1. St. Petersburg, 2016

2. Lecture 1.Introduction What Is Science? What Is Philosophy?
Alexander A. Lvov, PhD
St. Petersburg, 2016

3. Agenda Preliminary Conceptions of Science and Philosophy
History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
Philosophy As a Specific Form of Knowledge
Is Our World Cognizable?

4. On science and philosophy
«Philosophy as an intellectual activity can be variously defined, depending on whether the emphasis is placed on its method, its subject-matter or its purpose».
Thomas Mautner’s Dictionary of Philosophy
On science and philosophy
Φιλοσοφία (literally from Greek) is «love of wisdom»
Philosophy is love of truth
«This thinking study of things may serve, in a general way, as a description of philosophy» (Hegel, Encyclopaedia)
«Philosophical cognition is the cognition of reason by means of conceptions» (Kant, 1st Critique)

5. On science and philosophy
Science is a process of construction of the systematic image of a part of reality which is focused upon distinguishing its general qualities.
On science and philosophy
The characteristics of science:
Subject-matter
Method
Conceptual and categorical set
Equipment
Institutional organization
Certain field of knowledge (inquiry)
Science VS not science
Science VS pseudoscience
Science VS fringe science

6. On science and philosophy
When did science appear?
Science has not always been
On science and philosophy
Science has always been ?
Ancient world
Modern age
Industrial revolution
Contemporaneity (since XX century)

7. History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
Ancient world
Middle ages
Modern age
History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
A period of history from the first states to the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD)
Cosmocentrism

8. History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
Ancient world
Middle ages
Modern age
History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
A period of history from the Barbarian and Gothic invasion to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire (1453 AD)
Theocentricism

9. History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
Ancient world
Middle ages
Modern age
History as a Metaproject of Modern Age
A period of history from Renaissance up to nowadays
ANTHROPOCENTRISM

10. The principal problem in philosophy is the question on the essence
Philosophy As a Specific Form of Knowledge
The principal problem in philosophy is the question on the essence
So called Chinese, Indian, Babylonian (Eastern) philosophies are the forms of philosophizing or wisdom
Demonstration as a rational approach to reality
Natural philosophy as pre-Socratic form of philosophizing

11. The Principal Movements in Philosophy
Philosophy As a Specific Form of Knowledge
The Principal Movements in Philosophy
Idealism
Positivism
Materialism
«Say what you mean, mean what you say»
«Actions, words and ideas all depend on social conventions based upon the empirical data»
«When in Rome, do as the Romans do»

12. The Classification of Sciences
Is Our World Cognizable?
The Classification of Sciences
By Dr. Benedict M. Kedrov
Natural sciences about human beings
Psychological sciences
Social sciences about human beings
Philosophical sciences about human beings

13. The Classification of Sciences
Is Our World Cognizable?
The Classification of Sciences
By the subject-matter
Mathematical
Technical
Natural
Social and Humanities
deal with numbers and quantitative relations
deal with technics and mechanisms
deal with natural matters
deal with social matters
Mathematics
Mechanics, physics
Chemistry, biology, geography, ecology, genetics, etc.
History, philosophy, political studies, sociology, economics, etc.

14. The Classification of Sciences
Is Our World Cognizable?
The Classification of Sciences
Auguste Comte’s classification (1840s)

15. The Order of Scientific Investigation
Is Our World Cognizable?
The Order of Scientific Investigation

16. The Order of Scientific Investigation
Is Our World Cognizable?
The Order of Scientific Investigation
The Methods of Scientific Investigation
GENERAL SCIENTIFIC
UNIVERSAL (PHILOSOPHICAL)
historical logical
PARTICULAR
own for each branch of science
Empirical observation
experiment modeling
Theoretical analysis synthesis induction deduction

17. Thank you for your attention!
St. Petersburg, 2016