery of the laws of motion of nature, society, thinking and cognition; systematization of acquired knowledge; explanation of the essence of phenomena and processes; forecasting events, phenomena and processes; establishing directions and forms of practical use of acquired knowledge.
An extensive system of numerous and diverse studies, distinguished by object, subject, method, degree of fundamentality, scope of application, etc., practically excludes a unified classification of all sciences on one basis. In the most general form, sciences are divided into natural, technical, social and humanitarian.
TO natural sciences include:
about space, its structure, development (astronomy, cosmology, etc.);
Earth (geology, geophysics, etc.);
physical, chemical, biological systems and processes, forms of motion of matter (physics, etc.);
man as a biological species, his origin and evolution (anatomy, etc.).
Technical sciences are meaningfully based on the natural sciences. They study various forms and directions of development of technology (radio engineering, electrical engineering, etc.).
social sciences also have a number of directions and study society (economics, sociology, political science, jurisprudence, etc.).
Humanities sciences - sciences about the spiritual world of man, about the relationship to the world around him, society, his own kind (pedagogy, psychology,).
2. Natural science and humanitarian cultures.
Their differences are based on certain types of relationship between object and subject in the natural and social sciences. In the first there is a clear separation of object from subject, sometimes taken to the absolute; at the same time, all the researcher’s attention is focused on the object. In the social and human sciences, such a division is fundamentally impossible, since in them the subject and the object are merged together in one subject. The problems of such relationships were studied by the English writer and scientist Charles Snow.
The subject area of science includes:
· system of knowledge about nature - natural science (natural sciences);
· a system of knowledge about positively significant values of human existence, social strata, state, humanity (humanities).
The natural sciences are an integral part of the natural science culture, and the humanities, respectively, of the humanitarian culture.
Natural science culture- this is: the total historical volume of knowledge about nature and society; the volume of knowledge about specific types and spheres of existence, which is updated in an abbreviated, concentrated form and accessible to presentation; the content of accumulated and updated knowledge about nature and society, assimilated by a person.
Humanitarian culture- this is: the total historical volume of knowledge of philosophy, religious studies, jurisprudence, ethics, art history, pedagogy, literary criticism and other sciences; system-forming values of humanitarian knowledge (humanism, ideals of beauty, perfection, freedom, goodness, etc.).
Specifics of natural science culture: knowledge about nature is characterized by a high degree of objectivity and reliability (truth). In addition, this is deeply specialized knowledge.
Specifics of humanitarian culture: The system-forming values of humanitarian knowledge are determined and activated based on the individual’s belonging to a certain social group. The problem of truth is solved taking into account knowledge about the object and the assessment of the usefulness of this knowledge by the knowing or consuming subject. At the same time, the possibility of interpretations that contradict the real properties of objects, saturation with certain ideals and projects of the future is not excluded.
The relationship between natural science and humanitarian cultures is as follows: have a common cultural basis, are fundamental elements of a unified system of knowledge; represent the highest form of human knowledge; mutually coordinate in the historical and cultural process; stimulate the emergence of new interdisciplinary branches of knowledge at the intersections of the natural and human sciences.
Man is the main link in the connection of all sciences
Today, science is divided into many branches of knowledge (special sciences), which differ in what aspect of reality, the form of movement of matter they study. Attempts to classify areas of human knowledge on various grounds have been made since antiquity.
Thus, Aristotle (384-322 BC) identified three large groups of such areas: theoretical (physics and philosophy), practical (ethics and politics) and poetic (aesthetics).
Received the greatest fame classification of sciences, given F. Engels in the scientific work “Dialectics of Nature”. Based on the development of moving matter from lower to higher, he identified mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology, and social sciences.
The modern system of sciences has a complex organization. Based on subject unity, all disciplines are united into complexes of natural, social, technical, humanities and anthropological sciences.
Natural science is a system of knowledge and activity, the object of which is nature as part of existence, existing according to laws not created by human activity.
Social science– a system of sciences about society as a part of existence, constantly being recreated in the activities of people. In the process of various kinds of interactions of people with nature and with each other, a new reality arises - society. It becomes an object of scientific knowledge, since it has its own special laws and must be ordered in a certain way. Otherwise, the multidirectional activity of individuals will be ineffective and even disastrous. Within the framework of social sciences, the laws and specifics of macro- and micro-unions and communities of people are studied (sociology, demography, ethnography, history, etc.).
Technical science study the laws and specifics of the creation and functioning of complex technical devices used by individuals and humanity in various spheres of life. The world of technology is unique and has its own laws that must be studied professionally to achieve technical progress.
Humanitarian sciences The subject of research is the values of society: social ideals, norms and rules of thinking, communication and behavior, based on a certain understanding of the usefulness of any objective actions for the individual, group and humanity. The field of humanities is large. It includes philosophy, religious studies, ethics, aesthetics, legal sciences, etc.
Anthropological Sciences is a set of sciences about man, the unity and differences of his natural and social properties. These include physical anthropology, philosophical anthropology, pedagogy, cultural anthropology, medicine, criminology, etc.
The Nomenclature of Specialties of Scientific Workers (as amended by Orders of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation dated August 11, 2009 No. 294, dated November 16, 2009 No. 603) presents the following branches of science: physical and mathematical sciences, chemical sciences, biological sciences, technical sciences, agricultural sciences, humanities , philological sciences, philosophical sciences, art history, cultural studies, socio-economic and social sciences, economic sciences, pedagogical sciences, sociological sciences, legal sciences, medical sciences, earth sciences.
Each of the named groups of sciences can be subjected to further division. For example, legal sciences that study state legal phenomena are divided into the following groups:
· historical(history of the domestic state and law, history of the state and law of foreign countries, history of political and legal doctrines);
· industry(constitutional law of Russia, civil law, civil procedural law, administrative law, labor law, criminal law, criminal procedural law, international law, etc.);
· applied(criminology, criminology, law enforcement, legal psychology, prosecutorial supervision, legal statistics, forensic medicine, etc.).
In statistical collections the following are usually distinguished: sectors of science: academic, industry, university and factory.
Let us note that some scientists do not believe philosophy with science(only science) or put it on a par with the natural, technical and social sciences. This is explained by the fact that they consider it as worldview, knowledge of the world in general, the methodology of knowledge or as the science of all sciences. Philosophy, in their opinion, is not aimed at collecting, analyzing and generalizing facts, discovering the laws of motion of reality, it only uses the achievements of specific sciences. Leaving aside the debate about the relationship between philosophy and science, we note that philosophy is still a science that has its own subject and methods of studying the universal laws and characteristics of everything infinite in space and time of the objective material world.
Thus, science as such, as a holistic developing formation, it includes a number of special sciences, which are in turn subdivided into many scientific disciplines.
Legislative framework regulation of relations between subjects of scientific and scientific-technical activities, authorities and consumers of scientific and scientific-technical products is formed by the Federal Law of August 23, 1996 “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy”. According to the Law, state scientific and technical policy is carried out based on the following basic principles:
· recognition of science as a socially significant industry that determines the level of development of the state’s productive forces;
· guarantees of priority development of fundamental scientific research;
· integration of scientific, scientific-technical and educational activities based on various forms of participation of workers, graduate students and university students in scientific research and experimental developments through the creation of educational and scientific complexes on the basis of universities, scientific organizations of academies of sciences with state status, as well as scientific organizations ministries and other federal government bodies;
· supporting competition and entrepreneurship in the field of science and technology;
· development of scientific, scientific-technical and innovative activities through the creation of a system of state research centers and other structures;
· concentration of resources on priority areas of development of science and technology;
· stimulation of scientific, scientific-technical and innovative activities through a system of economic and other benefits.
IN Russian Federation management of scientific and (or) scientific and technical activities is carried out on the basis of a combination of the principles of state regulation and self-government. State authorities that establish state scientific organizations approve their charters, exercise control over the effective use and safety of the property provided to them, and perform other functions within the limits of their powers. (Slide 10)
In accordance with Art. 7 of the Law of August 23, 1996, state authorities of Russia and constituent entities of the Russian Federation, scientific organizations and organizations of scientific services and the social sphere, within the limits of their powers, determine priority directions for the development of science and technology, ensure the formation of a system of scientific organizations, intersectoral coordination of scientific and (or) scientific and technical activities, development and implementation of scientific and scientific and technical programs and projects, development of forms of integration of science and production, implementation of achievements of science and technology.
At the level of Russian constituent entities, management in the field of science is directly organized by ministries, departments and other structural divisions of local authorities. According to Art. 12 of the Law of August 23, 1996, the jurisdiction of state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation includes:
· participation in the development and implementation of state scientific and technical policy;
· determination of priority directions for the development of science and technology in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
· formation of scientific and scientific-technical programs and projects of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
· financing of scientific and scientific-technical activities from the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
· formation of management bodies in the field of scientific and scientific-technical activities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and interregional bodies;
· management of state organizations of regional importance, including their creation, reorganization and liquidation;
· control over the activities of state scientific organizations of federal significance on issues related to the powers of state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
· formation of interregional and regional funds for scientific, scientific, technical and technological development;
· exercise of other powers not assigned by federal laws to the jurisdiction of state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Main legal form relations between a scientific organization, a customer and other consumers of scientific and (or) scientific and technical products, including ministries and other federal executive authorities, are agreements (contracts) for the creation, transfer and use of scientific and (or) scientific and technical products, the provision of scientific, scientific and technical, engineering, consulting and other services, as well as other contracts. The Government of the Russian Federation and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that have established state scientific organizations have the right to establish for them mandatory government order to carry out scientific research and experimental development.
According to Art. 114 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation Russian government and ensures the implementation of a unified state policy in the field of science. The Federal Law of August 23, 1996 “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy” determined the functional responsibilities and rights of the Government, in particular the right to establish a mandatory state order for scientific research for scientific organizations established by it, to limit and license certain types of activities, to introduce where necessary, a regime of secrecy, as well as the obligation to ensure the creation of federal information funds and systems in the field of science and technology, to organize the execution of the federal budget in terms of expenses for scientific research and experimental development.
Under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Russian Federation are Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation. The charters of these foundations state that they are non-profit organizations in the form of federal agencies. They select, on a competitive basis, scientific research projects supported by these funds for the publication of scientific papers, the organization of scientific events (conferences, seminars, etc.), and the development of an experimental base for scientific research. The foundations finance selected projects and activities, control the use of allocated funds, and support international cooperation in the field of scientific research.
Performs important management functions in the field of university science Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The structural division of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia is Higher Attestation Commission (HAC), whose main objectives are:
· ensuring a unified state policy, monitoring and coordinating activities in the field of certification of highly qualified scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel;
· promoting the improvement of the quantitative composition of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel, increasing the efficiency of their training and use, taking into account the needs of society and the state, the prospects for the development of science, education, technology and culture.
· In accordance with the tasks assigned to it VAK:
· develops, within its competence, the procedure for forming and organizing the work of dissertation councils, instructions and forms of documents on the issues of awarding academic degrees and conferring academic titles;
· controls the activities of dissertation councils, and also reviews the network of dissertation councils for each scientific specialty;
· develops the procedure for registration and issuance of diplomas of Doctor of Science and Candidate of Science and certificates of professor and associate professor in a state specialty;
· performs other functions listed in the Regulations on the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
· Federal executive authorities in the fields of science and education work in cooperation with the Russian Academy of Sciences, branch academies of sciences, cooperate with educational institutions of higher professional education, and public scientific associations.
Higher scientific institution country is the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN). The RAS conducts fundamental and applied scientific research on the most important problems of the natural, humanities and technical sciences, and takes part in the coordination of fundamental research work carried out by scientific organizations and higher educational institutions financed from the federal budget. A number of research institutes are subordinated to the Academy of Sciences. The Academy has 9 departments in areas and areas of science (by the way, at first glance it seems that becoming an academician is not for young people, although Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences at the age of 28, and an academician at the age of 32).
Supreme governing body of the Russian Academy of Sciences is the general meeting, which elects its leadership - the president (Yuriy Sergeevich Osipov), vice-presidents, members of the Presidium. All activities of the Academy during the period between sessions of the general meeting are led by the President of the RAS.
In addition to the Russian Academy of Sciences, there are branch academies of sciences: Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Russian Academy of Education, Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Russian Academy of Arts. These academies have state status: they are established by federal executive authorities and financed from the federal budget.
Branch academies of sciences are self-governing organizations that conduct fundamental and applied scientific research in relevant fields of science and technology and participate in the coordination of this scientific research. Branch academies of sciences have regional research centers.
Significant contributions to the development of science are made by sectoral (departmental) research institutes. So, for example, to conduct research in the field of law, the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law operates under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Research Institute for the Problems of Strengthening Law and Order operates under the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute (VNII MIA RF) operates under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. , the traffic police research center and other scientific institutions working in the field of jurisprudence.
A large volume of scientific research in the country is carried out by higher educational institutions (universities, academies, institutes).
According to Art. 8 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation of August 22, 1996 “On Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education” one of the tasks of the university is the development of sciences and arts through scientific research and creative activities of scientific and pedagogical workers and students, the use of the results obtained in the educational process. To implement this task, universities organize scientific units - research and design institutes, laboratories, design bureaus and other organizations whose activities are related to education.
Direct supervision Scientific research at the university is carried out by the vice-rector for scientific work (deputy head of the institute, academy for scientific work), at the faculty - by the dean or his deputy for scientific work, at the department - by the head of the department. To manage the research work of structural divisions of universities, special bodies are created - research units, sectors, departments.
In accordance with the Federal Law of the Russian Federation of August 23, 1996 “On Science and State Scientific and Technical Policy,” scientists have the right to create public associations on a voluntary basis (including scientific, scientific and technical and scientific and educational societies, public academies of sciences) in the manner prescribed by the legislation on public associations.
In the last decade, more than 60 public (non-state) academies of sciences and other public associations engaged in scientific development have been created in Russia. Among them, for example, are the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Russian Academy of Social Sciences, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RAE), the Russian Academy of Legal Sciences (RAUN), etc.
Thus, management and regulation of scientific activities are carried out in accordance with the principles of organic unity of scientific, technical, economic, social and spiritual development of society, unification of centralization and decentralization of management of scientific activities; compliance with national security requirements; recognition of freedom of creative, scientific and scientific-technical activity; balanced development of fundamental and applied research; using the achievements of world science and opportunities for international scientific cooperation; freedom of dissemination of scientific and scientific-technical information; openness to international scientific and technical cooperation, ensuring the integration of Russian science into the world.
Science is a sphere of human professional activity, like any other - industrial, pedagogical, etc. Its only difference is that the main goal it pursues is obtaining scientific knowledge. This is its specificity.
History of the development of science
Ancient Greece is considered the European birthplace of science. The inhabitants of this particular country were the first to realize that the world around man is not at all what people who study it only through sensory knowledge believe. In Greece, the transition from the sensory to the abstract was made for the first time, from knowledge of the facts of the world around us to the study of its laws.
Science in the Middle Ages became dependent on theology, so its development slowed down significantly. However, over time, as a result of the discoveries made by Galileo, Copernicus and Bruno, it began to have an increasing influence on the life of society. In Europe in the 17th century, the process of its formation as a public institution took place: academies and scientific societies were established, scientific journals were published.
New forms of its organization arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: scientific institutes and laboratories, research centers. Around the same time, science began to have a great influence on the development of production. It has become a special kind of it - spiritual production.
Today in the field of science the following 3 aspects can be distinguished:
- science as a result (obtaining scientific knowledge);
- as a process (itself ;
- as a social institution (a set of scientific institutions, a community of scientists).
Science as an institution of society
Design and technological institutes (as well as hundreds of different research institutes), libraries, nature reserves and museums are part of the system of scientific institutions. A significant part of its potential is concentrated in universities. In addition, today more and more doctors and candidates of sciences are working in secondary schools, gymnasiums, and lyceums, which means that these educational institutions will be increasingly involved in scientific work.
Personnel
Any human activity implies that someone carries it out. Science is a social institution, the functioning of which is possible only in the presence of qualified personnel. Their preparation is carried out through graduate school, as well as the candidate of science degree, awarded to people with higher education who have passed special exams, as well as published the results of their research and defended their candidate's dissertation publicly. Doctors of Science are highly qualified personnel who are trained through competition or through doctoral studies who are promoted from among
Science as a result
Let's move on to consider the next aspect. As a result, science is a system of reliable knowledge about man, nature and society. Two essential features should be emphasized in this definition. Firstly, science is an interconnected body of knowledge acquired by humanity to date on all known issues. It meets the requirements of consistency and completeness. Secondly, the essence of science is the acquisition of reliable knowledge, which should be distinguished from everyday, everyday knowledge inherent in every person.
Properties of science as a result
- The cumulative nature of scientific knowledge. Its volume doubles every 10 years.
- The accumulation of scientific knowledge inevitably leads to fragmentation and differentiation. New branches are emerging, for example: gender psychology, social psychology, etc.
- Science in relation to practice has the following functions as a knowledge system:
- descriptive (accumulation and collection of facts and data);
- explanatory - explanation of processes and phenomena, their internal mechanisms;
- normative, or prescriptive - its achievements become, for example, mandatory standards for implementation at school, at work, etc.;
- generalizing - the formulation of patterns and laws that absorb and systematize many disparate facts and phenomena;
- predictive - this knowledge makes it possible to foresee in advance some phenomena and processes that were previously unknown.
Scientific activity (science as a process)
If a practical worker in his activities pursues the achievement of high results, then the tasks of science imply that the researcher must strive to obtain new scientific knowledge. This includes an explanation of why the result in a particular case is good or bad, as well as a prediction in which cases it will be one or the other. In addition, if a practical worker takes into account all aspects of an activity comprehensively and simultaneously, a researcher, as a rule, is interested in an in-depth study of only one aspect. For example, from the point of view of mechanics, a person is a body that has a certain mass, has a certain moment of inertia, etc. For chemists, it is a highly complex reactor where millions of different chemical reactions occur simultaneously. Psychologists are interested in the processes of memory, perception, etc. That is, each science examines various processes and phenomena relative to a certain point of view. Therefore, by the way, the results obtained can only be interpreted as relative in science, unattainable, this is the goal of metaphysics.
The role of science in modern society
In our time of scientific and technological progress, the inhabitants of the planet are especially clearly aware of the importance and place of science in their lives. Today, more and more attention in society is paid to scientific research in various fields. People strive to obtain new data about the world, to create new technologies that improve the process of producing material goods.
Descartes' method
Science today is the main person in the world. It is based on the complex creative process of the subject-practical and mental activity of a scientist. Descartes formulated the general rules of this process as follows:
- one cannot accept anything as true until it appears distinct and clear;
- you need to divide difficult questions into the number of parts necessary to resolve them;
- it is required to start the research with the most convenient and simple things for knowledge and move gradually to more complex ones;
- The scientist's duty is to pay attention to everything, to dwell on the details: he must be completely sure that he has not missed anything.
The ethical side of science
Of particular relevance in modern science are issues that relate to the relationship between the scientist and society, as well as the social responsibility of the researcher. We are talking about how the achievements made by scientists will be used in the future, and whether the knowledge gained will turn against a person.
Discoveries in genetic engineering, medicine, and biology have made it possible to purposefully influence the heredity of organisms, to the point that today it is possible to create organisms with certain predetermined properties. The time has come to abandon the principle of freedom of scientific research, which was previously unrestricted. The creation of means of mass destruction must not be allowed. The definition of science today must therefore include an ethical side, since it cannot remain neutral in this regard.
