Sadokhin Sorokin concept of modern natural science. A

A.P. Sadokhin

Concepts modern natural science

Tutorial

Introduction

Modern science unites more than a thousand different scientific disciplines, each of which contains special theories, concepts, methods of knowledge and experimental techniques. Achievements of science lay the foundations of a person’s worldview. In this process, one of the main places belongs to natural scientific knowledge, which is formed by a whole group of natural sciences, creating a holistic and adequate idea of ​​the objective world.

At the same time, the modern level of development of society places increased demands on the level of vocational training specialists, in which a significant place belongs to natural science knowledge. Today, society needs specialists who are focused not only on solving utilitarian problems within the limits of the knowledge acquired during training. Modern requirements to a specialist are based on his ability to constantly improve his qualifications, the desire to keep abreast of the latest developments in the profession, and the ability to creatively adapt them to his work. The education system is faced with the task of training highly qualified specialists with fundamental, comprehensive knowledge about various processes and phenomena of the surrounding world. To this end, in educational plans higher educational institutions includes such disciplines and lecture courses that should form a student's broad ideological orientations and attitudes, help him more fully master the scientific picture of the world and his chosen profession. The course “Concepts of modern natural science” is designed to realize these goals.

This discipline does not imply a deep and detailed study of all natural laws and processes, phenomena and facts, methods and experiments. The purpose of the course is to familiarize yourself with the basic principles and current state of development natural sciences, helping to form an idea of ​​the complete picture of the world around us, man’s place in it, and to understand the problems of social development.

The key word of the course is the concept of “concept” (from Lat. conception – understanding, explanation), which means a relatively systematic explanation or understanding of some phenomena or events. In relation to this training course, it assumes a popular, meaningful description of natural scientific knowledge that forms the overall picture of the world in the human mind. Various natural scientific ideas about the structure of the world represent the basic knowledge necessary to understand the world in accordance with the level of knowledge of each era. In addition, without natural science knowledge it is difficult to understand not only the development of technology and technology, but also the development of society and culture.

The course “Concepts of modern natural science” covers the main problems, ideas and theories of natural sciences, scientific principles of knowledge, methodology, models and results of modern natural science, which together make up the scientific picture of the world. In this regard, the objectives of the course include the formation of knowledge about interdisciplinary, general scientific approaches and methods, the development of systematic thinking in the course of analyzing the problems of modern natural science, expanding the cognitive horizons of students by going beyond the boundaries of their narrow professional interests.

As a result of studying the discipline, students should gain knowledge that allows them to take into account in the future professional activity fundamental laws of nature and basic research methods, as well as information about the most important historical stages and paths of development of natural science.

The textbook was prepared in accordance with the State educational standard higher vocational education, which is introduced into the curricula for students of all humanities specialties. It is based on textbooks previously published by the author and courses of lectures given by the author at various universities.

The experience of teaching this discipline to students of various humanitarian specialties shows that one should not present the material of the natural sciences, delving into “technical details” if this is not justified by the general plan and methodological approach to the presentation of the subject. The author saw his main task as making the form of presentation of the material accessible to future specialists for whom natural science is not a professional discipline.

Spectrum of humanitarian specialties in the system higher education is quite broad and diverse, so the author sought to give his work a universal character so that it would be useful for students of various humanitarian specialties - economists, psychologists, philosophers, historians, sociologists, managers, lawyers, etc. This orientation of the textbook implies a conscious refusal to master the physical sciences And chemical formulas, memorizing numerous rules and laws and concentrating on the most important concepts of modern natural science, which are the foundation of the scientific picture of the world. The textbook is both a scientific and popular publication, providing a quick and accessible introduction to the problems of natural sciences for a wide range of readers.

The author expresses gratitude to the reviewers and fellow teachers for their valuable comments and recommendations made during the creation of the textbook, as well as to all interested readers for possible comments and suggestions.

Chapter 1. Science in the context of culture

1.1. Science as part of culture

Throughout their history, people have developed many ways of understanding and mastering the world around them. Among them, one of the most important places is occupied by science, the main goal of which is to describe, explain and predict the processes of reality that constitute the subject of its study. IN modern understanding science is seen as:

The highest form of human knowledge;

A social institution consisting of various organizations and institutions engaged in obtaining new knowledge about the world;

System of developing knowledge;

A way of knowing the world;

A system of principles, categories, laws, techniques and methods for obtaining adequate knowledge;

Element of spiritual culture;

System of spiritual activity and production.

All given meanings of the term “science” are legitimate. But this ambiguity also means that science is a complex system designed to provide generalized, holistic knowledge about the world. Moreover, this knowledge cannot be disclosed by any one separate science or set of sciences.

To understand the specifics of science, it should be considered as part of a culture created by man, and compared with other spheres of culture.

A specific feature of human life is the fact that it occurs simultaneously in two interrelated aspects - natural and cultural. Initially, man is Living being, a product of nature, however, in order to exist in it comfortably and safely, he creates an artificial world of culture, a “second nature”, inside nature. Thus, a person exists in nature, interacts with it as a living organism, but at the same time “doubles” external world, developing knowledge about it, creating images, models, assessments, household items, etc. It is precisely this kind of thing-cognitive human activity that constitutes the cultural aspect of human existence.

Culture is embodied in subject results activities, ways and methods of human existence, in various norms of behavior and diverse knowledge about the world around us. The entire set of practical manifestations of culture is divided into two main groups: material and spiritual values. Material values form material culture, and the world of spiritual values, which includes science, art, religion, forms the world of spiritual culture.

Spiritual culture covers the spiritual life of society, its social experience and results, which appear in the form of ideas, scientific theories, artistic images, moral and legal norms, political and religious views and other elements of the human spiritual world.

Integral integral part Culture is science, which determines many important aspects of society and human life. It, like other spheres of culture, has its own tasks that distinguish them from each other. Thus, the economy is the foundation that ensures all the activities of society; it arises on the basis of a person’s ability to work. Morality regulates relations between people in society, which is very important for a person who cannot live outside society and must limit his own freedom in the name of the survival of the entire team. Religion arises from a person’s need for consolation in situations that cannot be resolved rationally (for example, the death of loved ones, illness, unhappy love, etc.).

2191.08kb.

T.G.Grushevitskaya, A.P.Sadokhin

CONCEPTS

MODERN

NATURAL SCIENCE

Tutorial

For students

Full-time and part-time

University departments

Moscow

« graduate School»

Reviewers:

Department of Philosophy and Sociology of St. Petersburg Maritime State technical university(head. Department Dr. Philosopher sciences, prof. A.V. Soldatov);

Full member of the International Academy of Informatization and the Academy social education, Doctor of Philosophy sciences, prof. A.V. Fedotov; Doctor of Philosophy Sciences, Associate Professor V.I. Smirnov (St. Petersburg State academic institute painting, sculpture, architecture. I.E. Repin).

Vocational education Russian Federation as

Textbook for university students.

Grushevitskaya T. G., Sadokhin A. P.

G90 Concepts of modern natural science: Textbook. manual-M.: Higher. school, 1998.-383 p.

ISBN 5-06-003474 -7

The course is studied in all universities of the country as compulsory. The manual is written in accordance with the requirements of the “State Educational Standard” and provides basic knowledge, forming a future specialist with a broad scientific outlook.

The work highlights the specifics of science as a form of knowledge, the history of science, and outlines the basic modern concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, etc.

For students of technical and humanities universities, for teachers and students of technical schools and colleges.

ISBN 5-06-003474-7 © "Higher School", 1998

Preface

TOPIC 1. SCIENCE AND ITS ROLE IN THE LIFE OF SOCIETY

TOPIC 2. SCIENTIFIC THEORY. STRUCTURE AND BASES OF THE THEORY

TOPIC 3. METHODS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE. DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

TOPIC 4. THE EMERGENCE OF SCIENCE. APPEARANCE OF THE FIRST RESEARCH PROGRAMS

TOPIC 5. FORMATION OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF NATURAL SCIENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE

TOPIC 6. SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION XVI - XVII CENTURIES. AND THE FORMATION OF CLASSICAL SCIENCE

TOPIC 7. SPECIFICITY AND NATURE OF MODERN SCIENCE

TOPIC 8. PHYSICAL PICTURE OF THE WORLD

TOPIC 9. STRUCTURAL LEVELS OF MATTER ORGANIZATION

TOPIC A 10. PHYSICAL INTERACTION

TOPIC 11. CONCEPTS OF SPACE AND TIME IN MODERN NATURAL SCIENCE

TOPIC 12. DETERMINISM AND CAUSALITY IN MODERN PHYSICS. DYNAMIC AND STATISTICAL LAWS

TOPIC 13. PRINCIPLES OF MODERN PHYSICS

TOPIC 14. COSMOLOGICAL MODELS OF THE UNIVERSE

TOPIC 15. EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE

TOPIC 16. PROBLEMS OF SELF-ORGANIZATION OF MATTER

TOPIC 17. FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHEMICAL PICTURE OF THE WORLD

TOPIC 18. MODERN CONCEPTS OF CHEMISTRY

TOPIC 19. ORIGIN AND ESSENCE OF LIFE

TOPIC 20. EVOLUTION OF THE ORGANIC WORLD

TOPIC 21. MODERN THEORIES OF EVOLUTION

TOPIC 22. MAN AS A SUBJECT OF NATURAL SCIENCE

TOPIC 23. MAN, BIOSPHERE AND SPACE

TOPIC 24. ON THE WAY TO THE NOOSPHERE

Questions for the exam and test

PREFACE

The reform of higher education carried out in our country is aimed at making it more versatile and fundamental. For this purpose, new lecture courses are being introduced into the curricula of higher educational institutions, designed to ensure, among other things, the independent formation of ideological orientation and personality attitudes, and to help the student master the modern natural science picture of the world and his chosen profession.

Today, society does not need specialists who are capable of solving only narrowly utilitarian problems within the limits of the knowledge acquired during training. Modern requirements for a specialist require his readiness to improve his qualifications, the desire to keep abreast of the latest achievements in his field, and be able to creatively adapt them to his work.

Therefore the main task modern education is development creativity students, so that after graduation the graduate can become creative personality capable of various forms of activity. The course “Concepts of modern natural science” is focused on the implementation of these goals.

The relevance of introducing the course “Concepts of modern natural science” into the educational process is also due to the fact that in last years In our country, various kinds of irrational types of knowledge are becoming increasingly widespread, such as astrology, magic, mystical, etc. teachings. Gradually and quite consistently, they are displacing public consciousness a natural scientific picture of the world based on rational ways of explaining it. Representatives of modern parascience persistently disseminate any teachings, including mysticism, superstition, etc. Many of them are sincerely convinced that the status of the scientific worldview in modern society no higher than any myth, and promote unlimited ideological pluralism. Therefore, today, more than ever, it is important to establish natural science knowledge in the public consciousness.

The achievements of natural sciences are an integral part of human culture. Knowledge of basic modern theories and concepts of natural science are formed by the scientific method of thinking, an adequate attitude of a person to the world around him. Any person needs to know that the world is rationally knowable, that it is governed by objective laws that cannot be canceled or circumvented with the help of God or psychics. "Concepts of Modern Natural Science" is a course designed to introduce the reader at the level general ideas with the most important data from various sciences about the world and man’s place in it.

Finally, knowledge of the concepts of modern natural science should help students penetrate inside the microworld and into extraterrestrial space, understand and imagine what material and intellectual costs it costs to produce modern televisions and computers, how important the problem of preserving nature is, what the essence of man is, etc.

However, developing a textbook for a completely new academic course is always an extremely complex and responsible matter. However, it becomes significantly more complicated if the title and subject of this course are defined very roughly and abstractly.

Firstly, the basis of the manual was made up of lecture courses, which were given by the authors for several years at the humanities faculties of Kaluga State University. pedagogical university them. K.E. Tsiolkovsky and in the Kaluga branch of the Moscow Humanitarian-Economic Institute. As a result, the manual was created specifically for students of various humanitarian specialties. Here, the authors saw their main task in making the form of presentation of the material accessible to future specialists for whom natural science is not a professional discipline.

Secondly, since the range of humanities specialties in the higher education system is quite wide, the authors sought to ensure that their work would be of interest to readers with a wide variety of needs and levels of training, and would also be useful for use in educational process precisely as educational and Toolkit. This purpose of the manual is determined by the requirements of the “State Educational Standard” for the course “Concepts of Modern Natural Sciences”, according to which the achievements of the natural sciences are an integral part of human culture. Knowledge of basic natural sciences and methods scientific knowledge shapes the character of students’ thinking and contributes to the development of an adequate attitude towards the world around them.

Thirdly, due to the fact that “Concepts of modern natural science” is a course designed to show the place and significance of natural science in modern culture, to introduce students at the level of general ideas to the most important concepts of the origin of nature and man, to help them master the modern natural science picture of the world, the authors sought to uncover relevant problems based on a synthesis of natural science, philosophy and cultural studies. This methodological approach is determined by the authors’ conviction that only in this way can one show the unity and diversity of the world and contribute to the formation of a holistic worldview among students. Therefore, where necessary, the authors used scientific, historical and philosophical approaches to describe relevant topics and issues, and tried to show not only the results of solving natural science problems, but also the paths in the development of knowledge that led to them.

These methodological approaches determined the content and structure of the textbook. The logic of the course presentation develops from questions of the history of science and the foundations of scientific studies (1-7 topics) through a description of the physical, chemical and biological pictures of the world (8-21 topics) to the disclosure of the essence of man and modern problems his life activity (22 - 24 topics). At the same time, the authors provided for the possibility of presenting this course in various versions, depending on the capabilities and characteristics of the educational institution, forms of training, structure of the curriculum and qualifications of each teacher.

It should be added to the above that it is impossible to simultaneously be a specialist in all scientific areas described in this course. Therefore, consultations, advice and recommendations from specialists in various scientific fields provided significant assistance in the work on the manual. In this regard, the authors express their deep gratitude to Doctor of Philology, Prof. Biryukov V.F.; Ph.D., Associate Professor Dronov A.I.; Ph.D., Associate Professor Zubarev A.E.; Ph.D., Associate Professor Savitkin N.I. for their help and support provided in the preparation of the manuscript.

In conclusion, I would like to note that since sufficient experience in teaching the discipline itself has not yet been accumulated, the course program has not been firmly established, its content is being actively discussed, the authors are aware of the imperfection of their work. Therefore, they express their gratitude in advance to all interested readers for their well-meaning and reasonable comments and suggestions for improving their work.

TOPIC 1 SCIENCE AND ITS ROLE IN THE LIFE OF SOCIETY

THE PROBLEM OF DEFINITION OF SCIENCE

Throughout their history, people have developed several ways of understanding and mastering the world around them. One of these most important ways, of course, is science. We are familiar with this word; we use it very often in Everyday life, but we absolutely do not think about its actual meaning. Today it is quite obvious to us that science is an integral part of the spiritual culture of society. With its emergence, unique spiritual products accumulate in the treasury of knowledge passed on from generation to generation, which play more and more important role in awareness, understanding and transformation of reality. On at a certain stage human history science, like other previously emerged elements of culture, develops in a relatively independent form public consciousness. This is due to the fact that a number of problems facing society can only be solved with the help of science.

Understanding the role and place of science in people's lives is a complex process that is not completed today. It was and is being developed long and hard, in the struggle of approaches, ideas, in the course of overcoming difficulties, contradictions, doubts and the emergence of new and new questions. Only in the 20s of our century a new scientific discipline arose, called “scientific studies” and designed to reveal the essence and characteristics of science, the mechanism of its development and application, as well as the general patterns of development and functioning of science as a system of knowledge and a special social institution.

The first thing that the founders of scientific studies paid attention to was the etymology of the Latin word “scientia” itself, which means “knowledge”. From a certain time, this word began to mean science and in this meaning entered into some European languages. But the problem is that not all knowledge is science. Knowledge is acquired by a person in a wide variety of spheres of his life: in everyday life, in politics, in economics, in art, in engineering, but in them acquiring knowledge is not the main goal.

Thus, art, through artistic images, reflects reality, creates aesthetic values, expresses the artist’s attitude towards real world. The economy, in order to ensure the activities of society, must be based on true knowledge of reality, but it must be assessed according to the criteria of efficiency and practical results. Religion creates a world of transcendental knowledge in which a person communicates with God. Philosophy shapes a person’s knowledge about existence, about a person’s place in the world and about his own inner world.

Along with these forms of social consciousness, science is part of a single culture. But it is in comparison and interaction with them that the specificity of science is revealed. Religion, philosophy, art, and science - they all reflect reality in their own way and at the same time create their own world, their own artificial reality. Science creates a world of knowledge, consisting only of experimentally proven data about this world, and conclusions obtained on the basis of the laws of logic. In this world, the person himself, the subjective element of this world, his value orientations a very insignificant role is assigned (for this there is art, morality, religion). Therefore, only by complementing each other, all these components of culture can fulfill their main function - to provide and facilitate human life, being a connecting link between man and nature. If in this relationship one part is given greater importance compared to others, then this leads to the impoverishment of the culture as a whole and a distortion of its main purpose.

RELATIONSHIP OF SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

History knows examples of the predominance of some spheres of culture to the detriment of others. First of all, this concerns the relationship between science, philosophy and religion in the Middle Ages and in modern times. Thus, medieval science was under the rule of religion, which slowed down the development of science for at least a millennium and consigned many achievements of ancient science to oblivion. Having escaped from the power of religion in the Renaissance, science begins to develop rapidly, but philosophy retains its place as the main element in the worldview of educated people (for the illiterate majority, religion still plays the leading role). And only in the 19th century. In connection with the successes of natural science, science began to claim a dominant position in the culture and worldview of man and society. At the same time, a conflict broke out between science and philosophy, which continued almost to this day. Its essence comes down to the struggle for the right to possess the ultimate truth. Science, not realizing its limitations, wanted to provide answers to all questions and lead humanity to a better future. Usually this future was imagined as a world of material prosperity and satiety, built on the basis of the achievements of science and technology. Against the background of the low standard of living inherent in most people at the beginning of the 20th century, the flawed nature of such ideas about the “brave new world” remained incomprehensible not only to the majority of the population, attracted by the promise of those benefits that they never had, but also to politicians purposefully leading their people into the world of high technology, and even some of the thinkers (philosophers, writers, artists) who propagate these ideas with all the fervor of converts. Only a few philosophers and cultural scientists were able to understand at the beginning of the 20th century that this path leads to disaster. This became clear in the middle of this century, after the creation of nuclear weapons and the impending environmental disaster.

However, remnants of the ideology of scientism - belief in science as the only saving force - persist to this day. Having arisen in the depths of the Enlightenment and being developed in the philosophy of positivism, in the second half of our century it was transformed into a tendency towards limitless praise of the achievements of the natural sciences as opposed to the social and humanitarian disciplines.

It was this conviction that led to the current ecological state of the planet, the danger of thermonuclear war, but most importantly, to a sharp decline in ethical and aesthetic indicators of culture, the ever-increasing influence of technocratic psychology, which stimulated consumerism in modern society.

This role of scientism is due to the fact that it, as a worldview, is based on rational calculation, and where there is a certain pragmatic goal, a person professing this ideology will strive for this goal, regardless of any ethical obstacles.

An individual feels lost and powerless in such a scientistic world. Science taught him to doubt spiritual values, surrounded him with material comfort, and taught him to see in everything, first of all, a rationally achieved goal. Naturally, such a person inevitably becomes a cold, calculating pragmatist, viewing other people only as a means to achieve his goals. He is deprived of the goal for which a person is worth living, the integrity of his worldview is destroyed. Indeed, since the industrial revolution, new scientific thinking began to destroy the religious picture of the world that had been functioning for thousands of years, in which man was offered universal and unshakable knowledge about how to live and what the principles underlying the world order were. At the same time, the paradox of scientific thinking lies in the fact that, destroying the naive holistic view of the world that is given by religion or religious philosophy, questioning every postulate previously taken on faith, science does not give in return the same holistic, convincing worldview - all specific truths sciences cover only a fairly narrow range of phenomena. Science has taught man to doubt everything and immediately created a worldview deficit around itself, which it is fundamentally unable to fill, because this is a matter of philosophy or religion.

There is no doubt that science represents a huge achievement of human culture. It makes a person’s life from generation to generation easier, more comfortable, more independent, and attracts with the prospect of an abundance of material and spiritual benefits. But deified science is a completely different phenomenon, generating completely opposite results. Objectively, science is only one of the spheres of human culture, which has its own specifics and its own tasks, and one should not try to change this situation. Science in itself cannot be considered the highest value of human civilization; it is only a means in solving various problems of human existence. In a normal harmonious society there should simultaneously be a place for science, and for art, and for philosophy, and for religion, and for all other parts of human culture.

Thus, based on the above ideas about the essence and role of science in culture and society, we can give it a more precise definition. The science - it is part of culture, which is a body of objective knowledge about existence. In terms of content, this concept also includes the process of obtaining this knowledge and various forms and mechanisms of its application in the practical life of people.

STRUCTURE OF SCIENCE AND ITS FUNCTIONS

The philosophical concept of objective existence includes nature, society and man. According to these three elements of objective existence in science, three spheres of knowledge about these components being. This content aspect of science.

Depending on the sphere of existence, and therefore on the type of reality being studied, three areas of scientific knowledge are distinguished: natural science - knowledge about nature, social science - knowledge about various types and forms public life, as well as knowledge about man as a thinking being. Naturally, these three spheres are not and should not be considered as three parts of a single whole, which are only side by side, adjacent to each other. The boundary between these spheres is relative.

The entire body of scientific knowledge about nature is formed by natural science. Its structure is a direct reflection of the logic of nature. The total volume and structure of natural science knowledge is large and varied.

This includes knowledge about matter and its structure, about the movement and interaction of substances, about chemical elements and compounds, about living matter and life, about Earth and Space. Fundamental natural science directions also originate from these objects of natural science.

Bodies, their movement, transformations and forms of manifestation at various levels are the object of physical scientific knowledge. Due to their fundamental nature, they form the basis of natural science and determine all other knowledge.

Chemical elements, their properties, transformations and compounds are reflected in chemical knowledge. They have many points of contact with physical knowledge, on the basis of which a number of related disciplines arise - physical chemistry, chemical physics, etc.

Biological knowledge covers a group of knowledge about living things; their subject of study is the cell and everything derived from it. Biological knowledge is based on knowledge about matter and chemical elements. Because of this, sciences such as biophysics, biochemistry, etc. arise at the intersection of sciences.

The Earth as a planet is the subject of geological knowledge. They consider the structure and development of our planet. At the intersection with other groups of knowledge, geochemistry, paleontology, geophysics, etc. arise.

One of the most ancient, but at the same time the most modern direction in science there is cosmological knowledge, the subject of which is the Universe as a whole. Cosmology studies the states and changes of space objects.

The second fundamental direction of scientific knowledge is social science. Its subject is social phenomena and systems, structures, states, processes. Social sciences provide knowledge about individual varieties and the entirety of social connections and relationships.

By its nature, scientific knowledge about society is numerous, but it can be grouped into three areas: sociological, the subject of which is society as a whole; economic - reflect labor activity people, property relations, social production, exchange, distribution and relations in society based on them; state-legal knowledge - has as its subject state-legal structures and relations in social systems, they are considered by all sciences about the state and political sciences.

The third fundamental area of ​​scientific knowledge is scientific knowledge about man and his thinking. Man is the object of study large number various sciences that consider it in various aspects. Of the entire set of sciences, the humanities are focused on the interests of man, who acts for them as the measure of all things. But man himself and his mental abilities are studied by psychology - the science of human consciousness; logic - the science of the forms of correct thinking.

Mathematics is the science of quantitative relations of reality. It is an interdisciplinary science. Its results are used in both natural and social sciences.

Along with the above main scientific directions knowledge of science about itself should be included in a separate group of knowledge. The emergence of this branch of knowledge dates back to the 20s of our century and means that science in its development has risen to the level of understanding its role and significance in people's lives. Science today is considered an independent, rapidly developing scientific discipline.

One of the most important conditions is indeed scientific approach to the study of any object is its analysis in various aspects, among which, in addition to the above-mentioned content, one of the main places belongs to structural. In relation to scientific knowledge, this aspect means the division of scientific knowledge into groups depending on their subject, nature, degree of explanation of reality and practical significance.

In this case, we distinguish: factual knowledge - a set of systematized facts of objective reality; theoretical or fundamental knowledge - theories that explain processes occurring in objective reality; technical and applied knowledge, or technology, is knowledge about the practical application of factual or fundamental knowledge, as a result of which a certain technical effect is achieved; practical-applied, or praxeological, knowledge - knowledge about the economic effect that can be obtained if the above-mentioned groups of knowledge are applied.

IN logical aspect scientific knowledge is mental activity, higher form logical knowledge, a product of human creativity. Its starting point is sensory knowledge, passing from sensation to perception and representation. After this, there is a transition to rational knowledge, developing from concept to judgment and inference. This corresponds to the level of empirical and theoretical knowledge.

And finally social aspect scientific knowledge represents it as social phenomenon, the collective research process and the application of the results of this research. In this aspect, we are interested in scientific institutions, teams, educational institutions, organizations of scientists, etc.

Having determined the structure of scientific knowledge, we thereby have the opportunity to define science. It is understood as dynamic system objectively true knowledge about the essential connections of reality, obtained and developed as a result of special social activities and transformed through their application into the direct practical force of society.

Closely related to the structure of scientific knowledge is the problem of the functions of science. There are several that stand out:

1. descriptive - identification of essential properties and relationships of reality;

2. systematizing - classifying what is described into classes and sections;

3. explanatory - a systematic presentation of the essence of the object being studied, the reasons for its emergence and development;

4. production-practical - the possibility of applying the acquired knowledge in production, for the regulation of social life, in social management;

5. prognostic - prediction of new discoveries within the framework of existing theories, as well as recommendations for the future;

6. worldview - introducing acquired knowledge into the existing picture of the world, rationalizing a person’s relationship to reality.

Speaking so far about science and scientific knowledge, we considered them as an already really existing object of study, which we analyzed from a formal point of view.

However, humanity in its history has accumulated knowledge of a very different nature, and scientific knowledge is only one of the types of this knowledge. Therefore, the question arises about the criteria for the scientific nature of knowledge, which accordingly allows us to classify it as scientific or some other.

CRITERIA FOR SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE

One of the main criteria of scientific character is the systematic nature of knowledge. A system, unlike a simple sum of parts, is characterized by internal unity and the impossibility of removing any elements. Scientific knowledge always acts as certain systems: in these systems there are initial principles, fundamental concepts and knowledge derived from these principles and concepts. In addition, the system includes interpreted experimental facts, experiments, and mathematical apparatus, practical conclusions and recommendations.

But the principle of consistency alone is not enough to call some knowledge science. After all, outside science there is systematized knowledge - for example, religious knowledge, which also outwardly looks like harmonious, logically based systems.

Science is not just a system or body of knowledge, but also an activity to obtain new knowledge, which requires the existence of people specializing in this, relevant organizations coordinating research, as well as the availability of the necessary materials, technologies, and means of recording information. This means that science appears only when special objective conditions in society: a more or less clear social demand for objective knowledge, the social possibility of identifying a special group of people whose main task becomes the answer to this request; the division of labor that began within this group; accumulation of knowledge, skills, cognitive techniques that serve as the basis on which science is formed; the emergence of means of recording information, without which it is impossible to transfer accumulated information to next generations, as well as its prompt change.

An important criterion for scientificity is the presence of a goal of scientific knowledge, which is defined as the comprehension of truth for the sake of truth itself, or theoreticality. If science is aimed only at solving practical problems, it ceases to be science in in every sense this word. Thus, the scientific knowledge that existed in the East was used only as an auxiliary in religious magical ceremonies and rituals. Therefore, we cannot talk about the presence of science there as an independent cultural phenomenon.

A distinctive feature of scientific knowledge is its rational nature. Today this position seems trivial, but faith in the possibilities of reason did not appear immediately and not everywhere. Eastern civilization never accepted this position, giving priority to intuition and extrasensory perception. This criterion is closely related to the property of intersubjectivity of scientific knowledge, which is understood as universal validity, universally binding knowledge, its invariance, the ability to obtain the same result by different researchers.

The defining features of science are also the presence of an experimental research method and the mathematization of science. These signs appeared in modern times, giving science a modern look, as well as connecting it with practice.

Seminar lesson plan (2 hours)

1. Science as a cultural phenomenon. The purpose and objectives of science.

2. Scientism as a worldview and its role in the formation of modern civilization.

3. Scientific knowledge and its various aspects.

4. Scientific criteria.

Topics of reports and abstracts

1. V.I. Vernadsky on the relationship between science, philosophy and religion.

2. Science as a social institution.

3. Science and philosophy.

4. Science and religion.

LITERATURE

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3. Vernadsky V.I. Philosophical thoughts of a naturalist. M., 1988.

4. Good G.M. Science about science. Kyiv, 1989.

5. Zinchenko V.P. Is science an integral part of culture?//Questions of Philosophy. 1990.No. 1.

6. Ilyin V.V., Kalinkin A.T. The nature of science. M., 1985.

7. Yordanov I. Science as a logical and social system. Kyiv, 1979.

8. Scientific progress: cognitive and sociocultural aspect. M., 1993.

9. Fundamentals of scientific studies. M., 1985.

10. Rachkov P. A. Scientific studies. M., 1974.

11. Philosophy and methodology of science. M., 1996.

12. Filatov V.P. Images of science in Russian culture//Questions of Philosophy. 1990. No. 5.

Natural science and humanitarian culture Culture, being the result of human activity, cannot exist in isolation from the natural world, which is its material basis.<...>However, gradually they developed their own principles and approaches, and defined goals: natural science culture sought to study nature and conquer it, and the humanitarian culture set as its goal the study of man and his world.<...> Natural science culture That is why he focuses his attention on the study and research of natural processes and the laws that govern them.<...>Thus, natural science and humanitarian culture They are not isolated by chance; their differences are great.<...>We identify four criteria for scientific knowledge: 1) systematic knowledge; 2) the presence of a proven mechanism for obtaining new knowledge; 3) theoreticality knowledge; 4) rationality knowledge. <...> Theoreticality knowledge The third criterion of scientific character is theoreticality knowledge, defining the goals of scientific knowledge.<...> Theoreticality knowledge 11 involves obtaining truth for its own sake, and not for the sake of a practical result.<...>This is especially important these days, since Lately has always existed next to science pseudoscience is becoming increasingly popular and attracts everyone larger number supporters and adherents.<...>No contribution to the development of genuine science pseudoscience does not contribute, but claims the privileges that scientists have.<...>Therefore, you should clearly understand what it is pseudoscience, know how it differs from true science.<...>So, although the concept " quark"was introduced in physics back in the 30s.<...> Special methods scientific knowledge Special methods scientific knowledge is used by most sciences at different stages cognitive activity and relate to a specific aspect of the subject being studied or a research technique.<...>Thus there are special methods that manifest themselves: at the empirical level of knowledge ( special <...>

Concepts_of_modern_natural science._2nd_ed.,_revised_and_additional_Textbook._Grif_MO_RF._Grif_UMC_Professional_textbook.pdf

UDC 50(075.8) BBK 20ÿ73 Ñ14 Reviewers: Dr. Phil. Sciences, Prof., Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences A.V. Soldiers; Ph.D. biol. Sciences, Associate Professor L.B. Rybalov; Ph.D. chem. Sciences, Associate Professor N.N. Ivanova Editor-in-chief of the publishing house Candidate of Legal Sciences, Doctor economic sciences N.D. Eriashvili Sadokhin, Alexander Petrovich. Ñ14 university students studying in the humanities and specialties and ISBN 978-5-238-01314-5 Agency CIP RSL The textbook was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the State educational standard of higher professional education in the discipline “Concepts of modern natural science”, which is included in the curricula of all humanitarian specialties at universities. The work presents a wide panorama of concepts covering various processes and phenomena in living and inanimate nature, and describes modern scientific methods of understanding the world. The main attention is paid to the consideration of the concepts of modern natural science, which have important ideological and methodological significance. For undergraduates, graduate students and teachers of humanities faculties and universities, as well as everyone interested in philosophical issues of natural science. BBK 20ÿ73 ISBN 978-5-238-01314-5 © À.Ï. SASADOMIN, 2006 © PUBLISHING HOUSE UNIT-DANA, 2003, 2006 Reproduction of the entire book or any part thereof by any means or in any form, including on the Internet, is prohibited without the written permission of the publisher Concepts of modern natural science: a textbook for managerial economics / A.P. Sasha. - 2nd èçä., ïåðåðàá. and äîï. - M.: ÞÍÈÒÈ-ÄÀÍÀ, - 447 s.

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Contents From the author Chapter 1. Science as part of culture 1.1. Science among other spheres of culture 3 5 5 1.2. Natural science and humanitarian cultures 7 1.3. Criteria of scientific knowledge 1.4. Structure of scientific knowledge 1.5. scientific picture world Chapter 2. Structure and methods of scientific knowledge 20 2.1. Levels and forms of scientific knowledge 2.2. Methods of scientific knowledge 11 15 17 20 23 2.3. Special empirical methods of scientific knowledge 25 2.4. Special theoretical methods of scientific knowledge 27 2.5. Special universal methods of scientific knowledge 29 2.6. General scientific approaches 2.7. Systematic approach 2.8. Global evolutionism Chapter 3. Fundamentals of natural science 3.1. Subject and structure of natural science 3.2. History of natural science 3.3. The beginning of science 3.4. Global scientific revolution late XIX- beginning of XX â. 3.5. The main features of modern natural science as a science Chapter 4. Physical picture of the world 4.1. The concept of the physical picture of the world 4.2. Mechanical picture of the world 4.3. Electromagnetic picture of the world 4.4. Quantum field picture of the world 444 32 33 38 49 49 53 54 69 71 75 75 78 81 85 4.5. The relationship between dynamic and statistical laws 88 4.6. Principles modern physics 91

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Chapter 5. Modern concepts of physics 5.1. Structural levels of organization of matter 5.2. Movement and physical interaction 5.3. Concepts of space and time in modern natural science 6.2. Cosmological models of the Universe 6.3. Origin of the Universe - Big Bang concept 6.4. Structural self-organization of the Universe 96 96 106 116 Chapter 6. Modern cosmological concepts 126 6.1. Cosmology and cosmogony 126 128 134 138 6.5. Further complication of matter in the Universe 144 6.6. The problem of the existence and search for extraterrestrial civilizations Chapter 7. Earth as a subject of natural science 7.1. Shape and dimensions of the Earth 7.5. Geodynamic processes Chapter 8. Modern concepts of chemistry 8.1. Specifics of chemistry as a science 8.2. First level of chemical knowledge. The doctrine of the composition of matter 8.3. Second level of chemical knowledge. Structural chemistry 8.4. Third level of chemical knowledge. The doctrine of the chemical process 8.5. The fourth level of chemical knowledge. Evolutionary chemistry Chapter 9. Structural levels of life 9.1. Structure biological knowledge 9.2. Structural levels of life organization Chapter 10. Origin and essence of life 10.1. The essence of life 7.2. Earth among other planets solar system 159 7.3. Education of the Earth 7.4. Geospheres of the Earth 151 157 157 163 170 179 184 184 186 193 197 205 212 212 218 243 243 10.2. Basic concepts of the origin of life 249 445

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10.3. Current state problems of the origin of life 10.4. The emergence of life on Earth 10.5. Formation and development of the Earth's biosphere 10.6. The emergence of the plant and animal kingdoms 257 260 267 271 Chapter 11. The theory of evolution of the organic world 278 11.1. Formation of the idea of ​​development in biology 11.2. Theory of evolution ×. Darwin 11.4. Basics of genetics 11.5. Synthetic theory of evolution 278 284 11.3. Further development evolutionary theory. Anti-Darwinism 289 295 301 Chapter 12. Man as a subject of natural science 12.1. Concepts of human origins 12.2. Similarities and differences between humans and animals 12.3. The essence of man. Biological and social in man 12.4. Ethology about human behavior 308 308 321 332 336 Chapter 13. The phenomenon of man in modern science 340 13.1. The essence and origins of human consciousness 13.2. Human emotions Chapter 14. Man and the biosphere 14.1. The concept and essence of the biosphere 14.2. Biosphere and space 14.3. Man and space 14.4. Man and nature 14.5. The concept of the noosphere V.I. Vernadsky 14.6. Security environment 14.7. Rational environmental management 14.8. The anthropic principle in modern science Conclusion Bibliography Questions for the exam (test) for the course “Concepts of modern natural science” Glossary 446 340 350 13.3. Human health, performance and creativity 353 13.4. Bioethics 365 372 372 376 378 383 393 397 401 407 413 414 415 416

Introduction

Modern science unites more than a thousand different scientific disciplines, each of which contains special theories, concepts, methods of knowledge and experimental techniques. Achievements of science lay the foundations of a person’s worldview. In this process, one of the main places belongs to natural scientific knowledge, which is formed by a whole group of natural sciences, creating a holistic and adequate idea of ​​the objective world.

At the same time, the modern level of development of society places increased demands on the level of professional training of specialists, in which natural science knowledge plays a significant role. Today, society needs specialists who are focused not only on solving utilitarian problems within the limits of the knowledge acquired during training. Modern requirements for a specialist are based on his ability to constantly improve his qualifications, the desire to keep abreast of the latest advances in the profession, and the ability to creatively adapt them to his work. The education system is faced with the task of training highly qualified specialists with fundamental, comprehensive knowledge about various processes and phenomena of the surrounding world. For this purpose, the curricula of higher educational institutions include such disciplines and lecture courses that should form a student’s broad ideological orientations and attitudes, help him more fully master the scientific picture of the world and his chosen profession. The course “Concepts of modern natural science” is designed to realize these goals.

This discipline does not imply a deep and detailed study of all natural laws and processes, phenomena and facts, methods and experiments. The purpose of the course is to familiarize yourself with the basic principles and current state of development of the natural sciences, which help to form an idea of ​​the complete picture of the surrounding world, the place of man in it, and to understand the problems of social development.

The key word of the course is the concept of “concept” (from Lat. conception – understanding, explanation), which means a relatively systematic explanation or understanding of some phenomena or events. In relation to this training course, it assumes a popular, meaningful description of natural scientific knowledge that forms the overall picture of the world in the human mind. Various natural scientific ideas about the structure of the world represent the basic knowledge necessary to understand the world in accordance with the level of knowledge of each era. In addition, without natural science knowledge it is difficult to understand not only the development of technology and technology, but also the development of society and culture.

The course “Concepts of modern natural science” covers the main problems, ideas and theories of natural sciences, scientific principles of knowledge, methodology, models and results of modern natural science, which together make up the scientific picture of the world. In this regard, the objectives of the course include the formation of knowledge about interdisciplinary, general scientific approaches and methods, the development of systematic thinking in the course of analyzing the problems of modern natural science, expanding the cognitive horizons of students by going beyond the boundaries of their narrow professional interests.

As a result of studying the discipline, students should gain knowledge that allows them to take into account the fundamental laws of nature and basic research methods in their future professional activities, as well as information about the most important historical stages and paths of development of natural science.

The textbook was prepared in accordance with the State educational standard for higher professional education, which is included in the curricula for students of all humanities specialties. It is based on textbooks previously published by the author and courses of lectures given by the author at various universities.

The experience of teaching this discipline to students of various humanitarian specialties shows that one should not present the material of the natural sciences, delving into “technical details” if this is not justified by the general plan and methodological approach to the presentation of the subject. The author saw his main task as making the form of presentation of the material accessible to future specialists for whom natural science is not a professional discipline.

The range of humanitarian specialties in the higher education system is quite wide and diverse, so the author sought to give his work a universal character so that it would be useful for students of various humanitarian specialties - economists, psychologists, philosophers, historians, sociologists, managers, lawyers, etc. This orientation of the educational the manual assumes a conscious refusal to master physical and chemical formulas, memorize numerous rules and laws, and concentrate attention on the most important concepts of modern natural science, which are the foundation of the scientific picture of the world. The textbook is both a scientific and popular publication, providing a quick and accessible introduction to the problems of natural sciences for a wide range of readers.

The author expresses gratitude to the reviewers and fellow teachers for their valuable comments and recommendations made during the creation of the textbook, as well as to all interested readers for possible comments and suggestions.

Chapter 1. Science in the context of culture

1.1. Science as part of culture

Throughout their history, people have developed many ways of understanding and mastering the world around them. Among them, one of the most important places is occupied by science, the main goal of which is to describe, explain and predict the processes of reality that constitute the subject of its study. In the modern understanding, science is considered as:

The highest form of human knowledge;

A social institution consisting of various organizations and institutions engaged in obtaining new knowledge about the world;

System of developing knowledge;

A way of knowing the world;

A system of principles, categories, laws, techniques and methods for obtaining adequate knowledge;

Element of spiritual culture;

System of spiritual activity and production.

All given meanings of the term “science” are legitimate. But this ambiguity also means that science is a complex system designed to provide generalized, holistic knowledge about the world. Moreover, this knowledge cannot be disclosed by any one separate science or set of sciences.

To understand the specifics of science, it should be considered as part of a culture created by man, and compared with other spheres of culture.

A specific feature of human life is the fact that it occurs simultaneously in two interrelated aspects - natural and cultural. Initially, man is a living being, a product of nature, however, in order to exist in it comfortably and safely, he creates an artificial world of culture, a “second nature”, inside nature. Thus, a person exists in nature, interacts with it as a living organism, but at the same time “doubles” the external world, developing knowledge about it, creating images, models, assessments, household items, etc. It is this kind of thing-cognitive activity of a person and constitutes the cultural aspect of human existence.

Culture is embodied in the objective results of activities, ways and methods of human existence, in various norms of behavior and various knowledge about the world around us. The entire set of practical manifestations of culture is divided into two main groups: material and spiritual values. Material values ​​form material culture, and the world of spiritual values, which includes science, art, religion, forms the world of spiritual culture.

Spiritual culture covers the spiritual life of society, its social experience and results, which appear in the form of ideas, scientific theories, artistic images, moral and legal norms, political and religious views and other elements of the human spiritual world.

Science is an integral part of culture, determining many important aspects of society and human life. It, like other spheres of culture, has its own tasks that distinguish them from each other. Thus, the economy is the foundation that ensures all the activities of society; it arises on the basis of a person’s ability to work. Morality regulates relations between people in society, which is very important for a person who cannot live outside society and must limit his own freedom in the name of the survival of the entire team. Religion arises from a person’s need for consolation in situations that cannot be resolved rationally (for example, the death of loved ones, illness, unhappy love, etc.).

The task of science is to obtain objective knowledge about the world, to understand the laws according to which the world around us functions and develops. Possessing such knowledge, it is much easier for a person to transform this world, make it more convenient and safe for himself. Thus, science is the sphere of culture most closely associated with the task of directly transforming the world and increasing its convenience for humans.

In accordance with the transformative role of science, its high authority was formed, which was expressed in the emergence scientism - a worldview based on faith in science as the only force called upon to solve all human problems. Scientism declared science to be the pinnacle of human knowledge, while it absolutized the methods and results of natural sciences, denying the scientific nature of social humanitarian knowledge as having no cognitive significance. From such ideas gradually emerged the idea of ​​two cultures unrelated to each other - the natural sciences and the humanities.

In contrast to scientism in the second half of the twentieth century. an ideology was formed antiscientism, considering science a dangerous force leading to the destruction of humanity. Its supporters are convinced of the limited capabilities of science to solve fundamental human problems and deny science positive impact on culture. They believe that science improves the well-being of the population, but at the same time increases the danger of the destruction of humanity. Only towards the end of the 20th century, having comprehended both positive and negative sides science, humanity has developed a more balanced position regarding the role of science in modern society.

While recognizing the important role of science in the life of society, one should not agree with its “claims” to a dominant position. Science in itself cannot be considered the highest value of human civilization; it is only a means in solving some problems of human existence. The same applies to other areas of culture. Only by mutually complementing each other can all spheres of culture fulfill their main function - to provide and facilitate human life. If in this relationship some part of the culture is given greater importance compared to others, this leads to the impoverishment of the culture as a whole and disruption of its normal functioning.

Based on this assessment, science today is considered as a part of culture, representing a body of objective knowledge about existence, the process of obtaining this knowledge and applying it in practice.

1.2. Natural science and humanities cultures

Culture, being the result of human activity, cannot exist in isolation from the natural world, which is its material basis. It is inextricably linked with nature and exists within it, but, having a natural basis, retains its social content. This kind of duality of culture led to the formation of two types of culture: natural science and humanitarian (or two ways of relating to the world and its knowledge). At the initial stage of human history, both types existed as a single whole, since human cognition in to the same degree was directed both at nature and at oneself. However, gradually each type developed its own principles and approaches and defined goals; The natural science culture sought to study nature and conquer it, while the humanitarian culture aimed to study man and his world.

For the first time, the idea of ​​​​the difference between natural science and humanities knowledge was put forward at the end of the 19th century. the German philosopher W. Dilthey and the philosophers of the Baden school of neo-Kantianism W. Windelband and G. Rickert. The terms “science of nature” and “science of spirit” they proposed quickly became generally accepted, and the idea itself was firmly established in philosophy. Finally, in 1960–1970. English historian and writer Charles Snow formulated the idea of ​​an alternative to two cultures: natural science and humanitarian. He stated that the spiritual world of the intelligentsia is increasingly split into two camps, in one of which there are artists, in the other - scientists. In his opinion, two cultures are in constant conflict with each other, and mutual understanding between representatives of these cultures is impossible due to their absolute alienness.

A thorough study of the issue of the relationship between natural science and humanities cultures really makes it possible to find significant differences between them. Two are found extreme points vision. Proponents of the first claim that it is natural science with its precise methods of research that should become the model that the humanities should imitate. Radical representatives of this point of view are positivists who consider mathematical physics the “ideal” of science, and the main method of constructing any scientific knowledge is the deductive method of mathematics. Proponents of the opposite position argue that such a view does not take into account all the complexity and specificity of humanitarian knowledge and is therefore utopian and unproductive.

Focusing on the creative essence of culture, it can be argued that the fundamental feature of natural science culture is its ability to “discover” the world, nature, which represent a self-sufficient system functioning according to its own laws and cause-and-effect relationships. Natural science culture focuses on the study and research of natural processes and laws; its specificity lies in high degree objectivity and reliability of knowledge about nature. She strives to read the endless “book of nature” as accurately as possible, to master its powers, to know it as objective reality, existing independently of man.

At the same time, the history of human culture shows that any spiritual activity of people occurs not only in the form of natural science, but also in the form of philosophy, religion, art, social and human sciences. All these types of activities constitute the content of humanitarian culture. The main subject of humanitarian culture, therefore, is inner world man, his personal qualities, human relationships, etc., and its specificity is determined by a person’s social position and the spiritual values ​​dominant in society.

The differences between natural science and humanities knowledge are caused not only by different goals, subjects and objects of these areas of cognitive activity, but also by two main ways of the thinking process, which are of a physiological nature. It is known that the human brain is functionally asymmetrical: its right hemisphere is associated with the imaginative intuitive type of thinking, the left hemisphere is associated with the logical type. Accordingly, the predominance of one or another type of thinking determines a person’s inclination towards artistic or rational way perception of the world.

Rational knowledge serves as the basis of natural science culture, since it is focused on the division, comparison, measurement and distribution into categories of knowledge and information about the world around us. It is best suited for the accumulation, formalization and transmission of an ever-increasing amount of knowledge. In the totality of various facts, events and manifestations of the surrounding world, it reveals something common, stable, necessary and natural, giving them a systematic character through logical comprehension. Natural scientific knowledge is characterized by the desire for truth, the development special language for the most accurate and unambiguous expression of the acquired knowledge.

Intuitive thinking, on the contrary, serves as the basis for humanitarian knowledge, since it is distinguished by its individual character and cannot be subject to strict classification or formalization. It is based on a person’s internal experiences and does not have strict objective criteria of truth. However, intuitive thinking has enormous cognitive power, since it is associative and metaphorical in nature. Using the method of analogy, it is able to go beyond logical structures and give birth to new phenomena of material and spiritual culture.

Thus, the natural science and humanitarian cultures are not isolated by chance. But this division does not exclude their initial interdependence, which is not in the nature of incompatible opposites, but rather appears as complementarity. The relevance of the problem of interaction between two cultures lies in the fact that they turned out to be too “distanced” from each other: one explores nature “in itself,” the other explores man “in itself.” Each culture considers the interaction of man and nature either in a cognitive or “subjugative” way, while turning to human existence requires deepening the unity not only of the natural science and humanitarian cultures, but also the unity of human culture as a whole. The solution to this problem rests on the paradox that the laws of nature are the same for all people everywhere, but the worldviews, norms and ideals of people are different and sometimes incompatible.

The fact that there are differences between the natural science and humanitarian cultures does not negate the need for unity between them, which can only be achieved through their direct interaction. Today, both in the natural sciences and in the humanities, integration processes are intensifying due to common research methods; in this process, the technical equipment of humanities research is enriched. This establishes connections between the humanities and the natural sciences, which are also interested in this. For example, the results of logical and linguistic research are used in the development of information tools for natural science. Joint developments of natural scientists and humanists in the field of ethical and legal problems of science are becoming increasingly important.

In recent years, under the influence of the achievements of technological progress and such a general scientific method of research as the systems approach, the previous confrontation between natural scientists and humanists has weakened significantly. Humanists understood the importance and necessity of using in their knowledge not only technical and information means of natural science and exact sciences, but also effective scientific research methods that originally arose within the framework of natural science. The experimental method of research from the natural sciences penetrates into the humanities (sociology, psychology); in turn, natural scientists are increasingly turning to the experience of humanitarian knowledge. Thus, we can talk about the humanitarization of natural science and the scientization of humanities, which are actively occurring today and are gradually erasing the boundaries between the two cultures.

1.3. Criteria of scientific knowledge

Throughout its history, humanity has accumulated a huge amount of knowledge about the world that is different in nature. Along with scientific knowledge, it contains religious, mythological, everyday, etc. Existence various types knowledge raises the question of the criteria that make it possible to distinguish scientific knowledge from non-scientific knowledge. In modern science, it is customary to distinguish four main criteria of scientific knowledge.

The first of them is consistency knowledge, according to which science has a certain structure, and is not an incoherent collection individual parts. A system, in contrast to a sum, is characterized by internal unity, the impossibility of removing or adding any elements to its structure without good reason. Scientific knowledge always acts as certain systems; these systems have initial principles, fundamental concepts (axioms), as well as knowledge derived from these principles and concepts according to the laws of logic. Based on the accepted initial principles and concepts, new knowledge is substantiated, new facts, results of experiments, observations, and measurements are interpreted. A chaotic set of true statements, not systematized in relation to each other, cannot in itself be considered scientific knowledge.

The second criterion of science is the presence of a mechanism for obtaining new knowledge. This provides not only a proven methodology for practical and theoretical research, but also the availability of people specializing in this activity, relevant organizations, as well as the necessary materials, technologies and means of recording information. Science appears when objective conditions for this are created in society; there is enough high level development of civilization.

The third criterion of scientific character is theoretical knowledge, the defining goal of scientific knowledge. All scientific knowledge is organized in theories and concepts that are consistent with each other and with the dominant ideas about the objective world. After all ultimate goal science is to obtain truth for the sake of truth itself, and not for the sake of a practical result. If science is aimed only at solving practical problems, it ceases to be science in the full sense of the word. Science is based on basic research, pure interest in the world around us, and then applied research is based on this, if the level of technological development allows it. Thus, the scientific knowledge that existed in the East was used only in religious magical rituals and ceremonies or in direct practical activities. Therefore, we cannot talk about the presence of science there for many centuries as an independent sphere of culture.

The fourth criterion of scientific character is rationality knowledge, i.e. obtaining knowledge only on the basis of rational procedures. Unlike other types of knowledge, scientific knowledge is not limited to stating facts, but seeks to explain them and make them understandable to the human mind. The rational style of thinking is based on the recognition of the existence of universal causal relationships accessible to reason, as well as formal proof as the main means of substantiating knowledge. Today this position seems trivial, but knowledge of the world primarily through reason appeared only in Ancient Greece. Eastern civilization never adopted this specific European path, giving priority to intuition and extrasensory perception.

For science, starting from the New Age, an additional, fifth criterion of scientificity has been introduced. This is availability experimental method of research, mathematization of science, which connected science with practice and created a modern civilization focused on the conscious transformation of the surrounding world in the interests of man.

Using the above criteria, you can always distinguish scientific knowledge from non-scientific (pseudoscience). This is especially important these days, since pseudoscience, which has always existed alongside science, has recently attracted an increasing number of supporters.

The structure of pseudoscientific knowledge is usually not systematic, but fragmented. Pseudoscience is characterized by an uncritical analysis of source data (myths, legends, stories of third parties), disregard for contradictory facts, and often direct manipulation of facts.

Despite this, pseudoscience is successful. There are appropriate reasons for this. One of them is the fundamental incompleteness of the scientific worldview, which leaves room for guesswork and fabrications. But if earlier these voids were mainly filled by religion, today their place has been taken by pseudoscience, whose arguments, if incorrect, are understandable to everyone. Pseudoscientific explanations are more accessible to the average person than dry scientific reasoning, which is often impossible to understand without special education. Therefore, the roots of pseudoscience lie in human nature itself.

The first are relic pseudosciences, among which are well-known astrology and alchemy. Once upon a time they were a source of knowledge about the world, a breeding ground for the emergence of true science. They became pseudosciences after the advent of chemistry and astronomy.

In modern times appeared occult pseudosciences – spiritualism, mesmerism, parapsychology. What they have in common is the recognition of the existence of an otherworldly (astral) world that does not obey physical laws. It is believed that this is a world higher than us, in which any miracles are possible. You can communicate with this world through mediums, psychics, telepaths, and in this case various paranormal phenomena arise, which become the subject of study of pseudoscience.

In the 20th century there appeared modernist pseudosciences, in which the mystical basis of the old pseudosciences was transformed under the influence of science fiction. Among such sciences, the leading place belongs to ufology, which studies UFOs.

How to separate genuine science from counterfeits? For this purpose, scientific methodologists, in addition to the scientific criteria we have already mentioned, have formulated several important principles.

The first one is verification principle(practical confirmability): if some concept or judgment is reducible to direct experience (i.e., empirically verifiable), then it makes sense. In other words, scientific knowledge can be tested for consistency with experience, but non-scientific knowledge cannot be tested for such verification.

A distinction is made between direct verification, when statements are directly verified, and indirect, when logical relationships are established between indirectly verified statements. Since the concepts of a developed scientific theory, as a rule, are difficult to reduce to experimental data, indirect verification is used for them, which states: if it is impossible to experimentally confirm some concept or proposition of the theory, one can limit ourselves to experimental confirmation of the conclusions from them. For example, the concept of “quark” was introduced in physics back in the 1930s, but such a particle of matter could not be detected in experiments. At the same time, the quark theory predicted a number of phenomena that allowed experimental verification, during which the expected results were obtained. This indirectly confirmed the existence of quarks.

Immediately after its appearance, the verification principle was sharply criticized by its opponents. The essence of the objections was that science cannot develop only on the basis of experience, since it involves obtaining results that are irreducible to experience and cannot be directly deduced from it. In science, there are formulations of laws that cannot be verified using verification criteria. In addition, the very principle of verifiability is “unverifiable,” i.e., it should be classified as meaningless and subject to exclusion from the system of scientific statements.

In response to this criticism, scientists proposed another criterion for distinguishing scientific and non-scientific knowledge - principle of falsification formulated by the greatest philosopher and methodologist of science of the 20th century. K. Popper. In accordance with this principle, only fundamentally refutable (falsifiable) knowledge can be considered scientific. It has long been known that no amount of experimental evidence is sufficient to prove a theory. So, we can observe any number of examples that confirm the law every minute universal gravity. But one example is enough (for example, a stone that did not fall to the ground, but flew away from the ground) to recognize this law as false. Therefore, a scientist should direct all his efforts not to search for yet another experimental proof of the hypothesis or theory he has formulated, but to try to refute his statement; the critical desire to refute a scientific theory is the most effective way to confirm its scientific nature and truth. A critical refutation of the conclusions and statements of science does not allow it to stagnate and is the most important source of its growth, although it makes any scientific knowledge hypothetical, depriving it of completeness and absoluteness.

The falsification criterion has also been criticized. It was argued that the principle of falsifiability is insufficient, since it is not applicable to those provisions of science that cannot be compared with experience. In addition, actual scientific practice contradicts the immediate abandonment of a theory if a single empirical fact contradicting it is discovered.

In fact, true science is not afraid to make mistakes, to recognize its previous conclusions as false. If some concept, despite all its scientific nature, claims that it cannot be refuted, denies the very possibility of a different interpretation of any facts, this indicates that we are faced not with science, but with pseudoscience.

Name: Concepts of modern natural science.

The textbook was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the State educational standard for higher professional education in the discipline “Concepts of modern natural science,” which is included in the curricula of all humanitarian specialties at universities. The work presents a wide panorama of concepts covering various processes and phenomena in living and inanimate nature, and describes modern scientific methods of understanding the world. The main attention is paid to the consideration of the concepts of modern natural science, which have important ideological and methodological significance.
For students, graduate students and teachers of humanities faculties and universities, as well as everyone interested in philosophical issues of natural science.

The proposed textbook has been prepared in accordance with the State educational standard for higher professional education and is intended for students of humanitarian specialties at universities.
It is common knowledge that modern system education must solve the problem of training highly qualified specialists with versatile and fundamental knowledge about a wide variety of processes and phenomena of the surrounding world. Nowadays, society does not need specialists focused only on solving narrowly utilitarian problems. A highly qualified professional in demand in the labor market must have a broad outlook, the skills to independently acquire new knowledge and critically comprehend it. In addition, he must have an idea of ​​the basic scientific concepts that explain the spatio-temporal relations of the objective world, the processes of self-organization in complex systems, which is living and inanimate nature, human relationships with the environment natural environment and the place of man in the Universe.

Table of contents
From the author 3
Chapter 1. Science as part of culture 5
1.1. Science among other areas of culture 5
1.2. Natural science and humanitarian cultures 7
1.3. Criteria of scientific knowledge 11
1.4. Structure of scientific knowledge 15
1.5. Scientific picture of the world 17
Chapter 2. Structure and methods of scientific knowledge 20
2.1. Levels and forms of scientific knowledge 20
2.2. Methods of scientific knowledge 23
2.3. Special empirical methods of scientific knowledge 25
2.4. Special theoretical methods of scientific knowledge 27
2.5. Special universal methods of scientific knowledge 29
2.6. General scientific approaches 32
2.7. Systematic approach 33
2.8. Global evolutionism 38
Chapter 3. Basics of natural science 49
3.1. Subject and structure of natural science 49
3.2. History of natural science 53
3.3. The Beginning of Science 54
3.4. Global scientific revolution of the late XIX - early XX centuries. 69
3.5. Main features of modern natural science as a science 71
Chapter 4. Physical picture of the world 75
4.1. The concept of the physical picture of the world 75
4.2. Mechanical picture of the world 78
4.3. Electromagnetic picture of the world 81
4.4. Quantum field picture of the world 85
4.5. The relationship between dynamic and statistical laws 88
4.6. Principles of modern physics 91
Chapter 5. Modern concepts of physics 96
5.1. Structural levels of matter organization 96
5.2. Movement and physical interaction 106
5.3. Concepts of space and time in modern natural science 116
Chapter 6. Modern cosmological concepts 126
6.1. Cosmology and cosmogony 126
6.2. Cosmological models of the Universe 128
6.3. Origin of the Universe - Big Bang Concept 134
6.4. Structural self-organization of the Universe 138
6.5. Further complication of matter in the Universe 144
6.6. The problem of the existence and search for extraterrestrial civilizations 151
Chapter 7. Earth as a subject of natural science 157
7.1. Shape and size of the Earth 157
7.2. Earth among other planets of the solar system 159
7.3. Earth Education 163
7.4. Geospheres of the Earth 170
7.5. Geodynamic processes 179
Chapter 8. Modern concepts of chemistry 184
8.1. Specifics of chemistry as a science 184
8.2. First level of chemical knowledge. The doctrine of the composition of matter 186
8.3. Second level of chemical knowledge. Structural Chemistry 193
8.4. Third level of chemical knowledge. The doctrine of the chemical process 197
8.5. The fourth level of chemical knowledge. Evolutionary Chemistry 205
Chapter 9. Structural levels of life 212
9.1. Structure of biological knowledge 212
9.2. Structural levels of life organization 218
Chapter 10. Origin and essence of life 243
10.1. Essence of Life 243
10.2. Basic concepts of the origin of life 249
10.3. Current state of the problem of the origin of life 257
10.4. The emergence of life on Earth 260
10.5. Formation and development of the Earth's biosphere 267
10.6. Emergence of the plant and animal kingdoms 271
Chapter 11. The theory of evolution of the organic world 278
11.1. Formation of the idea of ​​development in biology 278
11.2. Ch. Darwin's theory of evolution 284
11.3. Further development of evolutionary theory. Anti-Darwinism 289
11.4. Basics of Genetics 295
11.5. Synthetic Theory of Evolution 301
Chapter 12. Man as a subject of natural science 308
12.1. Concepts of Human Origins 308
12.2. Similarities and differences between humans and animals 321
12.3. The essence of man. Biological and social in man 332
12.4. Ethology about human behavior 336
Chapter 13. The phenomenon of man in modern science 340
13.1. The essence and origins of human consciousness 340
13.2. Human emotions 350
13.3. Human health, performance and creativity 353
13.4. Bioethics 365
Chapter 14. Man and the biosphere 372
14.1. The concept and essence of the biosphere 372
14.2. Biosphere and space 376
14.3. Man and space 378
14.4. Man and nature 383
14.5. The concept of the noosphere V.I. Vernadskogo 393
14.6. Environmental protection 397
14.7. Rational environmental management 401
14.8. The anthropic principle in modern science 407
Conclusion 413
Bibliography 414
Questions for the exam (test) for the course
“Concepts of modern natural science” 415
Glossary 416

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