Introduction
From a historical perspective, there is a strong connection between science and philosophy. One could plausibly argue that, for a long time, they were two sides of the same coin. Well into the 18th Century, these two disciplines were inextricably entangled, and many seminal chapters in the history of science fall under the aegis of natural philosophy". The alliance between scientic and philosophical reection, however, has started to break down of science from philosophy and emerged as a separate discipline. For instant, in 17th century physics separate from metaphysics, in 1859 The Origin of Species set biology apart from philosophy (and theology) and at the turn of 20th century, psychology broke free from philosophy as a separate discipline. But each of these disciplines, which have spun off from philosophy, have left to philosophy a set of distinctive issues they cannot resolve, but must leave either permanently or at least temporarily for philosophy to deal with. Yet despite the impressive scope of scientific progress and all the attention paid to science and scientists, many questions remain about the nature of science and how it works (as new scientific specialties and subspecialties of modern science has emerged). What the history of science and the legacy of problems it leaves to philosophy shows is that the two intellectual inquiries have always been inextricably linked.Whether there are any such initial questions is itself a matter that can only be settled by philosophical argument. Moreover, if there are none, how science should proceed in its attempts to answer its as-yet unanswered questions is also a matter for philosophical debate. This makes philosophy unavoidable for scientists. A cursory study of the history of science from the Greeks through Newton and Darwin to the present century reveals these (as yet) scientifically unanswered questions.
Hence, the history and philosophy of science (HPS) is emerged as unified an academic discipline that encompasses the philosophy of science and the history of science. It is work that is both historical and philosophical at the same time. The founding insight of the modern discipline of HPS is that history and philosophy have a special affinity and one can effectively advance both simultaneously". The purpose of the study of the history and philosophy of science affords a broad appreciation of science, its nature and fundamentals, its origins and its place in modern politics, culture, and society. In the history of science, traditional historical methods are used to develop an understanding of how the sciences originated, how they were practiced, how they developed, and how they are related to their intellectual and social contexts. In philosophy of science, the sciences themselves are brought under philosophical scrutiny. We investigate the nature of science in general; what distinguishes scientific activity; how theories explain; how they are confirmed; whether they should be read literally; and the moral dilemmas raised by the sciences. Therefore, in this essay I will discuss the purpose of history and philosophy of science emergence as a disciplin.
Purpose of the Emergence of History and Philosophy of Science as Discipline
Hence, therefore, the Purpose of the History and philosophy of science is to deal with philosophical (Epistemological, metaphysical, ethical issue & others) and historical issues (or interest) in sciences. Three central areas of concern are ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics.
From a disciplinary (HPS) view within philosophy, philosophy of science raises more precise questions. Epistemologically, it asks what the nature and essential characteristics of scientific knowledge are, how this knowledge is obtained, how it is codified and presented, how it is subjected to scrutiny, and how it is warranted or validated. From a metaphysical point of view, philosophy of science examines the kinds and natures of things in the world, in so far as science deals with them. It critically analyzes the assumptions of scientists about the basic or fundamental physical, biological and social 'stuff' that we need to think about when trying to understand the world. Ethically, HPS directs questions towards the value systems that scientists have and asks how these values affect the practices and conclusions of science, Ethical issues also arise in considering the effects that science has on the values of the people affected, directly or indirectly, by science. Other ethical dilemmas arise when considering how science affects decision making and problem solving.
From a disciplinary HPS view within history, the history of science has two principal concerns. The first is to understand the way in which scientific knowledge progresses. The second is to understand the notion of science itself, which involves the questions of what methods are truly scientific and what kind of knowledge science actually offers us (also philosophical). The history of science obviously includes many different facts about things which happened at various times in the past. Yet simply compiling a list of such facts does not suffice for genuine history. For this, it is necessary to bring out the relationships between facts, indicating where there is continuity and where there is a break with the past. The history of science has thus to take into consideration the process by which science comes into being, that’s to say, the various stages of its development. It’s sometimes necessary in this connection to take into account the personalities of scientists themselves, in order to understand how they came to their various conclusions. Not only must the history of science talk about ‘facts’, it must also talk about ‘results’, or about the diffusion within the wider scientific community of a particular piece of research.
In summary, the purpose of the emergence of HPS as a discipline was to deal with the following questions, (although there was no consensus agreement answer on).
Ò What are the aims of science?
Ò What is the role of observations and experiments in obtaining scientific knowledge?
Ò How do scientists justify their claims? What is a scientific proof?
Ò What is a scientific law?
Ò Are there methods for making scientific discoveries?
Ò How does scientific knowledge advance and grow?
Ò How do the historical and cultural settings in which scientific work occurs affect the content and quality of such work?
Ò Does science employ or require a special language?
Science itself is made up of many subdisciplines: physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and medicine, to name a few. The presence of so many different fields within science raises interesting questions about what it means to be a science and whether a single method is common to all sciences. Philosophy of science thus addresses also the following sorts of questions:
« Is it possible to give a general account of scientific methodology, or are there different methods and forms of explanation for various branches of science?
« How do physical, biological, and social sciences differ from one another?
« Can some sciences be reduced to others?
All of the questions raised above are complex and difficult, so it should come as no surprise that the opinions of philosophers of science (and scientists in their philosophical moments) on these topics vary considerably. Moreover, HPS also deals with the following question which are more of historical science.
Ò Does science tell us the Truth about Reality? If so, why do scientific theories change while Reality doesn't? Anyway, is there such a thing as Reality?
Ò Is the kind of experience science is based on different from every day experience?
Ò How do science, technology and society interact with one another, at different times, in different places, and on different issues?
Ò Is social change driven by technological change?
Ò How did science come into existence? Why were events happening in 17th century Europe so important for the development of science?
Ò Is science a specifically Western thing? How does it relate to traditional knowledge of Non-Western Civilizations?
Ò What are the effects of Gene Technology on society? Should we be worried?
Ò How has the natural world shaped the course of human history? And how have we refashioned the natural world to our own ends?
Ò Is there an intrinsic conflict between science and religion?
Ò If science seems to contradict someone's religious beliefs, what should they do? How did deeply religious 19th century people deal with the rise of Darwinism? How do religious people today deal with current physics and cosmology?
So the History and philosophy of science discipline is systematic organized body of different philosophical, historical and scientifically argument, debate and critique of these questions. The purpose of the emergence of philosophy of biology will be presented under topic ‘Evolution of the concept and etymology of term of gene’.
In Summary, History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) helps learner to have self-conscious criticism of one's own practices which is a distinguishable feature of intelligent human behavior. In less abstract terms, HPS makes people think about what they are doing and the part of the fun of science, as in most interesting human activities, lies in thinking about how and why it is done, and how it might be done better. In addition, HPS can help learner to see how investigators may be led astray and how the process of discovery can be improved. The historian James Atkinson has observed that scientists pay little attention to “the experiments that failed the approaches that did not work out, the speculations without sound empirical support, and the metaphysical underpinnings of the work that did not appear in print. HPS also show the previous strengths and excitement in science, because historical perspective can help to illuminate why some science works better than other science. HPS helps learner to learner history and philosophy of science courses for trainee teachers is twofold. First, they contribute to the higher-order understanding and valuation of science which can be passed on to students. Second, they give teachers additional and enriching material to teach. History and Philosophy of Science helps learner to identify nature science and the difference between fact and abstract concept. Studying history might undercut the reassuring myth about how science is done. Finally, History and Philosophy of Show learner How Science is Influenced by Historical and Social Factors
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