Means and methods are the most important components of the logical structure of the organization of activities. Therefore, they constitute a major section of methodology as a doctrine of the organization of activities.
It should be noted that there are practically no publications that systematically disclose the means and methods of activity. The material about them is scattered across various sources. Therefore, we decided to consider this issue in sufficient detail and try to build means and methods scientific research in a certain system. In addition, the means and most of the methods relate not only to scientific, but also to practical activities, to educational activities, etc.
2.2.1 Means of scientific research (means of knowledge).
In the course of the development of science, the means of cognition are developed and improved: material, mathematical, logical, linguistic . Besides, in recent times to them, obviously, it is necessary to add information means as a special class. All means of cognition are specially created means. In this sense, material, informational, mathematical, logical, linguistic means of cognition have common property: they are designed, created, developed, substantiated for certain cognitive purposes.
Material means of knowledge These are, first of all, devices for scientific research. In history, the emergence of material means of cognition is associated with the formation empirical research methods - observation, measurement, experiment.
These funds are directly aimed at the objects under study, they play the main role in the empirical testing of hypotheses and other results of scientific research, in the discovery of new objects, facts. The use of material means of cognition in science in general - a microscope, a telescope, a synchrophasotron, satellites of the Earth, etc. - has a profound influence on the formation of the conceptual apparatus of the sciences, on the ways of describing the subjects studied, the methods of reasoning and representations, on the generalizations, idealizations and arguments used.
Information means of knowledge . The mass introduction of computer technology, information technology, telecommunications is fundamentally transforming research activities in many branches of science, making them a means of scientific knowledge. In particular, in recent decades, computer technology has been widely used to automate experiments in physics, biology, technical sciences etc., which allows hundreds, thousands of times to simplify research procedures and reduce data processing time. In addition, information tools can significantly simplify the processing of statistical data in almost all branches of science. And the use of satellite navigation systems greatly increases the accuracy of measurements in geodesy, cartography, etc.
Mathematical means of knowledge . The development of mathematical means of cognition has an increasing influence on the development modern science, they also penetrate into the humanities and social sciences.
Mathematics, being the science of quantitative relations and spatial forms abstracted from their specific content, has developed and applied specific means of abstracting form from content and formulated the rules for considering form as an independent object in the form of numbers, sets, etc., which simplifies, facilitates and accelerates the process of cognition, allows you to more deeply reveal the connection between objects from which the form is abstracted, to isolate the initial positions, to ensure the accuracy and rigor of judgments. Mathematical tools make it possible to consider not only directly abstracted quantitative relations and spatial forms, but also logically possible ones, that is, those that are deduced according to logical rules from previously known relations and forms.
Under the influence of mathematical means of cognition, the theoretical apparatus of the descriptive sciences undergoes significant changes. Mathematical tools make it possible to systematize empirical data, identify and formulate quantitative dependencies and patterns. Mathematical tools are also used as special forms of idealization and analogy (mathematical modeling).
Logical means of knowledge . In any study, the scientist must decide logical tasks:
What logical requirements must be met? reasoning, allowing to make objectively true conclusions; how to control the nature of these reasoning?
What logical requirements must be met? description empirically observed characteristics?
how logically analyze initial systems of scientific knowledge, how to coordinate some knowledge systems with other knowledge systems (for example, in sociology and closely related psychology)?
- how build a scientific theory , allowing to give scientific explanations, predictions, etc.?
The use of logical means in the process of constructing reasoning and evidence allows the researcher to separate controlled arguments from intuitive or uncritically accepted, false from true, confusion from contradictions.
Language means of knowledge . important language tool knowledge are, among other things, the rules for constructing definitions of concepts ( definitions ). In any scientific research, the scientist has to clarify the introduced concepts, symbols and signs, to use new concepts and signs. Definitions are always associated with language as a means of cognition and expression of knowledge.
The rules for using languages, both natural and artificial, with the help of which the researcher builds his reasoning and evidence, formulates hypotheses, draws conclusions, etc., are the starting point for cognitive actions. Knowledge of them has a great influence on the effectiveness of the use of linguistic means of cognition in scientific research.
Along with the means of cognition are the methods of scientific cognition (methods of research).
I wrote this article while working in a state enterprise - a scientific and industrial nature. This article is aimed at summarizing the current state and structure research work RF, indicate weaknesses and propose solutions to optimize the organization of the development of science on a national scale.1 Current state of the issue
1.1 Implementation of research projects today
Scientific research is a source of technologies, materials and mechanisms, with the help of which it becomes possible to create products of better quality, lower cost, create methods for treating diseases, deal with natural disasters, etc.However, doing science is a great luxury, since the probability of obtaining a practical result from the results of research is very small, and the cost of research can reach enormous values due to the need for experimental equipment and raw materials. Thus, few commercial companies can afford to maintain their own research division.
The vast majority of scientific research is financed by the State through various funds (RFBR, fund of the Ministry of Education, etc.) and targeted sectoral programs ( space program, the defense industry development program, etc.).
1.2 What is a scientific work
Throughout the existence of disputes over whether mathematics is a science, whether literature, history or art history is a science, many different definitions of the term Science have been formulated. From the point of view of the authors of this article, the most logical is the definition of K. Popper, according to which a thought is scientific if it goes through three stages:1) Statement of the question;
2) Formulation of the theory;
3) Conducting an experiment that confirms or refutes the theory.
Such a definition is functional from the point of view of the state, which is the main source of funding for scientific work and requiring maximum value for money. If the work has passed the three indicated stages, then the work report allows you to:
To visually see what problem the research work is aimed at solving (under the item "Formulation of the question");
- use the theory or analytical model, which was confirmed during the verification experiment (sections "Formulation of the theory" and "Conducting the experiment"), in other works and research, while saving money on local experiments;
- exclude the theory and model, refuted in the course of confirmatory experiments, in the analysis of risks;
- use information about the results of the experiment (paragraph "Conducting the experiment") when testing other theories and hypotheses, saving money on duplicate experiments.
In practice, in our time, research work (R&D) receives funding, in which it may not even be about putting forward and, even more so, about testing some theories. Such R&D can be aimed at the systematization of knowledge, the development of research methods, the study of the properties of materials and the features of technologies. Such R&D can have a fundamentally different nature of the results. Let's try to classify the results that R&D can bring:
Reference result. When data on specific procedures or materials have been obtained as a result of research work. For example, the reference result is the values of the physical and mechanical characteristics of a material or the quality characteristics of a part obtained with certain technological parameters;
- scientific result. When a theory was confirmed or refuted as a result of research work. The theory can act as a derived formula or mathematical models that allow obtaining analytical results with a high degree of convergence with a real experiment;
- methodological result. When, as a result of research, optimal methods for conducting research, experiments, and performing work were derived. Best practices can be developed as a by-product of the development of rational methods for verifying a theory;
1.3 Features of research work today
Duplication of research results. Due to the fact that the formation of topics and direction in different funds and agencies is carried out independently of each other, duplication of work often occurs. What does we are talking both about duplication of work performed and about duplication of research results. There may also be duplication of work performed with work performed during the existence of the USSR, when a large number of scientific works were produced.Inaccessibility of research results. The research results are documented in technical reports, acts and other reporting documentation, which, as a rule, is stored in printed form on paper in the archives of the customer and contractor. To obtain a particular report, it is necessary to conduct a lengthy correspondence with the executor or customer of the report, but, more importantly, information that a particular report exists in most cases is almost impossible to find. Scientific publications on the results of research in specialized journals are not always issued, and the accumulated number of studies and a wide range of different publications makes it incredibly difficult to search for data not published on the Internet.
Lack of regular funding for exploratory experiments. For creating prototype innovative technology or the development of a new technology (including within the framework of R&D), the performing enterprise must have research results confirming the possibility of implementing a new effect. However, research also requires funding, which must be substantiated and supported by preliminary experiments. However, scientific departments of universities, scientific institutes and research enterprises do not have regular funding for conducting preliminary and exploratory experiments, as a result of which topics for the promotion of new works have to be drawn from the literature, incl. foreign. Consequently, the work initiated in this way will always be behind similar foreign developments.
Low interaction between scientific enterprises. The low interaction between universities and scientific enterprises is due to the fact that organizations perceive each other not only as competitors, but also as potential customers - consumers of scientific products. The latter is due to the fact that scientific organizations so far, in the vast majority, do not earn money on results. scientific activity but on its implementation.
Use in the creation of new technologies and solutions of various branches of knowledge and sciences. Technologies and knowledge that could be obtained by working in only one direction are already known and developed, which can be said with great confidence. Today, new technologies are obtained at the intersection of various methods and sciences, which requires the interaction of scientists various areas, while there is no active labor interaction between institutions.
2 Conditions for improving the efficiency of scientific work
The system of conducting and organizing scientific work, which exists in our time in the Russian Federation, was borrowed from the USSR and from the moment of formation Russian Federation not undergone major changes. To date, there are the following aspects of modernizing the system for performing scientific work:The widespread use of personal computers and the Internet to access background information;
- A large number of accumulated scientific reports that exist in printed form;
- Using the achievements of various industries in the creation of innovative technology;
- Developed market of materials and services, which makes it possible to implement almost any search experiment at low cost, before the opening of a full-scale R&D.
3 Optimization of the research system
Based on paragraph 2, we can accept the following measures to improve the efficiency of scientific work:1) Creation of a single form "Research Results", with mandatory publication on the Internet on a special portal after the completion of research.
2) In the terms of reference (TOR) for the implementation of research, describe the result that should be obtained in the course of work.
3) Introduce an optimized structure for the organization of research enterprises, based on the functioning of three departments: a department for setting problems and questions, a department for putting forward scientific theories / hypotheses, and a department for implementing experiments (technical department).
4) Periodic allocation of funds to scientific organizations for the implementation of exploratory experiments.
We describe each measure in more detail below.
3.1 Creation of a single form of the research result
In the presence of a large number of scientific reports accumulated in the Soviet and post-Soviet period, the disunity of funds and research organizations, and the widespread use of the Internet, it is rational to create a single portal of scientific research results to carry out a convenient and quick search for reports on the work performed, which would be available both to employees of scientific and research organizations, and officials who check the relevance of a particular work.As indicated in paragraph 1.2, it is more rational to compose the form of the result of a scientific study according to three points:
1) What problem was the research aimed at solving;
2) What hypothesis was put forward;
3) How the hypothesis was tested.
For each tested hypothesis, its own individual form (separate file) should be compiled, which, at the same time, is supplemented with information about the authors of the study and the organization that the authors represent, keywords for fast and convenient search. At the same time, the system will allow you to leave feedback from other scientists on the reliability of a particular study and evaluate the rating of authors and organizations. It is worth repeating that great importance will also present forms of unverified theories, allowing other researchers not to go down the wrong path.
The form of a reference study, in which not some kind of hypothesis was tested, but “what will we get” (properties, effect) with given parameters (properties, modes, etc.), should have a distinctive form that reflects whether it is quantitative or qualitative characteristics were received.
When creating this system, an important role will be played by stimulating the replenishment of the database with reports already completed and preserved in printed form. At the same time, formulas and models that are not confirmed by experimental research are of no interest to the system.
Supplementing such a base with studies of the classics of physics and mechanics will be of great educational value.
3.2 Regulation of the R&D result in the ToR
The result of research, as a rule, is the final report on the research work, which, at the same time, has a rather arbitrary form and can include from 20 to 500 or more pages, which makes it difficult for other scientists and practitioners to analyze such a report.If a unified system for generating research results, described in paragraph 3.1., is created, then it is advisable in the TOR for research to present requirements for the results of work in accordance with the standard of the system in the form of:
Reference result in the form of characteristics, parameters, properties of a given object or process determined in the course of work;
- A scientific result in the form of the results of testing a set of theories specified in the TOR or put forward by the contractor in the course of working on a problem (question) formulated in the TOR.
At the same time, it is not correct to set research methods and work organization as the ultimate goal of research. Methods and programs should be the result of the development of specialists qualified in this area within the framework of organizational work or work on standardization and systematization, or be a by-product of research when achieving a scientific or reference result.
Also, in the terms of reference for research funded by the state, describe the obligation to publish research results in a single database.
3.3 Optimized R&D Enterprise Structure
Based on the rationality of compiling scientific thought from three components question-theory-verification, it is possible to propose the structure of the organization of a research organization, consisting of three main divisions: a division for searching for urgent problems, a division for setting theories, and a division for experimental verification.3.3.1 Department of search of actual problems
This unit should be entrusted with the task of reviewing and constantly monitoring current issues in a given industry or field of activity.The unit will have to perform both analytical work, consisting in the study of special literature, statistical studies, applications from enterprises to perform some kind of development, and creative work, which consists in an independent search for problems, the solution of which can bring commercial profit and benefit to society.
The unit should include analytical minds with experience in various fields.
3.3.2 Theory formulation division
This unit is responsible for developing solutions and theories that should provide answers to the questions posed or offer options for solving the voiced difficulties.The unit should include people with a broad outlook on various technologies, as well as great theoretical knowledge. Employees of the unit should constantly study scientific publications and articles.
The two main types of work that this unit must do are the generation of new theories or solutions, and the analysis and verification of proposed solutions for duplication with already tested or for contradiction with already confirmed theories.
3.3.3 Experimental verification unit
This unit is responsible for verification: confirmation or refutation of incoming theories. The subdivision should include laboratory assistants qualified to work with the available laboratory equipment, as well as foremen of model production and metalworking, capable of making the necessary experimental equipment or tooling.The unification of research organizations according to the above principle will contribute to their greater cooperation and interaction. The verification of a scientific theory formulated at one enterprise can be carried out in the experimental verification department of another organization that has the necessary laboratory equipment, according to a unified application.
3.4 Funding for exploratory experiments
Small but regular funding scientific organizations under the article "Performance of search experiments", allocated from the own funds of the enterprise or the state, will create the necessary ground for the implementation of experimental ideas and preliminary testing of hypotheses.In the course of low-cost exploratory experiments, erroneous hypotheses are eliminated, which can be included in an application for funding under a contract or grant; as a result of the experience gained, new and original solutions are born, which are used to create innovative technology.
findings
To improve the efficiency of spending on research and development, it is recommended:Creation of a single database with the results of research, reduced to one form, including three sections: the question in the direction of which the theory was proposed, the theory or solution that was proposed and the result of testing the theory;
- regulation of the result of research in the TOR in terms of determining what type of result should be obtained: reference or scientific;
- bring the organization of scientific enterprises to a structure that includes three departments: a department for searching for actual problems, a department for setting theories, and a department for experimental verification;
- to make regular financing of search experiments.
Under the term<наука>usually understood as the sphere of human activity, the function of which is the development and theoretical systematization of objective knowledge about reality. At present, science has become a direct productive force and the most important social institution that has an impact on all spheres of society.
To understand the essence and meaning scientific knowledge It is important to understand one feature of science. If in art and literature this or that work is so closely connected with the author who created it, that if it were not for this author, the work simply would not exist, then in science the situation is fundamentally different. Theories of I. Newton, C. Darwin, A. Einstein, etc. reflect the personality traits of their creators, who made brilliant discoveries in the field of natural science. However, these theories would have appeared sooner or later anyway, since they constitute a necessary stage in the development of science. This is evidenced by facts from the history of science, when different scientists come to the same ideas independently of each other.
Scientific knowledge is built and organized according to certain laws, which are the expression of its essence and meaning. So, let's consider the distinctive qualities of scientific knowledge:
- 1) Systematization. The scientific systematization of knowledge is characterized by a desire for completeness, a clear understanding of the foundations of systematization and their consistency. The system, in contrast to the sum of certain elements, is characterized by internal unity, the impossibility of removing or adding any elements to its structure without good reason. Scientific knowledge always acts as certain systems, their elements are the initial principles, fundamental concepts (axioms), as well as knowledge derived from these principles and concepts according to the laws of logic.
- 2) Validity, conclusiveness of the knowledge obtained are characteristic features of scientific character. The most important ways to substantiate empirical knowledge are verification by observations and experiments, reference to primary sources, statistical data. When substantiating theoretical concepts, the mandatory requirements for them are their consistency, compliance with empirical data, the ability to describe known phenomena and predict new ones. Substantiation of scientific knowledge, bringing it into harmony, single system in my opinion is the most important factor in the development of science.
- 3) Theoretic nature of knowledge involves obtaining truth for the sake of truth itself, and not for the sake of a practical result. If science is aimed only at solving practical problems, it ceases to be science in the full sense of the word. At the heart of science are fundamental research, pure interest in the surrounding world, and then applied research is carried out on their basis, if they are allowed by the existing level of technological development. So, in the Ancient East, scientific knowledge was used only in religious magical rituals and ceremonies or in direct practical activities, therefore, in this case, we cannot speak of the existence of science as an independent sphere of culture.
- 4) Rationality of knowledge. The rational style of thinking is based on the recognition of the existence of universal causal relationships accessible to the mind, as well as formal proof as the main means of justifying knowledge. Today this position seems trivial, but the knowledge of the world mainly with the help of the mind appeared only in Ancient Greece. Eastern civilization never adopted this specifically European path, giving priority to intuition and extrasensory perception.
- 5) The immediate goal and highest value of scientific knowledge is objective truth, comprehended mainly by rational means and methods, but of course, not without the participation of living contemplation and non-rational means. From here characteristic scientific knowledge - objectivity and intersubjectivity, the elimination of subjective moments not inherent in the subject of research for the implementation of the "purity" of its consideration. For example, A. Einstein's formula E = mc2 says nothing about the individuality of its author, his feelings and experiences. This formula expresses the objective fact of the connection between the mass of a material body and the energy concentrated in it. At the same time, in my opinion, it should be borne in mind that the activity of the subject - essential condition and the premise of scientific knowledge. The latter is impossible without a constructive-critical and self-critical attitude of the subject to reality and to himself, excluding inertia, dogmatism, apologetics, subjectivism. Constant orientation towards truth, recognition of its intrinsic value, continuous search for it in difficult and complex conditions is an essential characteristic of scientific knowledge.
- 6) Internal consistency and external justification (A. Einstein's criterion). External justification means that scientific knowledge should not be speculative, it should explain the phenomena of the objective world. This criterion also applies to mathematics, in which external justification means the orientation of mathematical knowledge towards solving problems of mathematical content.
Also, the essential features of scientific knowledge are the principles of verifiability and falsification. According to the principle of verification, a certain concept or judgment has a meaning if it is reducible to direct experience or a statement about it, i.e. empirically verifiable. A distinction is made between direct verification, when there is a direct verification of statements formulating observational and experimental data, and indirect verification. Using the principle of verification makes it possible to separate scientific and non-scientific knowledge, but it does not cope well with its task if some system of representations is built in such a way that almost any observed fact can be explained in its favor (religion, ideology, astrology, etc.). ).
The principle of falsification was proposed by the well-known methodologist of science of the 20th century. K. Popper; the essence of this principle is that the criterion of the scientific status of a theory is its falsifiability, or refutation, i.e. experiments aimed at trying to disprove a certain theory most effectively confirm its truth and scientific character. So, if all the crows you know are dark in color, then, following this principle, direct your search not to find another dark crow, but look for a white crow among them. Another case - we can observe as many examples as we like, every minute confirming the law of universal gravitation. But just one example (for example, a stone that fell not on the ground, but flew away from the ground) is enough to recognize this law false. The importance of the principle of falsification is due to the following. It's easy to get confirmations, or verifications, for almost every theory if you only look for confirmations. According to Popper, each<хорошая>scientific theory is a kind of prohibition - it<запрещает>occurrence of certain events. The more a theory forbids, the better it is. A theory that is not refuted by any conceivable event is unscientific; it can be said that irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory, but its vice. Every real test of a theory is an attempt to falsify (refute) it.
So, the main meaning of scientific knowledge is the discovery of the objective laws of reality - natural, social (social), the laws of cognition itself, thinking, etc. form of idealized objects. If this is not the case, then there is no science, because the very concept of scientificity presupposes the discovery of laws, a deepening into the essence of the phenomena being studied.
On the basis of knowledge of the laws of functioning and development of the objects under study, science predicts the future in order to further the practical development of reality. The focus of science on the study of not only objects that are transformed in today's practice, but also those that can become the subject of practical development in the future, is also an important function of scientific knowledge.
Means and methods are the most important components of the logical structure of the organization of activities.
In the course of the development of science are developed and improved means of knowledge: material, mathematical, logical, linguistic, informational. All means of cognition are specially created means. Material means of knowledge These are, first of all, devices for scientific research. In history, the emergence of material means of cognition is associated with the formation empirical methods research - observations, measurements, experiments.
The use of material means of cognition in science in general has a profound influence on the formation of the conceptual apparatus of sciences, on the ways of describing the subjects studied, the methods of reasoning and representations, on the generalizations, idealizations and arguments used.
Information means of knowledge. The mass introduction of computer technology, information technology, telecommunications fundamentally transforms research activities in many branches of science, making them the means of scientific knowledge. Information tools make it possible to significantly simplify the processing of statistical data in almost all branches of science. And the use of satellite navigation systems greatly increases the accuracy of measurements in geodesy, cartography, etc.
Mathematical means of knowledge. The development of mathematical means of cognition has an ever greater influence on the development of modern science; they also penetrate into the humanities and social sciences. Mathematics, being the science of quantitative relations and spatial forms abstracted from their specific content, has developed and applied specific means of abstracting form from content and formulated the rules for considering form as an independent object in the form of numbers, sets, etc., which simplifies, facilitates and accelerates the process of cognition, allows you to more deeply reveal the connection between objects from which the form is abstracted, to isolate the initial positions, to ensure the accuracy and rigor of judgments. Mathematical tools make it possible to consider not only directly abstracted quantitative relations and spatial forms, but also logically possible, that is, those that are deduced from logical rules from previously known relations and forms.
Under the influence of mathematical means of cognition, the theoretical apparatus of the descriptive sciences undergoes significant changes. Mathematical tools make it possible to systematize empirical data, identify and formulate quantitative dependencies and patterns. Mathematical tools are also used as special forms of idealization and analogy (mathematical modeling).
Logical means of knowledge. In any study, the scientist has to solve logical problems. The use of logical means in the process of constructing reasoning and evidence allows the researcher to separate controlled arguments from intuitive or uncritically accepted, false from true, confusion from contradictions.
Language means of knowledge. An important linguistic means of cognition are, among other things, the rules for constructing definitions of concepts (definitions). In any scientific research, the scientist has to clarify the introduced concepts, symbols and signs, to use new concepts and signs. Definitions are always associated with language as a means of cognition and expression of knowledge.
An essential, sometimes decisive role in the construction of any scientific work is played by the applied research methods.
Research methods are divided into empirical(empirical - literally - perceived through the senses) and theoretical.
Based on this, we highlight:
– methods-operations;
– action methods.
Theoretical methods:
- methods - cognitive actions: identifying and resolving contradictions, posing a problem, building a hypothesis, etc.;
– methods-operations: analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction and concretization, etc.
Tab. 3 Scientific research methods
Methods of scientific knowledge
First of all, it should be noted that in science, in fact, the usual methods of reasoning are used, which are characteristic of any kind of human activity and are widely used by people in their everyday life.
We are talking about induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization, idealization, analogy, description, explanation, prediction, justification, hypothesis, confirmation and refutation, etc.
In science, empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge are distinguished, each of which has its own specific research methods.
Empirical knowledge supplies facts to science, while fixing stable connections, patterns of the world around us.
The most important methods of obtaining empirical knowledge are observation and experiment.
One of the main requirements for observation is not to introduce any changes in the studied reality by the process of observation itself.
In the framework of the experiment, on the contrary, the phenomenon under study is placed in special, specific and variable conditions in order to reveal its essential characteristics and the possibility of their change under the influence of external factors.
An important method of empirical research is measurement, which makes it possible to reveal the quantitative characteristics of the reality under study.
In the sciences of man, culture, society, the search, careful description and study of historical documents and other evidence of culture, both past and present, is of great importance. In the process of empirical knowledge of social phenomena, the collection of information about reality (in particular, statistical data), its systematization and study, as well as various types of sociological surveys, are widely used.
All information obtained as a result of applying such procedures is subjected to statistical processing. It is reproduced many times. The sources of scientific information and the methods of its analysis and generalization are carefully described so that any scientist has the maximum opportunity to verify the results obtained.
However, although they say that “facts are the air of a scientist”, comprehension of reality is impossible without the construction of theories. Even an empirical study of reality cannot begin without a definite theoretical attitude.
Here is how I. P. Pavlov wrote about this: “... at any moment, a certain general idea of \u200b\u200bthe subject is required, in order to have something to cling to the facts, in order to have something to move forward with, in order to have something to assume for future research. Such an assumption is a necessity in the scientific business.
Without theory, a holistic perception of reality is impossible, within the framework of which diverse facts would fit into some single system.
Philosophy promotes not only the search for an effective description and explanation of the studied reality, but also its understanding. It contributes to the development of the scientist's intuition, which allows him to move freely in the intellectual space, actualizing not only explicit, fixed knowledge, but also the so-called implicit, non-verbalized perception of reality. Philosophy takes the work of a scientist beyond the limits of standard and craft and turns it into a truly creative activity.
Means of scientific knowledge
The most important means of scientific knowledge is undoubtedly the language of science.
This, of course, is both a specific vocabulary and a special style. The language of science is characterized by the certainty of the concepts and terms used, the desire for clarity and unambiguity of statements, for strict logic in the presentation of all material.
In modern science, the use of mathematics is becoming increasingly important.
Even G. Galileo argued that the book of Nature was written in the language of mathematics.
In full accordance with this statement, all physics has been developing since the time of G. Galileo as a manifestation of mathematical structures in physical reality. As for other sciences, the process of mathematization is going on in them to an ever-increasing degree. And today it concerns not only the application of mathematics to the processing of empirical data.
The arsenal of mathematics is actively included in the very fabric of theoretical constructions in literally all sciences.
In biology, evolutionary genetics already differs little from physical theory in this respect.
Specificity of methods and means in different sciences
Of course, the methods and means used in different sciences are not the same.
Everyone understands that you can not experiment with the past. Very risky and very limited experiments with man and society. Each science has its own special language, its own system of concepts. Quite significant is the variability both in style and in the degree of rigor of reasoning. To be convinced of this, it is enough to compare mathematical or physical scientific texts with texts related to the humanities or social sciences.
These differences are determined not only by the specifics of the subject areas themselves, but also by the level of development of science in general.
It must be borne in mind that the sciences do not develop in isolation from each other. In science as a whole, there is a constant interpenetration of methods and means of individual sciences. Therefore, the development of a particular field of science is carried out not only due to the techniques, methods and means of knowledge developed in it, but also due to the constant borrowing of the scientific arsenal from other sciences.
Cognitive possibilities in all sciences are constantly increasing. Although different sciences have undoubted specifics, it is not necessary to make them absolute.
In this regard, the use of mathematics in science is extremely revealing.
As history shows, mathematical methods and tools can be developed not only under the influence of the needs of science or practice, but also regardless of the area and methods of their application. The apparatus of mathematics can be used to describe areas of reality that were previously completely unknown to man and subject to laws with which he has never had any contact. This, in the words of J. Wigner, "incredible efficiency of mathematics" makes the prospects for its application in various sciences essentially unlimited.
Here is what J. von Neumann and O. Morgenstern write about this:
“Often the argument against the use of mathematics consists of references to subjective elements, psychological factors, etc., and also to the fact that for many important factors there are still no ways to quantify. This argumentation should be discarded as completely erroneous... Let us imagine that we live in a period preceding the mathematical or almost mathematical phase of the development of physics, i.e. in the 16th century, or in a similar era for chemistry and biology, i.e. in the 18th century ... For those who are skeptical of the application of mathematics to economics, we note that the state of affairs in the physical or biological sciences in these early stages was hardly better than at present in economics.
At the same time, although it is obvious that the sciences will continue to develop and demonstrate to us completely new possibilities for cognizing reality, one should hardly expect the universalization of the methods and means used in the sciences. The peculiarities of the objects of cognition themselves and, accordingly, various cognitive tasks will, apparently, in the future also stimulate the emergence of specific methods and means that are characteristic not only for various sciences, but also for individual areas of research.
