Difference between revisions of "Science"
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==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
− | [[Category:Concepts]]{{ | + | [[Category:Concepts]] |
+ | ===Definition & Terminology=== | ||
+ | The word "[[science]]" generally refers to any of the following{{ref|1}}: | ||
+ | # An intellectual endeavor aimed at a rational understanding of reality (also described as "the natural and social world") | ||
+ | # A corpus of currently accepted substantive knowledge | ||
+ | # The community of scientists, with its mores and its social and economic structure | ||
+ | # Applied science and technology (as in "science has achieved many wonderful things") | ||
+ | |||
+ | For the purposes of discussion on this site, "science" should be used to refer to definition #1. Definition #2 is more precisely termed "scientific knowledge"; definition #3 is more precisely termed "the scientific community", "the scientific establishment", or other similar phrases; and definition #4 should be referred to as "technology" or in some other way which makes clear that one is talking about the ''application'' (definition #4) of scientific knowledge rather than the ''process by which that knowledge is acquired'' (definition #1). | ||
+ | ===Key Attributes=== | ||
+ | Science (definition #1) is: | ||
+ | * a worldview giving primacy to reason and observation | ||
+ | * a methodology aimed at acquiring accurate knowledge about reality | ||
+ | |||
+ | Science's methodology is characterized, above all else, by the ''critical spirit'': the commitment to the incessant testing of theoretical assertions through observations and/or experimentation, and to revising or discarding those theories where experiment shows them to be inaccurate. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Science generally proceeds from the assumption that there is an objective reality or truth. | ||
+ | ===Overview References=== | ||
+ | ====1==== | ||
+ | [http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/pseudoscience_rev.pdf Pseudoscience and Postmodernism: Antagonists or Fellow-Travelers? (PDF)] by Alan Sokal ([http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/#papers]): includes an excellent lay-level overview of the key attributes of science, a similar overview of pseudoscience, and guidelines for distinguishing between them | ||
+ | |||
==Reference== | ==Reference== | ||
* {{wikipedia|Science}} | * {{wikipedia|Science}} |
Revision as of 00:01, 22 July 2006
Overview
Definition & Terminology
The word "science" generally refers to any of the following1:
- An intellectual endeavor aimed at a rational understanding of reality (also described as "the natural and social world")
- A corpus of currently accepted substantive knowledge
- The community of scientists, with its mores and its social and economic structure
- Applied science and technology (as in "science has achieved many wonderful things")
For the purposes of discussion on this site, "science" should be used to refer to definition #1. Definition #2 is more precisely termed "scientific knowledge"; definition #3 is more precisely termed "the scientific community", "the scientific establishment", or other similar phrases; and definition #4 should be referred to as "technology" or in some other way which makes clear that one is talking about the application (definition #4) of scientific knowledge rather than the process by which that knowledge is acquired (definition #1).
Key Attributes
Science (definition #1) is:
- a worldview giving primacy to reason and observation
- a methodology aimed at acquiring accurate knowledge about reality
Science's methodology is characterized, above all else, by the critical spirit: the commitment to the incessant testing of theoretical assertions through observations and/or experimentation, and to revising or discarding those theories where experiment shows them to be inaccurate.
Science generally proceeds from the assumption that there is an objective reality or truth.
Overview References
1
Pseudoscience and Postmodernism: Antagonists or Fellow-Travelers? (PDF) by Alan Sokal ([1]): includes an excellent lay-level overview of the key attributes of science, a similar overview of pseudoscience, and guidelines for distinguishing between them
Reference
Related Articles
Links
- Wikipedia: Science wars