Scientific cognition

1. Lecture 5. Scientific cognition

2.

Plan:
1. Scientific cognition and
methodology
2. Classification of methods of
scientific cognition
3. Forms of scientific knowledge

3. 1. Scientific cognition and methodology.

• The main form of human cognitive activity and its
main carrier is science. Science is a form of
spiritual activity of people and a sphere of human
cognitive activity aimed at acquiring objective
knowledge and applying them in practice.
• As a separate spiritual phenomenon and social
institution, science appears in the 17th century, in
the era of the formation of the capitalist mode of
production. From this time on, science begins to
develop almost independently.

4.

• Scientific cognition is the kind and level of
cognition aimed at developing objective,
systematically organized and reason-why
knowledge about the world. It stands out
from ordinary cognition, that is,
spontaneous cognition, associated with the
vital activity of people and perceiving
reality at the level of the phenomenon.
• Epistemology is the doctrine of scientific
cognition.

5.

• In scientific cognition, the true must be not
only its final result (the system of scientific
knowledge), but also the path leading to it,
that is, the method. Each science and
scientific discipline has not only its objectmatter, but also its own peculiar system of
methods, conditioned by their theories
and the specifics of the object-matters of
their research.

6.

• The method (from the Greek metodos) is a
collection of certain rules, methods, norms
of cognition and action.
• The method orientates the subject in
solving a specific problems, in achieving a
certain result in a certain field of activity.
• The method disciplines the search for truth,
the correct method allows you to save
forces and time, move to the goal in the
shortest possible way.

7.

• Methodology is a doctrine of ways to
construct and develop knowledge systems,
i.e. theory of the method, as well as this is a
specific sequence of techniques for
obtaining knowledge. Socio-cultural basis
for the origin of methodology is the
emergence of an orientation toward useful
science, to ensure a sustainable increase in
knowledge.
• The basic variants of the early methodology
are the inductive method of Bacon and the
deductive method of Descartes.

8. Levels of scientific methodology (in descending order):

Levels of scientific methodology
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
1)
2)
(in descending order):
General philosophical methods;
General methods of thinking;
General scientific methods;
Specific scientific methods;
Special techniques.
General philosophical methods existing as
abstract principles of thinking. These include
dialectical and metaphysical methods.
General methods of thinking - abstraction,
induction-deduction, analysis-synthesis,
analogy;

9.

3) General scientific methods - observation,
experiment, thought experiment, mathematical
modeling, axiomatic and hypothetical-deductive
methods.
• They act as an intermediate methodology between
philosophy and the fundamental principles of the
private sciences.
• General scientific terms include such concepts as
information, model, system, structure, function,
element, optimality, probability, nonlinearity,
instability, self-organization, etc.
• The general scientific principles and approaches
include: systemic, structural-functional, cybernetic,
probabilistic;

10.

4) Specific scientific methods - techniques
and research procedures used in individual
sciences. These are the methods of
mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology,
and social (humanitarian) sciences. In
recent decades, methods of
interdisciplinary research have become
widespread;
5) Special techniques.

11. 2. Classification of methods of scientific cognition.

• Scientific cognition includes two basic levels –
(1) empirical and (2) theoretical.
At the empirical level, sensory cognition prevails.
The investigated object is reflected mainly from
its external connections and manifestations. Any
empirical research begins with the collection,
systematization and generalization of facts.
• The concept of "fact" (from the Latin factorum made, accomplished) expresses some fragment of
reality or cognition, knowledge of which must
have certainty.

12.

• The collection of facts, their primary
generalization, description ("recording") of
observable and experimental data, their
systematization are characteristic features
of empirical cognition, which is directed
directly at the object under study.
• It is mastered with the help of such
methods and means as observation and
experiment (these basic methods),
comparison, measurement.

13.

• Thus, empirical cognition presupposes
the formation of a scientific fact based
on the data of scientific observation. The
scientific fact arises as a result of a very
complex processing of observations, their
reasoning, understanding, interpretation.

14. The empirical methods include:

1. Observation - a purposeful perception of
the phenomena of objective reality,
2. Description - fixing by means of natural or
artificial language information about objects,
3. Measurement - comparison of objects by
some similar properties or sides.
4. Comparison is a simultaneous correlative
study and evaluation of properties or
attributes common to two or more objects.

15.

5. Experiment - observation in specially
created and controlled conditions,
which allows you to restore the course
of events with the repetition of
conditions.
• The experiment is not always suitable
for studying the objects of the
microworld and megaworld. Therefore,
in modern science a special role is
assigned to modeling.

16.

• The model replaces the real object,
reproducing its features. The construction
and study of the model makes it possible
to identify and analyze the regularities of
the process under study without
interference in the surrounding world.

17.

• Theoretical cognition reflects phenomena
and processes from their internal
connections and patterns, comprehended
by the rational processing of empirical
knowledge. This processing is carried out
by a higher-order abstraction with the aid
of such mental devices as abstraction,
generalization, analysis and synthesis,
induction, deduction, analogy.

18. The theoretical methods include:

1. Formalization - the construction of
abstract-mathematical models that reveal
the essence of the studied processes of
reality.
2. Axiomatization - the construction of
theories on the basis of axioms - assertions,
the proof of the truth of which is not
required.

19.

3. Hypothetical-deductive method - the
creation of a system of deductively related
hypotheses, from which statements about
empirical facts are deduced.
4. Ascent from the abstract to the concrete the movement of scientific thought from
the initial abstraction to the result - a
holistic reproduction in the theory of the
object under study.

20.

• Empirical and theoretical levels of cognition are
interrelated, the boundary between them is
conditional and mobile, they pass into each
other.
• General criteria for evaluation of methods:
Scientific methods are evaluated according to the
following criteria:
the scientific nature of the method,
the effectiveness of the method,
economy,
simplicity and reliability,
admissibility
security.

21. 3. Forms of scientific knowledge.

• Scientific knowledge at the theoretical level is
in the form of a scientific problem, a
hypothesis, a theory, as well as principles,
laws, a paradigm.
• The main, key points in the construction and
development of knowledge include the bundle
"scientific problem - hypothesis - theory."
• A scientific problem is a scientific task that has
already been formed, but not solved or not
known.

22.

• Hypothesis is a form of knowledge or a
theoretical model of an object that needs to be
tested by practice.
• The theory is a practically confirmed hypothesis,
a relatively harmonious knowledge of the
process.
• The theory is the most developed form of
scientific knowledge. The key element of the
theory is the law, therefore the theory can be
regarded as a system of laws expressing the
essence of the object under study.

23. Thank you for attention!