Note: Essay based on CHALMERS, Alan, Science and how it is elaborated. Editorial Siglo XXI. Madrid, 1992.
Nowadays, when speaking of science, it is no longer known what is really being referred to, each being conceives it in a different way; However, it is important to know what is special about it and to have its own concept. It is important to know the different points of view about the nature of science, since we as individuals do not build knowledge from scratch, but rather from some doubt, curiosity and concern; of which, we seek an explanation, although each statement that arises must be judged.
It is for this reason that the philosopher Alan Francis Chalmers, in his book, through a detailed analysis of the history of science and modern scientific theories, highlights how it has evolved and gives a variety of conceptions about science, that allow us to be able to formulate our own criteria and to be the main critics.
Development
At the beginning, the human being simply considered as knowledge, everything that he could verify with his senses, taking science as knowledge derived from experience, saying that facts are a firm foundation for scientific knowledge. Science was believed in the beginning, it was derived from careful observation of the facts, in interpreting results, thus discovering inductivism. Science does not simply need relevant facts, which are subject to change, depending on how scientific understanding advances, experiments are generated where various scientists and philosophers seek to reach a truth.
Something very interesting is the existence of paradigms, which supports the presence of a normal science, establishing what is and what is not science; but the very question of there being a single paradigm as a guarantee that it is science produces a greater unknown. Popper says that scientific theories are susceptible to be improved or replaced by postulating the term falsifiability, understood as a possibility of conflict between the predictions of a theory and some observable result. Giving guidance to positions such as falsificationism, which considers that science is a set of hypotheses proposed in order to accurately explain a condition or system, in other words, it seeks to challenge the knowledge already given.
Then an important personage like Lakatos, raises that an absolute truth is a central nucleus, surrounded by a protective belt that is what has to be deciphered before refuting or dismissing a knowledge; since for him, the scientific knowledge must share the methods and norms that assure the good acquisition of it. In reference to the above, John Locke explains that it is necessary to examine our own capacities and see what can be faced with our understanding, remembering that we as human beings are capable of thinking and feeling; but with unique skills and qualities, which make us perceive and acquire knowledge in different ways.
Another outstanding philosopher and scientist is Feyerabend, with his firm idea that anything goes, making clear that no science is greater than another or no method is better than another; The point is to continue collaborating with science based on the freedom of the individual without thinking of some methodological way so as not to lose consciousness, giving way to Anarchism.
A current that focuses science differently is realism, which is a real way to the world, allowing to prove that scientific theories are true.
It is evident that the points of view about the value of science are very varied and even opposite; however, science must be seen as a kindness that man has to give a possible explanation of the facts, and if science explains them satisfactorily for our reason, then the theories with which such an explanation is presented must be valid and shared. As Chalmers could realize when presenting his work, he describes to us a variety of conceptions of science and maintains as a central idea that there is no method that can prove that scientific theories are unanimous and true; As well as, there is no method that allows to refute them by way of finalizing or having a final conclusion.
Some skeptics will think that science is the creation of man and that it must be totally practical as an instrument to dominate reality, but without a doubt, it is along with experimentation that science must provide sure foundations for science. However, some risks of experimentation are inappropriate for safe observation; if they are not appropriate and significant results, they must be rejected and replaced.
conclusion
It is indisputable that the method or science that is used, whatever it may be, as long as knowledge is proven, has utility and makes progress to the set of knowledge; the ultimate goal of this is being achieved and therefore the way in which the researcher or science acted is correct, because the purpose of a science is not to discover the absolute truth about all the phenomena and events around us, but the purpose of science is to break with the paradigms that man has so that, man can lead towards knowledge and can establish and consolidate in it until another way of conceiving it comes, and has to break with the paradigm again.
When we break paradigms, knowledge is acquired and above all shared, without selfishness and with the free will to spread what one discovers and learns; that's when, without a doubt, really doing science, that's science.
It should be noted that science, particularly, is a world of knowledge in search of continuous development and that is perceived by each individual in a peculiar way; since although different factors influence, such as culture, feelings, money, etc. I believe that the purpose of science will never be to not contribute, or to formulate scientific generalizations that cannot be justified; on the contrary, it is the constant demand to continuously transform and expand our knowledge. Science must simply be practiced in a way that works, with passion, because when something is done with passion, everything flows and every achievement is enjoyed.
Finally I dare to say that science in a few words is INEEFABLE and a world of infinite virtues, that it is our job to cultivate and harvest it, so that it always takes advantage of all the knowledge acquired from nature itself.
Information source: CHALMERS, Alan, Science and how it is made. Editorial Siglo XXI. Madrid, 1992.
