Table Of ContentTHEORETICALKNOWLEDGE
SYNTHESE LIBRARY
STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY,
LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHYOF SCIENCE
Editor-in-Chief:
VINCENTF. HENDRICKS, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
JOHN SYMONS, University of Texas at El Paso, U.S.A.
Honorary Editor:
JAAKKO HINTIKKA,Boston University, U.S.A.
Editors:
DIRK VAN DALEN,University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
THEO A.F. KUIPERS,University of Groningen, The Netherlands
TEDDYSEIDENFELD,Carnegie Mellon University, U.S.A.
PATRICK SUPPES,Stanford University, California, U.S.A.
JANWOLEN´SKI,Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
VOLUME 326
Theoretical Knowledge
by
VYACHESLAVSTEPIN
Russian Academy of Science, Moscow,
Russia
AC.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN-10 1-4020-3045-2(HB)
ISBN-10 1-4020-3046-0 (e-book)
ISBN-13 978-1-4020-3045-1(HB)
ISBN-13 978-1-4020-3046-8(e-book)
Published by Springer,
P.O. Box 17, 3300 AADordrecht, The Netherlands.
www.springeronline.com
Printed on acid-free paper
English ranslation by
A. G. Georgie and E. D. Rumiantseva
All Rights Reserved
© 2005 Springer
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording
or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception
of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered
and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
Printed in the Netherlands.
CONTENTS
Preface to the English Edition ix
Preface xi
CHAPTER ONE
SCIENTIFICCOGNITION IN A SOCIOCULTURALCONTEXT 1
SCIENCE IN THE TECHNOGENICCIVILIZATIONCULTURE 1
Traditional and technogenic civilizations 1
Global crises and the problem of the scientific-technical progress value 7
SPECIFICITYOFSCIENTIFICCOGNITION 10
Main distinctive featuresofscience 10
Scientific and common cognition 15
GENESISOFSCIENTIFICCOGNITION 20
Pre-science and developing science 20
Spiritual revolution of antiquity 24
Birth of the empirical sciences 30
CHAPTER TWO
STRUCTUREOF THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE 45
ABSTRACTOBJECTSOF THEORY AND THEIR SYSTEMICORGANIZATION 45
THEORETICALSCHEME AND MATHEMATICAL APPARATUS 53
ATHEORETICAL SCHEME’S ROLE IN DEDUCTIVEUNFOLDING OF A THEORY 59
THEORETICAL SCHEMES AND EXPERIENCE.OPERATIONAL STATUS OF
THEORETICAL SCHEMES 68
CHAPTERTHREE
THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCIENCE 91
SCIENTIFIC PICTUREOF THE WORLD 93
Worldview, philosophy, scientific picture of the world 93
Historical evolution of the notion of the “scientific picture of the world” 98
The picture of the world in a system of scientific knowledge 109
IDEALS,NORMS AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONSOFSCIENCE 117
The ideals and norms of investigation 117
Philosophical foundations of science 131
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER FOUR
GENESIS OF THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE IN CLASSICAL SCIENCE 153
SCIENTIFIC PICTURE OF THE WORLD AND EXPERIENCE 154
GENESISOF THE PRIMARY THEORETICAL MODELSOFCLASSICALSCIENCE 164
Formation of theoretical scheme as a hypothesis 164
Justification and transformation of a hypothesis in a theoretical
model of an object 178
CONSTRUCTING A DEVELOPED THEORY IN THE CLASSICAL SCIENCE 186
CHAPTER FIVE
FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY IN NON-CLASSICAL SCIENCE 207
MATHEMATICAL HYPOTHESIS AND ITS EMPIRICAL JUSTIFICATION 207
Peculiarities of modern forms of physical picture of the world and their
role in putting forward mathematical hypotheses 208
The problem of empirical verification of a mathematical hypothesis 217
HOW A DEVELOPED THEORY IS FORMED IN MODERNSCIENCE 222
The main stages of development of the mathematical apparatus of
quantum electrodynamics 225
Quantum mechanical picture of the world and its role in forming the
mathematical apparatus of quantum electrodynamics 227
Paradoxes of the theory created and the problem of interpretation 229
Idealized procedures of field measuring and interpretation of the
apparatus of quantum electrodynamics (the initial idea of Bohr-
Rosenfeld procedures) 234
Reconstruction of the theoretical model of quantized electromagnetic
field and justification of its consistency 241
The proof of measurability of quantized radiation fields 245
Intermediate interpretations of apparatus of modern physical theory as a
condition of its development 257
MUTUAL CONNECTION OF GENESIS AND FUNCTIONING OF A THEORY.
THE CONSTRUCTIBILITY PRINCIPLE 265
CHAPTERSIX
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS 283
SCIENCE IN THE TECHNOGENIC CIVILIZATION CULTURE 283
INTRADISCIPLINARY REVOLUTIONS 284
Paradoxes and problem situations as premises of a scientific revolution 284
Heuristic role of methodological schemes 289
Philosophical premises of reconstruction of foundation of science 294
From methodological ideas to theory and a new picture of the world 300
CONTENTS vii
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS AND INTERDISCIPLINARY INTERACTIONS 307
GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS AS CHANGE OF RATIONALITY TYPE 324
Scientific revolution as choice of new investigation strategies. Potential
historiesofscience 324
Global scientific revolutions: from classical to post-non-classical science 328
CHAPTERSEVEN
STRATEGIES OF THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION IN THE EPOCH OF
POST-NON-CLASSICALSCIENCE 341
UNIVERSAL EVOLUTIONISM AS FOUNDATIONOF THE MODERNSCIENTIFIC
PICTUREOF THE WORLD 341
SCIENTIFIC PICTURE OF THE WORLD AND NEW WORLDVIEW REFERENCE
POINTS OF CIVILIZATION DEVELOPMENT 356
CONCLUSION 373
REFERENCES 381
SUBJECT INDEX 395
PREFACE
to the English Edition
The conception, which is posed in this book, has its own history. As I am seeing now the
idea and some elements of the conception were outlined in the years of my postgraduate
studies in the beginning of the 60th after the completion of my education at the
philosophical department of Byelorussian State University. Choosing the critical analysis
of Vienna Circle’s positivism as the subject of my doctoral thesis I had not suspected at
that time of the result of my future studies. With a knowledge of the papers of M. Schlick,
Ph. Frank, V. Kraft, R. Carnap, C.G. Hempel and others I suddenly realized, that I have no
objections against their position and that I agree in views with them. Being occupied next
years by my duties as a teacher I still all the time pondered over issues of the methodology
of science. Returned over the three years to my doctoral thesis I discovered that I had
succeed in an elaboration of the new position overcoming an attitude of the standard
conception of the analysis of science, which was shaped by the positivist tradition.
Positivism proposed a specific idealization of scientific knowledge. It was considered
as an autonomous structure without any linking with the practical activity, philosophy,
culture and, strictly saying, outside of the historical development. This development was
approached narrowly, it was considered as a growing of knowledge, but not extended to
include the methodology itself of its generating. In essence, positivism strove to discover
the ultimate and strictly scientific methodology, which could provide an effective growth
of knowledge at all times. In the framework of such an idealization the features of an
empirical and theoretical language would be uncovered and differentiatedd;;;the two types of
terms –––observational and factual ––in the system of an empirical language would be
discovered.
However, the attempts to describe in the framework of this approach a knowledge
dynamics and an elaboration of the new scientific theories led to the many known
difficulties. In Western philosophy of science the passage to the post-positivist conceptions
(K. Popper, T. Kuhn, I. Lacatos and others) was the result of their realization.
I proceed with my investigations after defending a thesis. My approach to the research
of a structure and dynamics of science was connected with the comprehension of its
historical development, in the course of which all basic components of the scientific
activity –––means and methods, systemic types of the studying objects, ways of the scientific
communications, the functions of science in culture –would be changed. I begin to
consider the scientific knowledge as a complicated historically developing system
immersed in a changing sociocultural environment. The results of many years of these
studies are posed in the book and the reader would evaluate their successfulness. I am
happy that the circle of my readers will be broadening due to this English edition of my
book. My thanks are due to the translators of the Russian text and to Progress-Tradition
Publishers who published Russian version of this book and arranged its translation into
English. I would like to express mygratitude to the scientific editor of English version of
the book Prof. V. Vasyukov. My sincere thanks are due to prominent philosopher and
ix
x PREFACE
logician Prof. J. Hintikka for the interest in my book, to the referees of English version, to
all who help to bring about the publication of this book.
