Any type of scientific rationality implies the existence of a system of rules, standards that are specific to a particular society and are considered sufficient. These norms are necessary in order to achieve goals that are significant from the point of view of society. The greatest attention is paid to philosophy, in the framework of which they speak of classical, non-classical and post-non-classical types, each of which has its own, unique picture of the world.
Theory in general
The idea of what classical scientific rationality is, non-classical, post-non-classical, allows us to understand in detail why the scientific picture of the world today is what it is. In fact, this is a reflection. A thorough analysis allows you to get enough information to develop our understanding of the world.
Self-analysis of philosophical principles, which are the basis for theory, allows us to make science logical, meaningful, having a methodological, philosophical base. Reflection in the conditions of the development of the society of our days also allows us to avoid the substitution of values, which is characteristic of development trends in recent decades, when the culture of postmodernism has become dominant.
Rational knowledge
It is most characteristic for the period of 17-19 centuries, when philosophy, methodology obeyed the classical type of scientific rationality. During this period, the basic idea was the idea that the mind, capable of cognizing the world, observes the surrounding space and receives information for analysis through observation. Knowledge was necessary for society in order to form an objective opinion about the world in which we live. In addition, scientists described the phenomena they observed in the form in which they exist. On the basis of the ideas of rational cognition, Rene Descartes, who is considered the founder of the modern concept of the surrounding space, developed his theories.
Classical rationality has become the basis for the development of methodology as a science. Particular attention was paid to the connection of experience and theoretical base. The theory was a generalization of practical experience obtained from various sources.
Ideas and Methods
With the classical type of scientific rationality, science developed on the basis of an axiom: facts are the only true basis for creating a theory. The most progressive approach involved subject isolation, when the development of facts was studied separately from one another.
Subject distinction had a significant impact on scientists, limiting their scope. Influence was also exerted on thinking. Methods, methods, as well as technical solutions specific to a particular subject, within the framework of this approach were not applied to others. Incidentally, both types of scientific rationality and scientific revolutions succeeded each other. In our time, scientific separation has provoked the formation of a single bridgehead to achieve different goals.
Classical Rationality: Milestones
The basis of this approach is quantitatism, according to which the study of any phenomenon involves measuring it and numerically expressing it. Rene Descartes said this: "The movement and length of the path is enough to create the whole universe."
The difference in approaches to science observed in the Middle Ages and the era that followed it is quite noticeable. Modern science no longer supported the organic concept of the world, when people believed that the world was an organism. If earlier it seemed that everything exists on its own, then the efforts of new scientists led to a change in the types of scientific rationality, and the idea of the world became mechanistic. Spinoza and Leibniz had the strongest influence on this (except Descartes).
At that time, the world seemed to people similar to the mechanism, that is, the whole universe seemed to be peculiar, very complex watches. It followed from this that society and nature can manifest themselves if an experiment is organized. Man, in turn, must experience nature in order to formulate laws governing space. So, the effect achieved by experiment came to the first place in science, which made it possible to call science oriented to practice. This type of scientific rationality and the scientific revolution associated with its establishment are most clearly reflected in the Bacon postulate: “Knowledge is power”.
Science: do not stand still
The type of scientific rationality, which replaced the classical, is usually called non-classical. The transition is triggered by many factors. The idea of the spiritual was changing, the European culture was developing, the idea of the world around was undergoing a crisis. This is typical for the period from the second half of the 19th century until the beginning of the next century. Classical rationalism was not enough to satisfy the human desire for knowledge.
A new understanding did not come immediately, but gradually it penetrated into all areas. Like other historical types of scientific rationality, the non-classical was a product of its time. The human consciousness, striving to get the maximum information about the world around it, was at an impasse: it became clear that social circumstances have a very strong influence on reality and on the possibilities of its cognition. The basis for development was the quantum relativistic revolution. The most significant names for the non-classical type of scientific rationality: Heisenberg, Bohr, Einstein.
The first two were engaged in quantum mechanics, and the third became the author of the theory of relativity. When science turned to quantum, relativistic theories, the speeds available for study increased. Elementary particles became available to scientists. So began to develop mental strategies.
Theory features
The non-classical type of scientific rationality differs from the classical description of the object. If earlier everything was considered on its own, then the new approach obliged to fix the conditions in which the phenomenon was observed and determine the level of their interaction with the object of interest to scientists.
The reason for this approach was the specific features of elementary particles. As it turned out, the object can behave differently, and the connection was observed with the selection of means for observation. A typical example is an electron, which could manifest itself as a wave or as a particle. It was possible to identify that the object has not only properties characteristic of it, but also appearing only when combined with some subject.
Over time, the subject of knowledge for scientists also changed. If earlier it was believed that it was as if limited from the outside world and located at a distance from it, then the new approach made it possible to define the subject as an element of the world within its structure. Therefore, nature does not just answer the questions formulated by man with its device, much depends on how the question is formulated. And this, in turn, is determined by the method of cognition. Thus, the non-classical method of cognition made it possible to formulate new concepts of theory, fact, and truth. Direct ontologism ceased to be relevant to such an extent when knowledge and reality had an obvious, direct connection.
Development continues
Nowadays, science is moving forward by leaps and bounds. Scientific revolutions, the development of worldview, technical and scientific improvement, new philosophical approaches provoked a transition to a new one. Now the post-nonclassical type of scientific rationality has become relevant. Scientists say this is the fourth global revolution in science. However, others argue that a new type of rationality is still just emerging, and the peak of its heyday is ahead.
Recently, scientific knowledge has been changing very intensively, which is provoked, among other things, by the development of the social aspect. Means that allow to obtain, store knowledge are actively developing, due to which scientific activity is changing quite a lot. The greatest attention of scientists these days is attracted by studies that affect several disciplines at once, as well as those focused on specific current problems. In classical science, the focus was a certain fragment, considered in isolation from science. But today, the most actively developing programs are those that comprehensively solve problems associated with several areas of knowledge. This forces specialists from different fields to work in a team. Such an approach makes reality pictures formed by scientists connected with each other, which together gives a more complete and accurate picture of the world. Ideas pass from science to science, boundaries are erased, rigid separation is a thing of the past. Applied research has a rather strong influence.
How it works
Specialists from different disciplines join forces to explore a variety of phenomena. As a rule, such cooperations are collected in order to study open systems capable of self-development. It so happened that the developing system is a rather complicated object for scientific study. It so happened that the developing system is a rather complicated object for scientific study.
Evolution is the transition from one self-regulating system to another. Distinctive features are the organization of the elements inside, the rules of self-regulation. A new level is formed when passing the bifurcation point, that is, at the moment when the system becomes unstable. Even random influence provokes the formation of a new structure. Such development initiates the development of strategies, but forceful influence can return everything back to its base state. In some cases, this influence does not allow anything new to arise.
Situation: Changes Under Control
In order for the situation to develop in a controlled manner, influence is necessary when passing through bifurcation points. Scientists speak in such cases of "energy injections." This allows you to start the restructuring of the system, so that the structure increases an additional level.
Systems capable of self-development are usually characterized by pronounced synergy. The processes occurring in them are irreversible. At the same time, human influence is not an external impact, but an integral part of the system. A person can influence it by changing the field of states. When he takes part in the development of the system, he not only interacts with individual objects, but affects the line of evolution. The choice has no way back. In most cases, it is impossible to predict all the consequences of a decision.
History and science
I must say, for scientists, especially for those engaged in natural sciences, the relationship of historically evolving systems was not obvious. The first to be recognized were biologists, astronomers, and those involved in planet-related disciplines. It was here that the pictures of reality were first formed, in which the central place was taken by the idea of an evolving object. Not so long ago, physics joined these sciences.
The historical development of the objects studied by physicists has become part of the concept of reality through cosmology. The Big Bang theory, as well as other objects related to the idea of the formation of the Metagalaxy, played its role. In addition, a strong influence on modern physics was provided by the work of Prigogine, devoted to nonequilibrium thermodynamic processes, as well as the theory of synergy. Such ideas made it possible to create a holistic view of the world around, taking into account the history of its development. At the center of scientific understanding today are the ideas of global evolutionism. They became the key to the post-non-classical type of scientific rationality.
Special occasion
A special approach is required by such historically developing systems that are closely related to the nature of the surrounding world. Of these, in the first place are complexes in which a person is included. Scientists call them "human-sized." Typical examples are environmental, medical, biological objects, including the biosphere, studied globally by ecologists. This also includes biotechnology, genetic engineering and systems in which machines and people are adjacent, including AI (artificial intelligence) and IT systems.
The study of such systems allows the development of humanistic values, since one way or another there is an interaction of pure science and ideas about humanism. Limitations due to the characteristics of civilization exclude free experimentation. A number of interactions are prohibited, and all scientists who have chosen such a direction for activity should be aware of this. The reason is that some actions can have unpredictable consequences in terms of their catastrophe.
Speaking about human-sized objects, scientists are forced to take into account universal values and factors and formulate explanations of the observed phenomena with these preconditions. Researchers regularly face ethical challenges. The boundaries of acceptable interference are not always obvious. At the same time, any science has an internal ethics, which stimulates the search for workarounds to achieve the desired goal. The search for new information must be combined with jewelry principles of humanism and universal values. Cognition becomes an element of social life and is designed to help comprehend the norms and ideals that are characteristic of society at the current stage of development.
To summarize
Speaking about the types of scientific rationality, there are three groups: classical, non-classical and post-non-classical. Currently, we live in the third type, the distinguishing feature of which is the study of the world in general, taking into account the relationships. But at a time when science was established, and up to the 19th century, classical dominated. He was replaced by the non-classical, formulated on the basis of the ideas of Einstein, Bohr and Heisenberg.