What is the role of the empirical level of scientific knowledge. Empirical level of knowledge in science

Theoretical methods of cognition are what is commonly called “cold reason.” A mind skilled in theoretical research. Why is that? Remember famous phrase Sherlock Holmes: “And from here on, please speak in as much detail as possible!” At the stage of this phrase and the subsequent story of Helen Stoner, the famous detective initiates the preliminary stage - sensory (empirical) knowledge.

By the way, this episode gives us the basis for comparing two degrees of knowledge: only primary (empirical) and primary together with secondary (theoretical). Conan Doyle does this through the images of his two main characters.

How does retired military doctor Watson react to the girl’s story? He gets fixated on the emotional stage, having decided in advance that the story of the unfortunate stepdaughter is caused by her unmotivated suspicion of her stepfather.

Two stages of the method of cognition

Helen Holmes listens to her speech in a completely different way. He first perceives verbal information by ear. However, the empirical information obtained in this way is not the final product for him; he needs it as raw material for subsequent intellectual processing.

Skillfully using theoretical methods of cognition in processing every grain of information received (none of which escaped his attention), the classic literary character seeks to resolve the mystery of the crime. Moreover, he applies theoretical methods with brilliance, with analytical sophistication that fascinates readers. With their help, internal hidden connections are found and those patterns that resolve the situation are determined.

What is the nature of theoretical methods of cognition

We deliberately turned to a literary example. With his help, we hope our story began not impersonally.

It should be recognized that science at its modern level has become the main driving force progress precisely thanks to its “toolkit” - research methods. All of them, as we have already mentioned, are divided into two large groups: empirical and theoretical. A common feature Both groups have a stated goal - true knowledge. They differ in their approach to knowledge. At the same time, scientists practicing empirical methods are called practitioners, and theoretical ones are called theorists.

Let us also note that often the results of empirical and theoretical studies do not coincide with each other. This is the reason for the existence of two groups of methods.

Empirical (from the Greek word “empirios” - observation) are characterized by purposeful, organized perception, defined by the research task and subject area. In them, scientists use optimal forms of recording results.

The theoretical level of cognition is characterized by the processing of empirical information using data formalization techniques and specific information processing techniques.

For a scientist practicing theoretical methods of cognition, the ability to use creatively, as a tool in demand by the optimal method, is of paramount importance.

Empirical and theoretical methods have common generic characteristics:

the fundamental role of various forms of thinking: concepts, theories, laws;
for any of the theoretical methods, the source of primary information is empirical knowledge;
in the future, the obtained data is subject to analytical processing using a special conceptual apparatus and information processing technology provided for them;
The goal for which theoretical methods of cognition are used is the synthesis of inferences and conclusions, the development of concepts and judgments as a result of which new knowledge is born.

Thus, at the primary stage of the process, the scientist receives sensory information using methods of empirical cognition:

observation (passive, non-interventional monitoring of phenomena and processes);
experiment (fixation of the process under artificially specified initial conditions);
measurements (determining the ratio of the determined parameter to the generally accepted standard);
comparison (associative perception of one process compared to another).

Theory as a result of knowledge

What kind of feedback coordinates the methods of theoretical and empirical levels of cognition? Feedback when testing the truth of theories. At the theoretical stage, based on the received sensory information, the key problem is formulated. To resolve it, hypotheses are drawn up. The most optimal and well-developed ones develop into theories.

The reliability of a theory is checked by its compliance with objective facts (data of sensory cognition) and scientific facts (reliable knowledge, verified many times before for truth.) For such adequacy, the selection of an optimal theoretical method of cognition is important. It is he who must ensure maximum compliance of the fragment being studied with objective reality and the analytical presentation of its results.

Concepts of method and theory. Their commonalities and differences

Properly chosen methods provide the “moment of truth” in knowledge: the development of a hypothesis into a theory. Having been updated, general scientific methods theoretical knowledge are filled with the necessary factual information precisely in the developed theory of knowledge, becoming its integral part.

If we artificially isolate such a perfectly working method from a ready-made, generally accepted theory, then, having examined it separately, we will find that it has acquired new properties.

On the one hand, it is filled with special knowledge (by incorporating the ideas of the current research), and on the other, it acquires general generic features of relatively homogeneous objects of study. This is precisely what expresses the dialectical relationship between the method and the theory of scientific knowledge.

The commonality of their nature is tested for relevance throughout the entire period of their existence. The first acquires the function of organizational regulation, prescribing to the scientist a formal procedure for manipulation to achieve the goals of the study. Being used by a scientist, methods of the theoretical level of knowledge take the object of study beyond the existing previous theory.

The difference between method and theory is expressed in the fact that they represent different shapes knowledge of scientific knowledge.

If the second expresses the essence, laws of existence, conditions of development, internal connections of the object under study, then the first orients the researcher, dictating to him a “road map of knowledge”: requirements, principles of subject-transforming and cognitive activity.

It can be said in another way: theoretical methods of scientific knowledge are addressed directly to the researcher, appropriately regulating his thought process, directing the process of obtaining new knowledge in the most rational direction.

Their importance in the development of science led to the creation of its separate branch, which describes the theoretical tools of the researcher, called methodology based on epistemological principles (epistemology - the science of knowledge).

List of theoretical methods of cognition

It is well known that the following variants of theoretical methods of cognition include:

modeling;
formalization;
analysis;
synthesis;
abstraction;
induction;
deduction;
idealization.

Certainly, important in the practical effectiveness of each of them has the qualifications of a scientist. A knowledgeable specialist, having analyzed the main methods of theoretical knowledge, will select the necessary one from their totality. It is he who will play a key role in the effectiveness of cognition itself.

Modeling method example

In March 1945, under the auspices of the Ballistic Laboratory (USAF), the operating principles of the PC were outlined. It was classic example scientific knowledge. A group of physicists, reinforced by the famous mathematician John von Neumann, took part in the research. A native of Hungary, he was the principal analyst for this study.

The above-mentioned scientist used the modeling method as a research tool.

Initially, all devices of the future PC - arithmetic-logical, memory, control device, input and output devices - existed verbally, in the form of axioms formulated by Neumann.

The mathematician put the data from empirical physical research into the form of a mathematical model. Subsequently, the researcher studied it, and not its prototype. Having received the result, Neumann “translated” it into the language of physics. By the way, the thought process demonstrated by the Hungarian made a great impression on the physicists themselves, as evidenced by their reviews.

Note that it would be more accurate to give this method the name “modeling and formalization.” It is not enough to create the model itself; it is equally important to formalize the internal connections of the object through a coding language. After all, this is exactly how a computer model should be interpreted.

Today, such computer modeling, which is carried out using special mathematical programs, quite common. It is widely used in economics, physics, biology, automotive industry, and radio electronics.

Modern computer modeling

The computer simulation method involves the following steps:

definition of the modeled object, formalization of the installation for modeling;
drawing up a plan for computer experiments with the model;
analysis of the results.

There are simulation and analytical modeling. Modeling and formalization are a universal tool.

The simulation displays the functioning of the system when it sequentially performs a huge number of elementary operations. Analytical modeling describes the nature of an object using differential control systems that have a solution that reflects the ideal state of the object.

In addition to mathematics, they also distinguish:

conceptual modeling (through symbols, operations between them, and languages, formal or natural);
physical modeling (object and model - real objects or phenomena);
structural and functional (graphs, diagrams, tables are used as a model).

Abstraction

The abstraction method helps to understand the essence of the issue under study and resolve very complex tasks. It allows you to discard everything unimportant and focus on the fundamental details.

For example, if we turn to kinematics, it becomes obvious that researchers use this particular method. Thus, it was initially identified as primary, rectilinear and uniform movement (with such abstraction it was possible to isolate the basic parameters of movement: time, distance, speed.)

This method always involves some generalization.

By the way, the opposite theoretical method of cognition is called concretization. Using it to study changes in speed, the researchers came up with a definition of acceleration.

Analogy

The analogy method is used to formulate fundamentally new ideas by finding analogues of phenomena or objects (in this case, analogues are both ideal and real objects that have an adequate correspondence to the phenomena or objects being studied.)

An example of the effective use of analogy can be well-known discoveries. Charles Darwin, taking as a basis the evolutionary concept of the struggle for the livelihood of the poor with the rich, created the theory of evolution. Niels Bohr, relying on the planetary structure of the Solar system, substantiated the concept of the orbital structure of the atom. J. Maxwell and F. Huygens created the theory of wave electromagnetic oscillations, using, as an analogue, the theory of wave mechanical oscillations.

The analogy method becomes relevant if the following conditions are met:

as many essential features as possible should resemble each other;
a sufficiently large sample of known characteristics must be truly related to the unknown trait;
analogy should not be interpreted as identical similarity;
It is also necessary to consider the fundamental differences between the subject of study and its analogue.

Note that this method is most often and fruitfully used by economists.

Analysis - synthesis

Analysis and synthesis find their application both in scientific research and in ordinary mental activity.

The first is the process of mentally (most often) breaking down the object under study into its components for a more complete study of each of them. However, the analysis stage is followed by a synthesis stage, when the studied components are combined together. In this case, all properties identified during their analysis are taken into account and then their relationships and methods of communication are determined.

The integrated use of analysis and synthesis is characteristic of theoretical knowledge. It was these methods, in their unity and opposition, that the German philosopher Hegel laid as the basis for dialectics, which, in his words, “is the soul of all scientific knowledge.”

Induction and deduction

When the term “methods of analysis” is used, it most often refers to deduction and induction. These are logical methods.

Deduction presupposes a course of reasoning that follows from the general to the particular. It allows us to identify certain consequences from the general content of the hypothesis that can be substantiated empirically. Thus, deduction is characterized by the establishment of a common connection.

Sherlock Holmes, mentioned at the beginning of this article, very clearly substantiated his deductive method in the story “The Land of Crimson Clouds”: “Life is an endless connection of causes and effects. Therefore, we can understand it by examining one link after another.” The famous detective collected as much information as possible, choosing the most significant from many versions.

Continuing to characterize methods of analysis, let us characterize induction. This is the formulation of a general conclusion from a series of particulars (from the particular to the general.) A distinction is made between complete and incomplete induction. Complete induction is characterized by the development of a theory, while incomplete induction is characterized by the development of a hypothesis. The hypothesis, as is known, should be updated by proving it. Only after this does it become a theory. Induction, as a method of analysis, is widely used in philosophy, economics, medicine, and law.

Idealization

Often the theory of scientific knowledge uses ideal concepts that do not exist in reality. Researchers endow non-natural objects with special, limiting properties, which are possible only in “limiting” cases. Examples include a straight line, a material point, and an ideal gas. Thus, science isolates from the objective world certain objects that are completely amenable to scientific description devoid of secondary properties.

The idealization method, in particular, was used by Galileo, who noticed that if all external forces acting on a moving object are removed, it will continue to move indefinitely, rectilinearly and uniformly.

Thus, idealization makes it possible in theory to obtain a result that is unattainable in reality.

However, in reality, for this case, the researcher takes into account: the height of the falling object above sea level, the latitude of the point of impact, the impact of wind, air density, etc.

Training of methodological scientists as the most important task of education

Today, the role of universities in training specialists who are creatively proficient in the methods of empirical and theoretical knowledge is becoming obvious. At the same time, as evidenced by the experience of Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Columbia universities, they are assigned a leading role in the development latest technologies. Perhaps this is why their graduates are in demand in knowledge-intensive companies, specific gravity which has a constant tendency to increase.

An important role in the training of researchers is played by:

flexibility of the education program;
the opportunity for individual training for the most talented students capable of becoming promising young scientists.

At the same time, the specialization of people developing human knowledge in the field of IT, engineering, production, and mathematical modeling requires the presence of teachers with up-to-date qualifications.

Conclusion

The examples of theoretical knowledge methods mentioned in the article provide general idea O creative work scientists. Their activity boils down to the formation of a scientific representation of the world.

It, in a narrower, special sense, consists in the skillful use of a certain scientific method.
The researcher summarizes empirical verified facts, puts forward and tests scientific hypotheses, and formulates a scientific theory that advances human knowledge from a statement of the known to an awareness of the previously unknown.

Sometimes scientists' ability to use theoretical scientific methods is like magic. Even after centuries, no one doubts the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein.

A person’s cognitive relationship to the world is carried out in various forms- in the form of everyday knowledge, artistic, religious knowledge, and finally, in the form of scientific knowledge. The first three areas of knowledge are considered, in contrast to science, as non-scientific forms. Scientific knowledge grew out of everyday knowledge, but at present these two forms of knowledge are quite far apart.

There are two levels in the structure of scientific knowledge - empirical and theoretical. These levels should not be confused with aspects of cognition in general - sensory reflection and rational cognition. The point is that in the first case we mean Various types cognitive activity of scientists, and in the second - we're talking about about the types of mental activity of an individual in the process of cognition in general, and both of these types are used both at the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge.

The levels of scientific knowledge themselves differ in a number of parameters: 1) in the subject of research. Empirical research is focused on phenomena, theoretical research is focused on essence; 2) by means and instruments of cognition; 3) according to research methods. At the empirical level, this is an observation, an experiment, at the theoretical level - systems approach, idealization, etc.; 4) by the nature of the acquired knowledge. In one case these are empirical facts, classifications, empirical laws, in the second - laws, disclosure of essential connections, theories.

In the XVII-XVIII and partly in the XIX centuries. science was still at the empirical stage, limiting its tasks to the generalization and classification of empirical facts, and the formulation of empirical laws. Subsequently, the theoretical level is built on top of the empirical level, which is associated with a comprehensive study of reality in its essential connections and patterns. Moreover, both types of research are organically interconnected and presuppose each other in the holistic structure of scientific knowledge.

Methods applicable at the empirical level of scientific knowledge: observation and experiment.

Observation- this is the deliberate and purposeful perception of phenomena and processes without direct interference in their course, subordinate to the tasks scientific research. The basic requirements for scientific observation are the following: 1) unambiguous purpose and design; 2) consistency in observation methods; 3) objectivity; 4) the possibility of control either through repeated observation or through experiment.

Observation is used, as a rule, where intervention in the process under study is undesirable or impossible. Observation in modern science is associated with the widespread use of instruments, which, firstly, enhance the senses, and secondly, remove the touch of subjectivity from the assessment of observed phenomena. An important place in the process of observation (as well as experiment) is occupied by the measurement operation. Measurement- is the definition of the ratio of one (measured) quantity to another, taken as a standard. Since the results of observation, as a rule, take the form of various signs, graphs, curves on an oscilloscope, cardiograms, etc., an important component of the study is the interpretation of the data obtained.

Observation in social sciences, where its results largely depend on the personality of the observer and his attitude to the phenomena being studied. In sociology and psychology, a distinction is made between simple and participant (participant) observation. Psychologists also use the method of introspection (self-observation).

Experiment in contrast to observation, it is a method of cognition in which phenomena are studied under controlled and controlled conditions. An experiment, as a rule, is carried out on the basis of a theory or hypothesis that determines the formulation of the problem and the interpretation of the results. The advantages of experiment in comparison with observation are that, firstly, it is possible to study the phenomenon, so to speak, in its “pure form”, secondly, the conditions for the process can vary, and thirdly, the experiment itself can be repeated many times.

There are several types of experiments.

1) The simplest type of experiment is qualitative, establishing the presence or absence of phenomena proposed by the theory.

2) The second, more complex type is a measuring or quantitative experiment that establishes the numerical parameters of any property (or properties) of an object or process.

3) A special type of experiment in the fundamental sciences is a thought experiment.

4) Finally: a specific type of experiment is a social experiment carried out in order to introduce new forms social organization and management optimization. The scope of social experiment is limited by moral and legal norms.

Observation and experiment are the source scientific facts, which in science are understood as a special kind of sentences that capture empirical knowledge. Facts are the foundation of the building of science; they form the empirical basis of science, the basis for putting forward hypotheses and creating theories.

Let us designate some processing and systematization methods empirical knowledge. This is primarily analysis and synthesis. Analysis- the process of mental, and often real, division of an object or phenomenon into parts (signs, properties, relationships). The reverse procedure to analysis is synthesis. Synthesis- this is the combination of the sides of an object identified during the analysis into a single whole.

A significant role in generalizing the results of observations and experiments belongs to induction (from the Latin inductio - guidance), a special type of generalization of experimental data. During induction, the researcher’s thought moves from the particular (particular factors) to the general. There are popular and scientific, complete and incomplete induction. The opposite of induction is deduction, the movement of thought from the general to the specific. Unlike induction, with which deduction is closely related, it is mainly used at the theoretical level of knowledge.

The induction process is associated with an operation such as comparison- establishing similarities and differences between objects and phenomena. Induction, comparison, analysis and synthesis prepare the ground for the development of classifications - combining various concepts and corresponding phenomena into certain groups, types in order to establish connections between objects and classes of objects. Examples of classifications - the periodic table, classifications of animals, plants, etc. Classifications are presented in the form of diagrams and tables used for orientation in the variety of concepts or corresponding objects.

1. Empirical level scientific knowledge.

Sensual and rational are the main level components of any knowledge, not only scientific. However, during historical development of knowledge, levels are identified and formalized that are significantly different from the simple distinction between the sensory and the rational, although they have the rational and the sensory as their basis. Such levels of cognition and knowledge, especially in relation to developed science, are the empirical and theoretical levels.

The empirical level of knowledge, science, is a level that is associated with the acquisition of knowledge through special procedures of observation and experiment, which is then subjected to a certain rational processing and recorded using a certain, often artificial, language. Data from observation and experiment, as the main scientific forms of direct research into the phenomena of reality, then act as the empirical basis from which theoretical research proceeds. Observations and experiments now take place in all sciences, including the social and human sciences.

The main form of knowledge at the empirical level is a fact, a scientific fact, factual knowledge, which is the result of primary processing and systematization of observational and experimental data. The basis of modern empirical knowledge is the facts of everyday consciousness and the facts of science. In this case, facts must be understood not as statements about something, not as certain units of “expression” of knowledge, but as special elements of knowledge itself.

2. Theoretical level of research. The nature of scientific concepts.

The theoretical level of knowledge and science is associated with the fact that an object is represented on it from the side of its connections and patterns, obtained not only and not so much in experience, during observations and experiments, but already in the course of an autonomous thought process, through the use and construction of special abstractions , as well as arbitrary constructions of reason and reason as hypothetical elements with the help of which the space of comprehension of the essence of the phenomena of reality is filled.

In the field of theoretical knowledge, constructions (idealizations) appear in which knowledge can go far beyond the limits of sensory experience, observational and experimental data, and even come into sharp contradiction with direct sensory data.

The contradictions between the theoretical and empirical levels of knowledge have an objective dialectical nature; in themselves they do not refute either empirical or theoretical positions. The decision in favor of one or the other depends only on the progress of further research and verification of their results in practice, in particular, by means of the observations and experiments themselves, applied on the basis of new theoretical concepts. In this case, the most important role is played by such a form of knowledge and cognition as a hypothesis.

3. The formation of scientific theory and the growth of theoretical knowledge.

The following scientific historical types knowledge.

1. Early scientific type of knowledge.

This type of knowledge opens the era of systematic development of scientific knowledge. In it, on the one hand, traces of the natural philosophical and scholastic types of knowledge that preceded it are still clearly visible, and on the other, the emergence of fundamentally new elements that sharply contrast scientific types of knowledge with pre-scientific ones. Most often, this boundary of this type of knowledge, separating it from previous ones, is drawn at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries.

The early scientific type of knowledge is associated, first of all, with a new quality of knowledge. The main type of knowledge is declared to be experimental knowledge, factual knowledge. This created normal conditions for the development of theoretical knowledge - scientific theoretical knowledge.

2. Classical stage of cognition.

Took place from the end of the XVII - early XVIII before mid-19th century. From this stage, science develops as a continuous disciplinary and at the same time professional tradition, critically regulating all its internal processes. Here a theory appears in the full sense of the word - the theory of mechanics of I. Newton, which for almost two centuries remained the only scientific theory with which all the theoretical elements of natural science were correlated, and even social cognition Also.

The most significant changes, compared with early science, occurred in the field of knowledge. Knowledge becomes theoretical already in modern sense words, or almost modern, which was a huge step in bridging the traditional gap between theoretical problems and the empirical approach.

3. Modern scientific type of knowledge.

This type of science continues to dominate today, at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries. In modern science, the quality of objects of knowledge has radically changed. The integrity of the object, the subjects of individual sciences, and the subject of scientific knowledge itself was finally revealed. Fundamental changes are taking place in the means of modern science. Its empirical level takes on a completely different form; observation and experiment have become almost completely controlled by theoretical (advanced) knowledge, on the other hand, by knowledge about the observed.

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Empirical level of knowledge

The subject of research at the empirical level is the properties, connections, and relationships of an object that are accessible to sensory perception. It is necessary to distinguish empirical objects of science from objects of reality, since the former are certain abstractions that highlight in reality a certain limited set of properties, connections and relationships. The real object is inherent infinite number signs, it is inexhaustible in its properties, connections, relationships. This is what determines the epistemological focus of the study at the empirical level - the study of phenomena (phenomena) and superficial connections between them and the dominance of the sensory correlate in the study.

The main task of cognition at the empirical level is to obtain initial empirical information about the object being studied. Most often, such methods of cognition as observation and experiment are used for this.

Knowledge that is formed in the process of empirical research - observation, setting up and conducting experiments, collecting and describing observed phenomena and facts, their empirical systematization and generalization - is expressed in the form scientific fact and empirical generalization (law).

An empirical law is the result of an inductive generalization of experiments and represents probabilistic true knowledge. An increase in the number of experiments in itself does not make an empirical dependence reliable knowledge, since an empirical generalization always deals with incomplete experience.

The main cognitive function that scientific knowledge performs at the empirical level is the description of phenomena.

Scientific research is not satisfied with a description of phenomena and empirical generalization; in an effort to reveal the causes and essential connections between phenomena, the researcher moves to the theoretical level of knowledge.

Means and methods of empirical research. Observation and experiment, types of experiment

1. Observation- systematic, purposeful passive study of objects, based mainly on data from the senses. In the course of observation, we gain knowledge not only about the external aspects of the object of knowledge, but also - as the ultimate goal - about its essential properties and relationships.

Observation can be direct or indirect through various instruments and other technical devices. As science develops, it becomes more complex and indirect. Observation captures and records facts, describes the object of study, providing empirical information necessary for posing new problems and putting forward hypotheses.

The main requirements for a scientific description are aimed at ensuring that it is as complete, accurate and objective as possible. The description must give a reliable and adequate picture of the object itself and accurately reflect the phenomena being studied. It is important that the concepts used for description always have a clear and unambiguous meaning. An important point observation is the interpretation of its results - deciphering instrument readings, etc.

2. Experiment is a method of cognition in which phenomena are studied under controlled and controlled conditions. The subject actively intervenes in the research process, influencing the object under study through special tools and instruments, purposefully and permanently changing the object, revealing its new properties. Thanks to this, the researcher is able to isolate the object from the influence of side phenomena that obscure its essence and study the phenomenon in its pure form; systematically change the conditions of the process; repeatedly reproduce the course of the process under strictly fixed and controllable conditions.

The main features of the experiment: a) a more active (than during observation) attitude towards the object of study, up to its change and transformation; b) the ability to monitor the behavior of an object and check the results; c) multiple reproducibility of the studied object at the request of the researcher; d) the ability to detect properties of phenomena that are not observed in natural conditions.

The types (types) of experiments are very diverse. So, according to their functions they distinguish research (search), verification (control), reproducing experiments. Based on the nature of the objects, they are distinguished physical, chemical, biological, social and so on. There are experiments qualitative and quantitative. A thought experiment has become widespread in modern science - a system of mental procedures carried out on idealized objects.

3. Comparison- a cognitive operation that reveals the similarity or difference of objects (or stages of development of the same object), i.e. their identity and differences. It makes sense only in a collection of homogeneous objects that form a class. Comparison of objects in a class is carried out according to characteristics that are essential for this consideration. Moreover, objects that are compared on one basis may be incomparable on another.

Comparison is the basis of such a logical technique as analogy (see below), and serves as the starting point of the comparative-historical method. Its essence is the identification of the general and special in the knowledge of various stages (periods, phases) of development of the same phenomenon or different coexisting phenomena.

4. Description- a cognitive operation consisting of recording the results of an experiment (observation or experiment) using certain notation systems accepted in science.

5. Measure e - a set of actions performed using certain means in order to find the numerical value of the measured quantity in accepted units of measurement.

It should be emphasized that methods of empirical research are never implemented “blindly”, but are always “theoretically loaded” and guided by certain conceptual ideas.

Empirical knowledge is primary scientific knowledge, which is obtained upon contact with the object being studied. Empiria (lat.) – experience.

They learn from negative experiences (mistakes).

Empirical knowledge is descriptive.

Science, 3 functions: description, explanation and prediction.

Empirical level: there is no explanation, but it can be predicted (if we see that copper expands when heated, then we can predict that other metals too).

Methods of obtaining knowledge: empirical research is carried out through observation, experiment and measurement.

Observation is present not only during real contact with an object, but also in our imagination (sign observation - reading, mathematics).

First, observation precedes cognition, we formulate the problem. We can make a hypothesis. The observation at the end of the study is a test of our theory.

The structure of observation includes: object, observer, observation conditions, devices (tools), basic knowledge.

Scientific observation requires recording of all phenomena (so that the scientist can check).

Observations: direct (the object is accessible) and indirect (the object is not accessible, only its traces, etc., that it left are available).

Approbation (lat.) – approval (it does not come from the word “test”).

Measurement: direct (measurement of length), indirect (time, temperature; temperature is the energy of movement of molecules).

Measurement in science is carried out many times. Since all quantities will be different in measurement. Each specific result is an average value (the error is also considered).

An experiment is an active influence on an object. Task: search (we don’t know what will happen) or testing an already existing hypothesis.

Empirical knowledge has the logical form of a concept. When we connect two empirical concepts or phenomena, we get a law (the larger the volume, the lower the pressure, etc.).

Empirical knowledge is the first and last scientific knowledge (Comte, Mach, this is the opinion of the positivists). Theoretical knowledge does not contain new knowledge, in their opinion.

But a scientist cannot be an empiricist, since he uses language (and language is abstract, it uses concepts that cannot be touched).

A fact is almost the same as a theory (both are one knowledge). The fact needs interpretation. The interpretation of a fact gives meaning to it. A fact always has many interpretations.

The structure of the fact: what we experience (psychological component); what we expressed (linguistic component); the event itself.

Facts, role in science: source and verification. Facts must confirm knowledge. Post-positivism (Poper): a fact cannot confirm, but it can refute a theory.

Locator: any scientific knowledge is an assumption (it cannot be refuted or confirmed). The goal is to replace old assumptions (guesses) with new ones. And we “guess” that the new ones are better than the old ones.

Scientific knowledge is a complex developing system in which, as evolution progresses, new levels of organization arise. They have a reverse impact on previously established levels of knowledge and transform them. In this process, new techniques and methods of theoretical research constantly emerge, and the strategy of scientific research changes.

There are two types of organization of knowledge: empirical and theoretical. Accordingly, two types of cognitive procedures that generate this knowledge can be distinguished.

Addressing philosophical aspect On this issue, it is necessary to note such philosophers of the New Time as F. Bacon, T. Hobbes and D. Locke. Francis Bacon said that the path leading to knowledge is observation, analysis, comparison and experiment. John Locke believed that we derive all our knowledge from experience and sensations.

The difference between the empirical and theoretical levels of scientific knowledge concerns the means of research, the specifics of methods and the nature of the subject of research.

Let us consider the means of the empirical level of scientific knowledge. Empirical research is based on direct practical interaction between the researcher and the object being studied. It involves making observations and experimental activities. Therefore, the means of empirical research necessarily include instruments, instrumental installations and other means of real observation and experiment.

In theoretical research, there is no direct practical interaction with objects. At this level, an object can only be studied indirectly, in a thought experiment, but not in a real one.

In addition to the tools that are associated with the organization of experiments and observations, conceptual tools are also used in empirical research. They function like special language, which is often called the empirical language of science. It has a complex organization in which the actual empirical terms and the terms of the theoretical language interact.

The meaning of empirical terms is specific abstractions that could be called empirical objects. They must be distinguished from objects of reality. Empirical objects are abstractions that actually highlight a certain set of properties and relationships of things. Real objects are represented in empirical knowledge in the image of ideal objects that have a strictly fixed and limited set of characteristics. A real object has an infinite number of characteristics.

As for theoretical knowledge, it uses other research facilities. There are no means of material, practical interaction with the object being studied. But the language of theoretical research also differs from the language of empirical descriptions. It is based on theoretical terms, the meaning of which is theoretical ideal objects.

The features of the means and methods of the two levels of scientific knowledge are associated with the specifics of the subject of empirical and theoretical research. At each of these levels, a researcher can deal with the same objective reality, but he studies it in different subject sections, in different aspects, and therefore its vision, its representation in knowledge will be given differently. Empirical research is fundamentally focused on studying phenomena and the relationships between them. At this level of cognition, essential connections are not yet identified in their pure form, but they seem to be highlighted in phenomena, appearing through their concrete shell.

At the level of theoretical knowledge, essential connections are identified in their pure form. The essence of an object is the interaction of a number of laws to which this object is subject. The task of the theory is precisely to divide this complex network of laws into components, then to recreate their interaction step by step and thus reveal the essence of the object.

The empirical and theoretical levels differ in research methods. With the help of empirical research methods, the accumulation, recording, generalization and systematization of experimental data, their statistical and inductive processing are carried out, while with the help of theoretical ones, the laws of science and theories are formed.

Empirical research methods include observation, comparison, measurement and experiment; theoretical methods include analogy, idealization, formalization, etc.

Observation is a purposeful systematic perception of an object, providing primary material for scientific research. Purposefulness is the most important characteristic of observation. By concentrating attention on an object, the observer relies on some knowledge he has about it, without which it is impossible to determine the purpose of the observation. Observation is also characterized by systematicity, which is expressed in the perception of an object many times and under different conditions, systematicity, eliminating gaps in observation, and the activity of the observer, his ability to select the necessary information, determined by the purpose of the study.

Requirements for scientific observations:

Clear statement of the purpose of observation;
- choice of methodology and development of a plan;
- consistency;
- control over the reliability and correctness of observation results;
- processing, comprehension and interpretation of the received data array;
- As a method of scientific knowledge, observation provides initial information about an object necessary for its further research.

Comparison and measurement play an important role in cognition. Comparison is a method of comparing objects in order to identify similarities or differences between them. If objects are compared with an object that acts as a standard, then such a comparison is called measurement.

The most difficult and effective method empirical knowledge is an experiment based on other empirical methods. An experiment is a method of studying an object, in which the researcher (experimenter) actively influences the object, creates artificial conditions necessary to identify certain of its properties. An experiment involves the use of certain means: instruments, instruments, experimental installations, is characterized by an active influence on the object, and can be repeated as many times as required to obtain reliable results.

There are two types of experimental problems:

A research experiment that involves searching for unknown dependencies between several parameters of an object;
- a verification experiment, which is used when it is necessary to confirm or refute certain consequences of a theory.

In experiments, as a rule, devices are used - artificial or natural. material systems, principles whose workings are well known to us. Those. within the framework of our experiment, our knowledge and some theoretical ideas already appear in material form. Without them, the experiment is impossible, according to at least, within the framework of science. Any attempt to separate experiment from the theory of knowledge makes it impossible to understand its nature, to understand the essence.

Experiments and observational data.

The difference between observational data and empirical facts as special types of empirical knowledge was recorded in the positivist philosophy of science of the 30s. At this time, there was a rather intense discussion regarding what could serve as the empirical basis of science. At first it was assumed that they were the direct results of experience - observational data. In the language of science, they are expressed in the form of special statements - entries in observation protocols, the so-called protocol sentences.

The observation protocol indicates who observed, the time of observation, and describes the devices if they were used in the observation.

Analysis of the meaning of protocol sentences showed that they contain not only information about the phenomena being studied, but also, as a rule, include observer errors, layers of external disturbing influences, systematic and random errors of instruments, etc. But then it became obvious that these observations, due to the fact that they are burdened with subjective layers, cannot serve as a basis for theoretical constructions.

During the discussions, it was established that such knowledge is empirical facts. They form the empirical basis on which scientific theories are based.

The very nature of fact-recording statements emphasizes their special objective status in comparison with protocol sentences. But then it arises new problem: How is the transition from observational data to empirical facts accomplished and what guarantees the objective status of a scientific fact?