The Philosophy of Science

Past civilisations have nurtured small populations of those trying to understand and manipulate nature to some advantage in materials, tools, weapons, food, and wealth. However, they never formed communities and lacked the means of recording, communicating, and sharing successes and failures. They...

Past civilisations have nurtured small populations of those trying to understand and manipulate nature to some advantage in materials, tools, weapons, food, and wealth. However, they never formed communities and lacked the means of recording, communicating, and sharing successes and failures. They also lacked a common framework/philosophy to qualify them as scientists, but that all began to change in the 16th Century. In this lecture we consider the progression to a philosophy of science, and the underlying principles and assumptions that now guide scientific inquiry.We also examines the nature of scientific knowledge, the methods of acquisition, evolution, and significance over past centuries, and reflect on the value to society.
In the struggle to solve problems, deliver understanding, and reveal the truth about our universe, science had to suffer and survive: ignorance, bigotry, established superstitions, and the ‘diktats’ of religions and politics, and latterly, falling education standards mired by social media. We chart that ‘scientific’ journey emphasising the importance of observation, experimentation, and the search for universal laws. Ultimately, this essentially Aristotelian perspective was challenged and overtaken by the rise of empiricism, which emphasised the importance of sensory experience and the limitations of human knowledge.
Science continues to evolve and provide us with the best truths attainable with our leading edge technologies of observation and experimentation. Today, it stands as the greatest and richest contributor to human knowledge, understanding, progress, and wellbeing. In turn, debates and controversies are ongoing, shaping the field and philosophy which remains essential for understanding the nature of scientific knowledge and the models it creates. But unlike any belief system, the answers and models furnishers by science are not certain and invariant, they tend to be stochastic and incomplete - ‘the best we can do’ at a given time.