A Contextual Concept of Science
The contextual concept of science regards a scientific theory as a whole simulation for the mechanism of natural world under the given context. It argues that a scientific theory is to understand the reality only in the sense of intentionality in the process of reality simulation, rather than to de...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Estonian Association of the History and Philosophy of Science
2016-10-01
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| Series: | Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae Scientiarum |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.bahps.org/03_Cheng-2016-2-03.pdf |
| Summary: | The contextual concept of science regards a scientific theory as
a whole simulation for the mechanism of natural world under the given context. It argues that a scientific theory is to understand the reality only in the sense of intentionality in the process of reality simulation, rather than to describe reality in the sense of one-to-one correspondence. This concept of understanding reality is totally different from that of describing reality. Compared with the realist approaches and the anti-realist approach, the contextual approach has the following advantages: (1) it contributes to bridge the communication between the preachers of scientism and the humanists; (2) it has helped to solve the problem of underdetermination faced by scientific realism; (3) it is relatively easy to understand the correction about the concept and theory; (4) it could reflect the true process of science more properly. Therefore, it is a more promising and convincing new perspective to understand science.
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| ISSN: | 2228-2009 2228-2017 |