Over time, science, of course, undergoes qualitative changes. It increases volume, branches and becomes more complicated. Her actual story is presented rather randomly and fractionally. However, in many discoveries, hypotheses, concepts, there is a certain orderliness, the regularity of the formation and change of theories - the logic of the development of knowledge.
Relevance of the issue
The identification of logic in the development of science is expressed in understanding the patterns of progress in cognition, the forces that drive it, their historical conditionality. This problem is currently being considered from a different angle than it was in the last century. Previously it was believed that in science there is a constant increment of knowledge, the accumulation of new discoveries, the advancement of more accurate theories. All this ultimately created a cumulative effect in various areas of the study of phenomena. Today, the logic of the formation of science is presented in a different light. At present, the idea prevails that it develops not only through the continuous accumulation of ideas and facts, but also with the help of fundamental theoretical changes. Thanks to them, at a certain moment, scientists begin to redraw the familiar picture of the world and rebuild their activities on the basis of fundamentally different worldviews. The logic of unhurried evolution has been replaced by a tendency of catastrophe and scientific revolutions.
Differentiation of science
This phenomenon involves the separation of a single system into its individual parts. In the scientific field, cognition acts as it. When dividing it into elements, the emergence of new spheres, areas, objects of research and industry. Differentiation contributed to the transformation of science into a complex, ramified system that includes many disciplines.
Background
Today in science there are at least 15 thousand different disciplines. The increasing complexity of the structure of knowledge is due to several reasons. First of all, the basis of modern science is an analytical approach to real phenomena. In other words, the division of the event into simple elements acts as a basic technique. This methodological approach directed researchers to detail reality. Secondly, over the past three centuries, the number of objects that have become available for study has increased dramatically. The existence of geniuses capable of embracing the diversity of knowledge has now become physically impossible - a person can study only a small fraction of what is generally known to people. The formation of individual disciplines occurred by delimiting the subject of study of each of them from other elements of other directions. At the same time, objective laws of reality act as a core.
Efficiency
Specialization of industries is inevitable and useful. Differentiation allows you to more deeply explore individual aspects of reality. It greatly facilitates the work of scientists, directly affects the structure of the entire scientific community. Specialization continues today. For example, genetics is considered a relatively young discipline. Meanwhile, already today there are many of its branches - evolutionary, molecular, population. The "crushing" of older sciences is also noted. So, in chemistry arose a quantum direction, radiation, and so on.
Negative sides
Despite its clear advantages, differentiation carries the danger of decomposing the overall picture of the world. The fragmentation of a single system into separate elements is a natural consequence of the intensive increase and complication of knowledge. This process inevitably leads to specialization, the division of scientific activity. This has both positive and negative sides. Studying this aspect of the problem, Einstein pointed out that the work of individual scientists inevitably comes to a more limited area of general knowledge. Specialization can lead to the fact that a common understanding of knowledge cannot keep pace with the development of the system. As a result, there is a threat of narrowing the prospects of the scientist, lowering him to the level of a craftsman.
The crisis
The mutual separation of scientific disciplines, isolationist differentiation was considered the main trend until the 19th century. The result of this phenomenon was that despite the impressive successes achieved in the course of progressive specialization, there was an increase in the inconsistency of directions. This led to a crisis in the unity of science. However, already classical natural science is gradually highlighting the idea of the fundamental unity of natural phenomena and, therefore, the disciplines that reflect them. In this regard, related areas began to appear (biochemistry, physical chemistry, and so on). The boundaries that existed between the established directions have become increasingly arbitrary. At the same time, fundamental disciplines penetrated each other so much that the problem arose of forming a general system of knowledge about nature.
Science integration process
It proceeds simultaneously with the division of a single system into elements. The integration of sciences is the opposite of crushing. The term came from the Latin word, translated meaning "replenishment", "restoration". The concept is used, as a rule, to denote the combination of elements into a single whole. In this case, it is supposed to overcome the disintegrating circumstances leading to the fragmentation of the system, the excessive growth of independence of its components. This should help to increase the degree of orderliness and organization of the structure. Integration of sciences is a mutual penetration, synthesis, unification of disciplines, their methods into a single whole, elimination of boundaries between them. This is especially active at present. The integration of modern science is expressed in the emergence of areas such as synergetics, cybernetics, and so on. Along with this is the formation of various pictures of the world.
Key principles
The integration of sciences is based on a philosophical model of the unity of the world. Reality is common to all. Accordingly, its reflection should express unity. The system-holistic nature of the environment determines the commonality of natural science knowledge. In nature, there are no absolute dividing lines. In it there are only forms of the movement of matter with respect to an independent nature. They pass into each other, constitute links in the general chain of development and movement. Accordingly, the disciplines in which they are studied can have relative rather than absolute independence in various fields.
Main directions
The independence of the disciplines, the emergence of which is determined by the integration of sciences , is manifested:
- In the organization of research at the border areas. Border disciplines are the result. In this case, there is an integration of sciences that differ in complex structure.
- In the development of interdisciplinary methods. They can be used in various fields of knowledge, in which the integration of sciences also takes place . Examples : spectral analysis, computer experiment, chromatography. Wider integration and mutual penetration of disciplines provides a mathematical method.
- In the search for unifying principles and theories. An infinite variety of natural phenomena can be reduced to them. For example, evolutionary global synthesis in biology, chemistry, physics, etc., are considered such theories.
- The development of theories performing general methodological tasks in the natural sciences. The result is the integration of sciences that are far enough apart (synergetics, cybernetics).
- In changing the direct principle of separation of disciplines. A new kind of problem areas has arisen. They solve mainly complex issues that require the involvement of several disciplines.
The relationship of phenomena
As mentioned above, the differentiation and integration of sciences proceed at the same time. However, at one stage or another, the predominance of one phenomenon over another is traced. Today, the differentiation and integration of sciences is determined by various factors. With the prevailing unifying conditions, the industry emerges from the crisis of specialization. In many ways, this is facilitated by the integration of science and education . Meanwhile, the challenge now is to achieve greater orderliness and organization. The fragmentation of disciplines today does not lead to disunity, but, on the contrary, to the interpenetration of directions. Thus, we can say that the integration of science is the result of separation. Production today largely depends on the achievements and discoveries of scientists, their research and obtained indicators. For this reason, it is important to establish a connection between practical and theoretical activity.
Conclusion
The integration of sciences is a mechanism for the development of knowledge, as a result of which its disparate elements are combined into a single whole. In other words, there is a transition from “multitude” to “unity”. This phenomenon acts as one of the most important laws of the development of knowledge, the formation of its integrity. It should be noted that not every interdisciplinary study of complex problems can be considered an integrative interaction of directions. The essence of the phenomenon is to compress information, strengthen systemicity, capacity and complexity of knowledge. The problem of scientific integration has many facets. Its complexity necessitates the use of advanced means of methodological analysis.