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Functions of modern science in society. The functions of science in the life of society

Science is one of the defining features of modern culture and perhaps its most dynamic component. Today it is impossible to discuss social, cultural, anthropological problems without taking into account the development of scientific thought. None of the major philosophical concepts of the XX century. could not bypass the phenomenon of science, not express her attitude to science as a whole and to the worldview problems that it poses. What is science? What is the main social role of science? Are there limits to scientific knowledge and knowledge in general? What is the place of science-based rationality in a system of other ways of relating to the world? Is non-scientific knowledge possible, what is its status and prospects? Is it possible to scientifically answer the fundamental questions of the worldview: how did the Universe arise, how did life appear, how did man originate, what place does the phenomenon of man occupy in the universal cosmic evolution?

The discussion of all these and many other worldview and philosophical issues accompanied the formation and development of modern science and was a necessary form of understanding the features of both science itself and the civilization within which a scientific attitude to the world became possible. Today these questions are in a new and very acute form. This is due, first of all, to the situation in which modern civilization finds itself. On the one hand, unprecedented prospects for science and technology based on it have come to light. Modern society is entering the information stage of development, the rationalization of the entire social life becomes not only possible, but vital. On the other hand, the limits of the development of civilization of a one-sided technological type were revealed: and in connection with the global ecological crisis, and as a consequence of the revealed impossibility of total control of social processes.

AT last years attention to these issues in our country has noticeably decreased. It seems that one of the main reasons for this is the general sharp drop in the prestige of scientific knowledge in our society, in the catastrophe that Russian science has been experiencing in recent years. Meanwhile, it is quite clear that without developed science Russia has no future as a civilized country.

1. The concept of science

Science is a historically established form human activity, aimed at knowledge and transformation objective reality, such spiritual production, which results in purposefully selected and systematized facts, logically verified hypotheses, generalizing theories, fundamental and particular laws, as well as research methods. Science is both a system of knowledge and its spiritual production, and practical activity based on it.

Modern science is an extremely ramified collection of individual scientific branches. The subject of science is not only the world outside of man, various forms and types of motion of matter, but also their reflection in consciousness, that is, the person himself. According to their subject, sciences are divided into natural-technical, studying the laws of nature and methods of its development and transformation, and social, studying various social phenomena and the laws of their development, as well as man himself as a social being (humanitarian cycle). Among the social sciences, a special place is occupied by a complex of philosophical disciplines that study the most general laws of development of nature, society, and thinking.

AT natural sciences one of the main methods of research is the experiment, and in the social sciences - statistics. General scientific logical methods are induction, deduction, analysis, synthesis, as well as systematic and probable approaches, and much more. In each science, the empirical level is distinguished, that is, the accumulated factual material - the results of observations and experiments, and the theoretical level, that is, the generalization of empirical material, expressed in the relevant theories, laws and principles; evidence-based scientific assumptions, hypotheses that need further verification by experience. Theoretical levels individual sciences merge in a general theoretical, philosophical explanation of open principles and laws, in the formation of the worldview and methodological aspects of scientific knowledge as a whole.

Science in its deepest foundations has always been associated with philosophy, although this connection was not always realized, and sometimes it took ugly forms - as, for example, in our country during the 20-50s. Science appears simultaneously with philosophy when myth becomes powerless to explain the world.

The interaction of philosophy and science is well traced in the work of many outstanding natural scientists. It is especially characteristic of critical epochs, when a fundamentally new scientific knowledge was created. We can recall, say, the “Rules of Inference in Physics”, developed by the great Newton, which laid the methodological foundation of classical science and became the standard of scientific method in physical and mathematical natural science for a century ahead. Considerable attention was paid to philosophical problems by the creators of non-classical science - Einstein and Bohr, Born and Heisenberg, and here in Russia - V.I. Vernadsky, who anticipated in his philosophical reflections a number of features of the scientific method and the scientific picture of the world of our day.

A decisive impetus for a broad discussion around the world of the consequences of scientific and technological progress, the dangers of malicious use of discoveries modern natural science, as well as the ethical problems of modern science, social responsibility naturalist was given atomic bombing Americans of Japanese cities and the role played by physicists in creating theoretical background and making the atomic bomb. Speaking of these features, one should keep in mind not only research activity in itself, but also its role as an intellectual foundation of technological progress, which is rapidly changing modern world, as well as the social consequences of modern science.

2. Basic functions of science

The functions of science are distinguished depending on general purpose its industries and their role in the development of the surrounding world with a constructive purpose. The functions of science are outward manifestation any of its essential properties. According to them, one can judge its ability to participate in solving the problems posed to society, and the ability to create more favorable conditions for people's lives and the development of culture.

The functions of science are distinguished by the main activities of researchers, their main tasks, as well as the scope of the acquired knowledge. Thus, the main functions of science can be defined as cognitive, ideological, industrial, social and cultural.

The cognitive function is fundamental, given by the very essence of science, the purpose of which is to understand nature, man and society as a whole, as well as in the rational-theoretical comprehension of the world, explaining processes and phenomena, discovering patterns and laws, making forecasts, etc. This function is reduced to the production of new scientific knowledge.

The ideological function is largely intertwined with the cognitive one. They are interrelated, since its goal is to develop a scientific picture of the world and the worldview corresponding to it. Also, this function implies the study of a rationalistic attitude of a person to the world, the development of a scientific worldview, which means that scientists (along with philosophers) must develop scientific worldview universals and corresponding value orientations.

The production function, which can also be called a technical and technological function, is necessary for the introduction of innovations, new forms of organization of processes, technologies and scientific innovations in manufacturing industries. In this regard, science turns into a productive force working for the benefit of society, a kind of workshop in which new ideas and their implementation are developed and implemented. In this regard, scientists are even sometimes referred to as production workers, which most fully characterizes the production function of science.

The social function began to stand out especially significantly in recent times. This is due to the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution. In this regard, science turns into a social force. This is manifested in situations where the data of science are used in the development of programs for social and economic development. Since such plans and programs are of a complex nature, their development presupposes close interaction between various branches of the natural, social and technical sciences.

The cultural functions of science (or educational) boil down to the fact that science is a kind of cultural phenomenon, an important factor in the development of people, their education and upbringing. Achievements of science significantly influence the educational process, the content of educational programs, technologies, methods and form of education. This function is implemented through the education system, the media, journalistic and educational activities of scientists.

The structure and functions of science are closely related. Objective existence includes three main areas: nature, man and society. In this regard, three main elements are distinguished in the structure of science. According to the sphere of the reality being studied, scientific knowledge is divided into natural science (the sciences of nature) and social science (the sciences of man and the sciences of society).

Natural science investigates everything related to nature. It reflects the logic of nature. The structure of natural science teachings and knowledge is complex and varied. It includes knowledge about matter, the interaction of substances, chemical elements, living matter, Earth, Space. From here the fundamental natural-science directions develop.

Social science studies social phenomena, systems, their structures, processes and states. These sciences provide knowledge about various social relations and relationships between people. Scientific knowledge about society combines three areas: sociological, economic and state-legal. A separate area is knowledge about a person and his consciousness.

3. The social role of science

The main function of science is to produce new knowledge about the surrounding world. This knowledge is necessary in order, first of all, to explain the facts that one has to constantly meet in different areas production-technical, cultural-historical, cognitive-cultural and daily practical activities. To carry out this function, science creates concepts, puts forward hypotheses, discovers laws and builds theories. In principle, any explanation is a deductive conclusion of a specific statement about a fact from some general premise, most often from a law or theory. In addition, as a lesser premise, statements are used that clarify specific conditions related to the fact (initial or boundary conditions). However, despite all the importance and necessity of the explanatory function of science, it is limited only to the study of existing facts.

Science as a social institution is a social way of organizing the joint activities of scientists, who are a special socio-professional group, a certain community.

The institutionalization of science is achieved through known forms organizations, specific institutions, traditions, norms, values, ideals, etc. The purpose and purpose of science as a social institution is the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge, the development of research tools and methods, the reproduction of scientists and ensuring that they fulfill their social functions.

During the formation of science as a social institution, material prerequisites matured, the intellectual climate necessary for this was created, and an appropriate system of thinking was developed. Of course, even then scientific knowledge was not isolated from rapidly developing technology, but the connection between them was one-sided. Some problems that arose during the development of technology became the subject of scientific research and even gave rise to new scientific disciplines. So it was, for example, with hydraulics and thermodynamics. Science itself gave little to practical activity - industry, agriculture, medicine. And the point was not only that the practice itself, as a rule, did not know how, but also felt the need to rely on the achievements of science, or at least simply take them systematically into account.

Today, in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution, one more concept is more and more clearly revealed in science, it acts as a social force. This is most clearly manifested in those numerous situations today, when the data and methods of science are used to develop large-scale plans and programs for social economic development. When compiling each such program, which, as a rule, determines the goals of the activities of many enterprises, institutions and organizations, it is fundamentally necessary for the direct participation of scientists as carriers of special knowledge and methods from different fields. Also, in view of the complex nature of such plans and programs, their development and implementation involve the interaction of social, natural and technical sciences.

findings

As a result of the work done, the goal was achieved and the tasks set were completed. In the course of the analysis, a description of the functions of science was made. The role of these functions, the structure was determined, and the most basic functions of science were identified.

The social functions of science change and develop historically, just like science itself. The development of social functions is an important aspect of science itself. Modern science is fundamentally different from the science that existed half a century ago. Its nature of interaction with society has changed.

Thus, summarizing all of the above, the main functions of science include the production of scientific and theoretical knowledge, the function of observation, description, explanation, the ideological and cultural function of science, the technological function and the function of science as a direct productive force. The function of science as a factor in the social regulation of social processes is important, as well as a projective-constructive function.

List of used literature

1. Science: functions, features, interaction with philosophy and education. [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.countries.ru/library/science/scfoi.htm .
2. 2. Functions of science. [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://fb.ru/article/3026/funktsii-nauki .
3. The concept of science, its structure and functions. [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://filosof.historic.ru/books/item/f00/s00/z0000000/st049.shtml .
4. Grigoriev V.I. Science and technology in the context of culture / V.I. Grigoriev. M.: Publishing House of the University of Friendship of Peoples, 1989. 158 p.
5. Alekseeva L.A., Dodonov R.A., Muza D.E. Philosophy of science and technology. Teaching aid for undergraduates. Third edition, rev. and additional - Donetsk: DonNTU, 2010. - 128s.

To carry out this function, science creates concepts, puts forward hypotheses, discovers laws and builds theories. In principle, any explanation is a deductive conclusion of a specific statement about a fact from some general premise, most often from a law or theory. In addition, as a lesser premise, statements are used that clarify specific conditions related to the fact (initial or boundary conditions). However, despite all the importance and necessity of the explanatory function of science, it is limited only to the study of existing facts.

Of much greater practical interest is the prediction of new phenomena and events, which provides an opportunity to act with knowledge of the matter both in the present and especially in the future. This predictive function of science is carried out with the help of the same laws and theories of science that are used for explanation. For example, the law gravity was used not only to explain the motion of the planets known in the 19th century in solar system, but also the discovery in the future of such planets as Neptune and Pluto. This example shows that although in their logical structure the laws and theories used for explanation and foresight are the same, but in application they differ significantly: in one case they explain existing facts and events, in the other they predict new events. Due to the uncertainty of the future, not only existing laws and theories are used for prediction, but also hypotheses representing scientific assumptions.

Along with explanation, science also contributes to the understanding of events and phenomena. This function plays a significant role in social and humanitarian knowledge, which is focused on the study of the expedient activities of people in various fields. public life. In order to understand the actions and actions of people, it is necessary to interpret them accordingly, i.e. reveal their meaning. Often they do not distinguish between understanding and explanation and simply identify them. They actually do different functions in knowledge. Understanding is associated with the purposeful activities of people: setting goals, making decisions, motives for behavior, protecting interests, etc. Therefore, this function is realized precisely in the humanities that study the activities of people. In nature, there are no goals, motives and interests, therefore, strictly speaking, understanding is not applicable to it. Although they often talk about understanding nature, but in this case have in mind its explanation with the help of the laws and theories of science. This difference between explanation and understanding was emphasized by the famous German philosopher and art historian Wilhelm Dilthey, who noted that “we explain nature, but we must understand man.”

The functions of scientific knowledge discussed above are organically connected with such basic goals of science as serving as the basis scientific outlook, source of development productive forces and social factor in the development of society.

Science as the basis of the worldview. Each person has his own view of the world around him, with the help of which he expresses his attitude towards him and gives him an assessment, but such a view is of an individual nature. Therefore, even in the primitive era, collective views on the world spontaneously arise, which express the agreed opinion of various communities of people on the structure of the world, attitude and assessment of it, fixed and transmitted to future generations. One of ancient forms worldview is mythology (from the Greek. mythos - legend, narration, logos - word, doctrine), which in a fantastic form explains the structure of nature and the events of social life. In stories about mythological gods, heroes and supernatural events, passed down from generation to generation, ancient people tried to explain the structure of the surrounding world of nature and social life. Since myths contain references to supernatural forces, they contain elements religious outlook. In addition to this, they include moral standards behavior, as well as aesthetic criteria.

Elements of the scientific worldview are first formed in ancient society in connection with the criticism of obsolete mythological views and the formation of rational views of the world in science. Ancient Greece. With the emergence of experimental natural science, science becomes an essential component of the modern worldview. Together with philosophy, it constitutes its rational-theoretical basis, since it is with their help that the scientific picture of the world is formed. Such a picture reflects the basic principles and fundamental laws of development, both nature and society. Accordingly, a distinction is made between the natural-scientific picture of nature, on the one hand, and the picture of social life, on the other.

Science exerts its influence on the worldview primarily through the scientific picture of the world, in which the general principles of the world order are expressed in a concentrated form. Therefore, acquaintance with them is the most important task of both modern education and the formation of the scientific worldview of the individual.

Science as a productive force of society. By discovering the objective laws of nature, science creates real opportunities for their practical use society. However, until the middle of the 19th century, the application of the achievements of science was sporadic: individual scientific inventions and discoveries were used, technological processes were improved in some industries. With the emergence of such technical disciplines as the technology of metals, the strength of materials, the theory of mechanisms and machines, electrical engineering and others, the use of the achievements of both fundamental and applied sciences has become more focused. Science, especially applied science, has become more closely associated with production, responding better and more quickly to its requests. However, only in the second half of the 20th century, its achievements began to be systematically and systematically applied in technology and organization of production. Science as a direct productive force was first discussed during the scientific and technological revolution of the 20th century, when the latest achievements of science began to be used to replace manual labor with machine labor, to mechanize and automate labor-intensive processes in production technology, to use computers and other information technology in various industries. National economy. The promotion of the latest achievements of science into production was largely facilitated by the creation of special associations for scientific research and design development (R&D), which were tasked with bringing scientific projects for their direct use in production. The establishment of such an intermediate link between the theoretical and applied sciences and their embodiment in specific design developments contributed to the convergence of science with production and its transformation into a real productive force.

Science as social factor development of society. Following the transformation of science into a direct productive force, it gradually begins to play an ever greater role as a social force in the development of society. This task is carried out primarily by socio-economic and cultural-humanitarian sciences, which play a regulatory role in various fields. social activities. Now that threats are on the rise global crises in ecology, energy, shortages of raw materials and food, the importance of social sciences in the life of society is growing even more. Their efforts should now be directed at the rational organization of public life, the main components of which are its democratization, raising the living standards of the population, affirming and strengthening civil society and individual freedom.

FUNCTIONS OF SCIENCE IN THE LIFE OF SOCIETY (SCIENCE AS A PRODUCTIVE AND SOCIAL FORCE)

Speaking of modern science in her interaction with various areas the life of society and the individual, we can distinguish three groups of social functions performed by it. These are, firstly, cultural and ideological functions, secondly, the functions of science as a direct productive force, and, thirdly, its functions as a social force, due to the fact that scientific knowledge and methods are now increasingly used in solving a variety of problems. problems that arise in society.

The order in which these groups of functions are listed essentially reflects the historical process of the formation and expansion of the social functions of science, that is, the emergence and strengthening of ever new channels of its interaction with society. So, during the period of the formation of science as a special social institution (this is the period of the crisis of feudalism, the birth of bourgeois public relations and the formation of capitalism, that is, the Renaissance and the New Age), its influence was found primarily in the sphere of worldview, where during all this time there was a sharp and stubborn struggle between theology and science.

The fact is that in the preceding era of the Middle Ages, theology gradually won the position of the supreme authority, called upon to discuss and solve fundamental worldview problems, such as the question of the structure of the universe and the place of man in it, the meaning and highest values of life, etc. In the sphere the problems of a more private and "earthly" order remained in the emerging science.

The great significance of the Copernican upheaval, which began four and a half centuries ago, lies in the fact that for the first time science challenged theology's right to monopoly determine the formation of a worldview. This was the first act in the process of penetration of scientific knowledge and scientific thinking into the structure of human activity and society; it was here that the first real signs of the emergence of science into worldview problems, into the world of human reflections and aspirations, were discovered. Indeed, in order to accept heliocentric system Copernicus, it was necessary not only to abandon some of the dogmas approved by theology, but also to agree with ideas that sharply contradicted the ordinary worldview.

A lot of time had to pass, which absorbed such dramatic episodes as the burning of J. Bruno, the abdication of G. Galileo, ideological conflicts in connection with the teachings of Charles Darwin on the origin of species, before science could become the decisive authority in matters of paramount ideological significance, concerning the structure of matter and the structure of the Universe, the origin and essence of life, the origin of man, etc. It took even longer for the answers offered by science to these and other questions to become elements general education. Without this, scientific ideas could not become an integral part of the culture of society. Simultaneously with this process of the emergence and strengthening of the cultural and ideological functions of science, the very occupation of science gradually became in the eyes of society an independent and quite worthy sphere of human activity. In other words, the formation of science as a social institution in the structure of society took place.

As for the functions of science as a direct productive force, these functions seem to us today, perhaps, not only the most obvious, but also the first, primordial. And this is understandable, given the unprecedented scale and pace of modern scientific and technological progress, the results of which are tangibly manifested in all sectors of life and in all spheres of human activity.

During the formation of science as a social institution, the material prerequisites for the implementation of such a synthesis matured, the intellectual climate necessary for this was created, and an appropriate system of thinking was developed. Of course, even then scientific knowledge was not isolated from rapidly developing technology, but the connection between them was one-sided. Some of the problems that arose during the development of technology became the subject of scientific research and even gave rise to new scientific disciplines. So it was, for example, with hydraulics, with thermodynamics. Science itself gave little practical activity - industry, agriculture, medicine. And it was not only the insufficient level of development of science, but above all that practical activity, as a rule, could not, and did not feel the need to rely on the achievements of science, or even simply take them into account systematically.

Until the middle of the 19th century, cases when the results of scientific research were found practical use, were episodic and did not lead to universal awareness and rational use the richest possibilities that their practical use promised.

Over time, however, it became obvious that the purely empirical basis of practical activity was too narrow and limited to ensure the continuous development of the productive forces and the progress of technology. Both industrialists and scientists began to see science as a powerful catalyst for the process of continuous improvement of means. production activities. The realization of this drastically changed the attitude towards science and was an essential prerequisite for its decisive turn towards practice, material production. And here, as in the cultural and ideological sphere, science was not limited to a subordinate role for long and rather quickly revealed its potential as a revolutionary force that radically changes the appearance and nature of production.

An important aspect of the transformation of science into a direct productive force is the creation and strengthening of permanent channels for the practical use of scientific knowledge, the emergence of such branches of activity as applied research and development, creation of networks of scientific and technical information and others. Moreover, following industry, such channels also appear in other branches of material production and even beyond. All this entailed significant consequences for both science and practice.

If we talk about science, then it first of all received a new powerful impulse for your development. For its part, practice is more and more clearly oriented towards a stable and continuously expanding connection with science. For modern production, and not only for it, the ever wider application of scientific knowledge acts as required condition the very existence and reproduction of many types of activity that arose in their time without any connection with science, not to mention those that are generated by it.

Today, in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution, another group of functions is more and more clearly revealed in science - it begins to act as a social force, being directly involved in the processes social development. This is most clearly manifested in those rather numerous situations today, when the data and methods of science are used to develop large-scale plans and programs for social and economic development. When compiling each such program, which, as a rule, determines the goals of the activities of many enterprises, institutions and organizations, it is fundamentally necessary for the direct participation of scientists as carriers of special knowledge and methods from different fields. It is also significant that in view of the complex nature of such plans and programs, their development and implementation presuppose the interaction of the social, natural and technical sciences.

The functions of science as a social force in solving the global problems of our time are very important. An example of this is environmental issues. As you know, rapid scientific and technological progress is one of the main reasons for such phenomena dangerous to society and man as exhaustion. natural resources planet, growing pollution of air, water, soil. Consequently, science is one of the factors of those radical and far from harmless changes that are taking place today in the human environment. Scientists themselves do not hide this. On the contrary, it was they who were among those who were the first to sound the alarms, it was they who were the first to see the symptoms of an impending crisis and attracted the attention of the public, political and political to this topic. statesmen, business leaders. Scientific data play a leading role in determining the scale and parameters of environmental hazards.

Science in this case is by no means limited to the creation of means for solving the goals set before it from the outside. And an explanation of the causes environmental hazard, and the search for ways to prevent it, the first formulations environmental problem and its subsequent refinements, the promotion of goals to society and the creation of means to achieve them - all this in this case is closely connected with science, which acts as a social force. In this capacity, science has a complex impact on social life, especially intensively affecting technical and economic development, social management and those social institutions that are involved in shaping the worldview.

The growing role of science in public life gave rise to its special status in contemporary culture and new features of its interaction with various layers of public consciousness. In this regard, the problem of the peculiarities of scientific knowledge and its correlation with other forms of cognitive activity (art, ordinary consciousness, etc.) is acutely posed. This problem, being philosophical in nature, at the same time has great practical significance. Understanding the specifics of science is a necessary prerequisite for the implementation scientific methods in the management of cultural processes. It is also necessary for building a theory of management of science itself in the conditions of accelerated scientific and technological progress, since the elucidation of the laws of scientific knowledge requires an analysis of its social conditioning and its interaction with various phenomena of spiritual and material culture.

The functions of science. The role of science in modern education and personality formation.

The problem associated with the classification of the functions of science is still controversial, partly because the latter has developed, assuming new and new functions, partly due to the fact that, acting as a sociocultural phenomenon, it begins to care more than about the objective and impersonal regularities, but about the co-evolutionary fitting into the world of all the achievements of scientific and technological progress. As a special and priority problem, the question of the social functions of science is singled out, among which three main ones are most often distinguished:

1) cultural and worldview;

2) the function of the direct productive force;

3) the function of social power.

The latter assumes that the methods of science and its data are used to develop large-scale plans for social and economic development. Science manifests itself as a function of social force in solving the global problems of our time (depletion of natural resources, atmospheric pollution, determining the scale of environmental danger).

Science as a social institution includes, first of all, scientists with their knowledge, qualifications and experience; division and cooperation scientific work; a well-established and efficient system of scientific information; scientific organizations and institutions, scientific schools and communities; experimental and laboratory equipment, etc. modern conditions of paramount importance is the process of optimal organization of the management of science and its development.

Science is universal public form development of knowledge, the product of "general historical development in its abstract result" (Marx). However, the collectivity of forms of activity in modern fundamental or applied science by no means "cancels" the individual character of scientific research. The leading figures of science are brilliant, talented, gifted, creatively thinking innovative scientists. Outstanding researchers, obsessed with striving for the new, stand at the origins of revolutionary turns in the development of science. The interaction of the individual, personal and universal, collective in science is a real, living contradiction of its development.

The emphasis on the collective nature of scientific creativity in no way infringes on the role of the individual principle. Scientific creativity is not just individual: an innovatively thinking individual appears in this process as a unique, inimitable personality. English physicist J. Thomson wittily noted that an attempt to "think" an individual, a scientist from science "is tantamount to playing Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark."

The individual-personal beginning primarily affects both the process of scientific research and its results. Emphasizing important role personality of a scientist in scientific research, A. Einstein wrote that "the content of science can be comprehended and analyzed without going into consideration individual development its creators. But with such a one-sided-objective presentation, individual steps can sometimes seem like random luck. An understanding of how these steps became possible and even necessary is achieved only by following the mental development of the individuals who helped to identify the direction of these steps.

The great naturalist and great thinker V. I. Vernadsky drew attention to the fact that science does not exist apart from a person, a scientist, and is his creation in certain historical conditions. Therefore, "scientific thought is both an individual and a social phenomenon. It is inseparable from a person. A person cannot leave the field of his existence with the deepest abstraction. Science is real phenomenon and, like man himself, is closely and inextricably linked with the noosphere"

Being one of the forms of social consciousness, science is closely connected with its other forms, common features which is that they all represent various ways reflections of reality. The differences between them lie in the specifics of the object of knowledge, the principles of its reflection, as well as in the nature of the public purpose. Unlike, for example, art, which reflects reality in artistic images, science does this in the form of abstract concepts, provisions, generalized in the form of hypotheses, laws, theories, etc.

The transformation of modern science into a direct productive force of society is closely connected with qualitative changes in science itself as a social institution. To replace the classical science of universities, small scientific teams such as scientific societies and academies of the 18th-19th centuries. comes a powerful ramified social organism of the so-called "big science".

The formation of a complex organism of "big science" stimulates the development of this kind of research, which is characteristic of modern era. Thus, the existence of science as a specific social institution, which is more and more actively involved in the life of society and has its own branched structure, between the elements of which are formed certain connections and relationships, is the focus of the sociology of science. The complication of people's relationships within science as a social organism puts forward the problems of its socio-psychological analysis. Science further acts as an element of culture as a whole, embodying a certain type of activity in culture. It feeds on the juices of the whole culture and at the same time has a powerful effect on it. Thus, a cultural study of science becomes necessary.

At the same time, it should be emphasized that science has been and remains primarily a means of forming scientific knowledge, a scientific picture of the world. The very existence of science as a specific social institution, its ever-increasing role in society is ultimately due to the fact that science is called upon to perform functions in the system of social division of labor related to the implementation of activities for the formation and development of scientific knowledge, certain norms of cognitive attitude to reality.

Sometimes researchers pay attention to the projective-constructive function of science, since it precedes the phase of real practical transformation and is an integral part of the intellectual search of any rank. This function is associated with the creation of qualitatively new technologies, which is extremely important in our time.

Since the main goal of science has always been associated with the production and systematization of objective knowledge, the necessary functions of science included the description, explanation and prediction of the processes and phenomena of reality based on the laws discovered by science. Thus, the main constituting the very building of science is the function of production and reproduction of true knowledge.

Social

- Cultural and ideological.

– The function of direct productive force.

- The function of social power.

The latter function assumes that the methods of science and its data are used to develop large-scale plans for social and economic development. It manifests itself in solving global problems of our time. In this function, science affects social management. Some researchers led the design-constructive function of science, tk. it precedes the phase of real practical transformation and is an integral part of the intellectual search.

General

– Descriptive

– Explanation

– Prediction of the phenomena of reality on the basis of the laws discovered by science.

The social functions of science are not something given once and for all. On the contrary, they historically change and develop, representing an important aspect of the development of science itself.

Modern science is in many respects essentially, radically different from the science that existed a century or even half a century ago. Its entire appearance and the nature of its interrelations with society have changed.

Speaking about modern science in its interaction with various spheres of society and the individual, we can distinguish three groups of social functions performed by it. These are, firstly, cultural and ideological functions, secondly, the functions of science as a direct productive force, and, thirdly, its functions as a social force, due to the fact that scientific knowledge and methods are now increasingly used in solving a variety of problems. problems that arise in society.

The order in which these groups of functions are listed essentially reflects the historical process of the formation and expansion of the social functions of science, that is, the emergence and strengthening of ever new channels of its interaction with society. So, during the period of the formation of science as a special social institution (this is the period of the crisis of feudalism, the birth of bourgeois social relations and the formation of capitalism, that is, the Renaissance and the New Age), its influence was found primarily in the sphere of worldview, where during all this time there was an acute and stubborn struggle between theology and science.

The purely empirical basis of practical activity is too narrow and limited to ensure the continuous development of the productive forces and the progress of technology. Both industrialists and scientists began to see in science a powerful catalyst for the process of continuous improvement of the means of production. The realization of this drastically changed the attitude towards science and was an essential prerequisite for its decisive turn towards practice, material production. And here, as in the cultural and ideological sphere, science was not limited to a subordinate role for long and rather quickly revealed its potential as a revolutionary force that radically changes the appearance and nature of production.

The functions of science as a social force in solving the global problems of our time are very important. An example of this is environmental issues.
The growing role of science in social life has given rise to its special status in modern culture and new features of its interaction with various layers of social consciousness. In this regard, the problem of the peculiarities of scientific knowledge and its correlation with other forms of cognitive activity (art, ordinary consciousness, etc.) is acutely posed.

Functions of science in society. Science plays an essential role in public life. As time goes by, it becomes more and more important. In addition, the impact of science on social processes is quite unexpected, and sometimes dramatic. However, even everyday life cannot be imagined without it.

person. The scientific space is expanding and very rapidly. At the same time, the number of scientists is growing, suffice it to recall that in the 19th century there were several hundred of them, and today there are tens of thousands. Science can be considered as knowledge and cognition, as an element of culture, as an academic and social system. This indicates that there are quite a lot of functions of science in society. They are constantly changing. At various periods of history, certain functions of science come to the fore. Three groups of functions that science performs in society can be distinguished: the cultural and ideological function of science as a direct productive force of society; the function of science as a social force. In the XVII-XVII centuries, the role of science was revealed primarily in the sphere of worldview Then there was an active criticism of religion, the task arose of a scientific interpretation of nature, as well as substantiation of the needs of a new stage in the development of society - the stage of the birth, development and establishment of the capitalist mode of production. To the first serious The clashes of science and religion include the creation of the heliocentric system of the cosmos by N. Copernicus. Science for the first time invaded the area where theology had previously reigned supreme. To agree with the system of N. Copernicus, a person had to give up some religious and dogmatic postulates. In addition, these ideas are sharply contradictory to the ordinary perception of the world. the worldview had to change - the system of views on the objective world and the place of a person in it, on the attitude of a person to the reality around him and to himself, as well as the basic life positions of people, their beliefs, ideals, principles of cognition and activity, value orientations conditioned by these views. Quite a lot of time passed before scientific knowledge about nature, society, man became an integral part of the education system, that is, recognized as socially significant. Scientists have long been perceived as sorcerers and heretics. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, when science became a generally recognized social institution, science became a respected area of human activity. technology, made science and productivity a force. Industrialists and scientists realized that science can dramatically accelerate the process of improving production, which depends primarily on their cooperation. Finally, in the 20th century, science also acts as a social force. The emergence of global problems arising as a result of the objective development of society, posing a threat to the entire human

humankind and requiring the combined efforts of the entire world community for their solution, has accelerated the formation of this function of science. Among the global problems, one can single out problems of a political and socio-economic nature (prevention of nuclear war, the normal functioning of the world economy, the overcoming of backwardness by underdeveloped countries); natural and economic nature (environmental, energy, food, raw materials and the problem of the world ocean); social nature (demographic, interethnic relations, the crisis of culture and morality, the lack of democracy, urbanization, health care). For example, science is also involved in solving environmental problems (ozone hole, greenhouse effect, carcinogens, etc.). It should be noted that scientists are the first to signal danger. Significant is the fact that the role of scientists as experts in decision-making by politicians is also growing. The special status of science in modern culture has led to new features of its interaction with various layers and forms of social consciousness. Of increasing interest is the problem of the interaction of science and art, scientific knowledge and everyday consciousness, the problem of scientific methods in social management, as well as everything related to the causes, course and consequences of the scientific and technological revolution. At the same time, it is necessary to note the negative impact of science in modern society not only in terms of ecological, but above all in the spiritual sphere. Scientific rationalism, its absolutization, is considered today one of the main reasons that destroy the spiritual world of a person, which becomes flawed without emotional, moral, irrational, religious components. scientific truth. The problem of the correspondence of our knowledge to objective reality in the philosophy of science is called the problem of truth. In this case, the concept of "truth" is conditional, it does not mean complete, comprehensive, knowledge about the world. The problem of truth boils down to the following points: 1) in what relation is our knowledge to outside world(as far as it is adequate, corresponds to realities); 2) how to establish the correspondence of our knowledge to realities, that is, how to make sure of their adequacy. This problem is difficult because this process<препятствуют» социокультурные факторы. Адекватное содержание нашего знания, соответствие его реальности, принято называть объективной истиной, то есть истиной, исключающей всякого рода субъективные и культурные факторы. Каким же способом можно выявить объективную истину в наших знаниях? И имеется ли она там? Первый способ - логический анализ. Платон, в частности, полагал, что истинным может быть только знание о сущности вещей. Оно и достигается 117

with the help of logic. Plato singled out opinion, that is, knowledge about various constantly changing objects, due to which this knowledge cannot be obtained and verified using logical reasoning. That is, objective truth, according to Plato, is the knowledge of the eternal, unchanging, absolute. The second way to establish the objective content of our knowledge is sensory contemplation. The solution to this problem lies on the path of synthesis of sensual and rational approaches. The basis of cognition and the criterion (sign) of the objectivity of human knowledge about the world is the subject-practical activity, or practice, which is considered both as the basis for the formation of knowledge, including scientific knowledge, and as a means of verifying their objectivity. But since the practice itself is changeable and constantly evolving, the idea of development must also be included in the theory of knowledge. Cognitive truth is not something eternal, unchanging, it cannot be established once and for all. The entire development of human knowledge, including science, is a constant replacement of some relative truths by other relative truths. However, one can recognize the existence of absolute cognitive truth, if we understand it as a limit, goal, landmark. Therefore, completely complete, accurate, comprehensive, exhaustive knowledge about the world is called absolute truth. Scientific rationality and the structure of science. IN In connection with the complication of processes in the information society, the regulatory function of rationality increases. In the history of culture, ancient, medieval, classical (New Time), non-Yuthassic (since the end of the 19th century) types of cultural rationality are distinguished. In addition, there are scientific rationality, religious, magical and other types of rationality. The rationality of science and other forms of human activity acts as historically changeable, which leads to the need to consider this phenomenon in the aspect of successive styles or types of rationality, to describe changes in scientific and cultural norms, values, rules, and standards. For methodologists of science, it has recently become increasingly clear that there can be no generally accepted definition of scientific rationality. In accordance with one of the many definitions, rationality is a system of closed and self-sufficient rules, norms and standards accepted and generally significant within a given society to achieve socially meaningful goals (A. I. Rakitov). With a change in goals, there is a revision of the rationality existing in a given society. In the history of philosophy, the problem of correcting, expanding and overcoming the boundaries of scientific rationality has always existed. The specificity of a particular historical culture determined the field for discussion. 118

Scientific rationality includes the components that determine the totality of scientific research in a given era. These are the foundations of science and paradigm. The foundations of science are the necessary conditions that are the prerequisite for any scientific research. Such grounds usually include the scientific picture of the world, which is the most general ideas about the world that are developed by science in a certain historical period, the ideals and norms of scientific knowledge that perform a regulatory function, the philosophical principles of scientific knowledge, which are the link between the scientific picture of the world and ideals and norms of scientific knowledge. The concept of a paradigm refers to the set of beliefs, values and technical means adopted by a given scientific community. The concept was invented by the American philosopher T. Kuhn, who believed that a paradigm is what unites the members of a given scientific community, and, conversely, the scientific community consists of people who recognize this paradigm. The paradigm includes criteria for the scientific nature of knowledge, that is, a certain set of features that make it possible to distinguish scientific knowledge from myth, ideology, religion and other systems of knowledge. Today, there are several dozen such criteria: consistency, objectivity, problematicity, experimental verification, systematic presentation of the material, etc. Within the framework of research programs (a series of successive theories), theoretical and empirical levels of research are distinguished. At the empirical level, phenomena and connections between them are studied, the essence of the object is revealed through phenomena. Theoretical knowledge, on the other hand, studies the essential connections in its pure form, that is, it recreates the relationship between patterns and thus reveals the essence of the object. In the history of modern science, classical, non-classical and post-non-classical types of rationality are distinguished, characterized by a different depth of reflection in relation to the scientific activity itself. Concentrating attention on the object, the classical type of scientific rationality seeks to eliminate everything related to the subject, operations and means of its activity in the course of theoretical explanation and description. Such a position is a condition for obtaining objectively true knowledge about the world. Classical science does not comprehend worldview attitudes and value orientations. The non-classical type of scientific rationality seeks to take into account the connections between knowledge about the object and the nature of the means and operations of activity, which is a condition for understanding the world. However, the connections between intrascientific and social values and goals are again not the subject of scientific reflection. Finally, the post-nonclassical type of scientific rationality takes into account the correlation of acquired knowledge 119

about the object, not only with the peculiarity of the means and operations of activity, but also with value-target structures. At the same time, the connection between intra-scientific goals and extra-scientific, social goals and values is explicated. Scientism and anti-scientism. TO middle XIX centuries in philosophy, two main directions have developed in the interpretation of the relationship between science and culture, which in modern terminology are defined as scientism and anti-scientism. Scientism is characterized by the fact that it glorifies science, focuses on "science-research", absolutizing its role and possibilities in solving social problems. The ideal for him is not any scientific knowledge, but, first of all, the methods and results of natural scientific knowledge, which are least affected by "science-world outlook". Concrete manifestations of this trend are the concepts of science developed within the framework of modern schools of neopositivism, technocracy, and also the views of a number of representatives of the humanities who are trying to develop social cognition strictly along the lines of the natural sciences. This trend has deep roots in European culture. The focus of anti-scientism is a person, his interests and values. Science and the technology created on its basis are the essence of the force of alienation, dehumanization, domination. The social meaning of antiscientism's criticism of science is not unambiguous and depends on specific social circumstances. The most striking expression of this trend is existentialism. Directions of philosophy of science. At present, a number of main directions of the philosophy of science are distinguished. First, it is relativism, rooted in the American pragmatist philosophy of science, which adopted the tradition of the ancient sophists and skeptics (the well-known principle of the sophists, who interpret man as the “measure of all things”) and approved the relativity, conventionality, situationality of scientific knowledge; secondly, fallibilism is a direction that cultivates the fallibility of knowledge (it claims that theories are not only erroneous, but that all theories are erroneous) and goes back to the American philosopher C.S. neopositivism, but at the same time borrowing a lot from it; thirdly, evolutionary epistemology, behind which stands the tradition of the natural-scientific and philosophical understanding of the world as becoming, evolving; fourthly, a synthetic direction, which is conditionally called the concepts of scientific rationality, which arose in opposition to skepticism and fallibilism, which narrowed the field of rational thinking (they are rooted in European rationalism, one of the latest manifestations of which was neopositivism). 120

Currently, one more direction stands out - empirical constructivism, which considers knowledge in its formation, the regulators of which are looking for in practical activities, understanding the latter as the daily laboratory activities of a researcher or the conceptual operations of a theoretician. B. van Fraassen, by promoting such a radical concept as constructive empiricism, challenged the community of philosophers of science and gave rise to many discussions. Methods And proceduresscientific research. A method is a way of theoretical research or practical implementation of something. The methods and procedures of scientific research include: synthesis - the combination of previously isolated parts of an object into a single whole; analysis - the division of an integral object into its constituent parts for the purpose of their comprehensive study; abstraction generalization, measurement, comparison; induction - when a general conclusion from reasoning is based on private premises; deduction - when a conclusion of a particular nature necessarily follows from general premises; analogy; modeling - the study of an object by creating and examining its copy; observation; experiment; axiom; hypothesis; formalization - the essence of the technique lies in the fact that an abstract mathematical model is built that reveals the essence of this phenomenon, that is, the law; historical method, logical method, etc.

As the main criteria for distinguishing the functions of science, it is necessary to take the main types of activities of scientists, their terms of reference and tasks, as well as the areas of application and consumption of scientific knowledge.

The main functions of science are as follows:

1) cognitive the function is set by the very essence of science, the main purpose of which is precisely the knowledge of nature, society and man, the rational-theoretical comprehension of the world, the discovery of its laws and patterns. 2) worldview the function is certainly closely related to the first, its main goal is the development of a scientific worldview and a scientific picture of the world, the study of the rationalistic aspects of a person’s attitude to the world, and the substantiation of a scientific worldview. 3) production, technical and technological the function is designed to rationalize, "learn" the sphere of material production, ensure its normal functioning and development of technical and technological progress, the introduction of innovations into production, innovations, new technologies, forms of organization, etc. 4) managerial and regulatory the function is expressed in the fact that science must develop the ideological, theoretical and methodological foundations of management and regulation, first of all, this concerns social phenomena and processes. 5) cultural and educational, the educational function lies mainly in the fact that science is a cultural phenomenon, a noticeable factor in the cultural development of people and education. Her achievements, ideas and recommendations have a noticeable effect on the entire educational process, on the content of program plans, textbooks, on technology, forms and methods of teaching. 6) ideological succession, the traditional function ensures the inheritance, the preservation of all the achievements of scientific "collective intelligence", scientific memory, the connection of times, the continuity of different generations of scientists, 7) practical-effective the function, to a certain extent, integrates all the other functions of science, characterizes it as a universal transforming social force that is capable of changing the whole society, all its spheres, aspects and relations. 8) methodological the function is designed to investigate the problems of the methodology of science, to develop ways, means and methods of scientific knowledge to “arm” scientists with solid and effective research tools; 9) production, reproduction and training of scientific personnel- this function of science, like the previous one, is inside scientific, provides the sphere of scientific production with the necessary specialists, researchers, scientists,

It is obvious that almost all the functions of science are connected in one way or another.

The functions of science in the life of society, its place in culture and its interaction with other areas of cultural creativity change from century to century.

5. Logical-epistemological approach to the study of science. The positivist tradition in the philosophy of science.

The main aspects of the existence of science. Aspects of science:

science as a system of knowledge (as a specific type of knowledge).

science as a kind of activity (as a process of obtaining new knowledge)

science as a social institution

science as a special area and side of culture.

Science as a system of knowledge- this is a special knowledge received and fixed by specific scientific. methods and means (analysis, synthesis, abstraction, systemic observation, experiment). The most important forms and components of science as a special knowledge: theories, disciplines, fields of study, fields of science (physical, historical, mathematical), scientific laws, hypotheses.

Science as an activity- this is a specific type of cognitive activity by an object, which yavl. set of possible objects (empirical x and theoretical x). The goal is the production of knowledge about the properties, relationships and regularities of objects. The means of activity are the appropriate methods and procedures for empirical and theoretical research.

Distinctive properties:

object objectivity (empirical and/or theory)

focus on creativity

validity

validity (empiric-I, theory-I)

accuracy of the results

verifiability (empirical, logical)

reproducibility of subject knowledge and its results (fundamentally infinite)

objective truth. Truth (according to Aristotle) is an adequate correspondence of knowledge to the actual relation of things. Kinds of truths: subjective truth(this is some knowledge recognized as true as a result of the agreement of a certain group of people), empiricist truth(knowledge that is verified by direct reference to reality), formal logical knowledge(justified by derivation from general theoretical positions, axioms), pragmatic truth, objective truth.

usefulness (praxeological) - can be practical and theoretical.

Science as a social institution- this is a professionally organized functioning of the scientific community, the effective regulation of relationships m / y of its members, as well as m / y science, society and the state with the help of a specific system of internal values inherent in this social structure, with the help of scientific. technical policy of society and the state, and besides. With the help of the corresponding system of legislative norms (civil, economic law, etc.).

Value empiratives of science as a social structure (social self-evaluation of science): universalism, collectivism, disinterestedness, organizational skepticism, rationalism (in the sense in which it is accepted at this stage of scientific development), emotional neutrality. Positivism is a combination of logical and empirical methods, everything can be obtained by experience.

6. Post-positivist philosophy of science. The concept of K. Popper. The problem of the development of knowledge has been especially actively developed since the 1960s. XX century, supporters of postpositivism, currents of philosophical and methodological thought of the XX century, which came in the 60s. to replace neopositivism (logical positivism). It is conditionally possible to distinguish two main directions (of course, revealing a commonality between them): relativistic, represented by Thomas Kuhn, Paul Feyerabend; and fallibilist, this group should include primarily Karl Popper and Imre Lakatos. Representatives of the first trend argue the relativity, conventionality, situationality of scientific knowledge, pay more attention to the social factors of the development of science, philosophers of the second - build philosophical concepts based on the thesis of the "error" of scientific knowledge, its instability in time.

Turning to history, the development of science (and not just to the formal structure), representatives of postpositivism began to build various models of this development, considering them as special cases of general evolutionary processes taking place in the world.

Thus, in postpositivism there is a significant change in the problems of philosophical research: if logical positivism focused on a formal analysis of the structure of ready-made scientific knowledge, then postpositivism makes understanding the growth and development of knowledge its main problem. In this regard, representatives of postpositivism were forced to turn to the study of the history of the emergence, development and change of scientific ideas and theories. The first such concept was concK. Popper's knowledge growth option. (Fallibilist current. K. Popper: at the origins, the problem of demarcation). Popper considers knowledge (in any of its forms) not only as a ready-made system that has become, but also as a changing, developing system. He presented this aspect of the analysis of science in the form of the concept of the growth of scientific knowledge. Rejecting ageneticism, anti-historicism of logical positivists in this matter, he believes that the method of constructing artificial model languages is unable to solve the problems associated with the growth of our knowledge. But within its limits, this method is legitimate and necessary. Popper is clearly aware that highlighting the change in scientific knowledge, its growth and progress, may to some extent contradict the prevailing ideal of science as a systematized deductive system. This ideal has dominated European epistemology since Euclid.

For Popper, the growth of knowledge is not a repetitive or cumulative process, it is a process of eliminating errors, "Darwinian selection". When he speaks of the growth of knowledge, he does not mean the mere accumulation of observations, but the repeated subversion of scientific theories and their replacement by better and more satisfactory theories. According to Popper, "the growth of knowledge proceeds from old problems to new problems, through conjecture and refutation." At the same time, “the mechanism of assumptions and refutation remains the main mechanism for the growth of knowledge.” In his concept, Popper formulates three basic requirements for the growth of knowledge. Firstly, a new theory must start from a simple, new, fruitful and unifying idea. Second, it must be independently verifiable, i.e., lead to the presentation of phenomena that have not yet been observed. Thirdly, a good theory must withstand some new and rigorous tests.