Towards a Contemporary Philosophy of Islamic Science

1990 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Anwar Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Work ◽  
Single Observation ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Stephen Hawking ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theoretical Physicist ◽  
Islamic Science ◽  
Rational Mind ◽  
Understanding Of Science

Our understanding of science itself as a body of knowledge and as asystem of analysis and research has changed over the last decades, just asover the last two centuries, or especially after the age of Enlightement inEurope, science has become more powerful, more sophisticated and complex.It is rather difficult to determine where science ends and where technologybegins. In fact there is a gmwing awareness that the physical or nam sciences,as a means of studying and understanding nature, are relying on the more“humanistic“ and cultural approaches adopted by the social sciences or thehumanities. The tradition of natural science is being challenged by newdiscoveries of the non-physical and non-natural sciences which go beyondthe physical world.Certainly research is vital for the growth and development of all sciencesthat attempt to discover and understand the “secrets” of nature. The validityof any scientific theory depends on its research and methodological premisesand even that-its proposition or theories (in the words of a leading cosmologistand theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking) -is tentative. Hawlung says: “Anyphysical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis:you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experimentsagree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the resultwill not contradict the theory. On the other hand, you can disprove a theoryby finding even a single observation that disagrees with the predictions ofthe theory.”The history of Western science is rooted in the idea of finding the ’truth’by objectivity. Nothing can be believed until there is a scientific proof ofits existence, or until it can be logically accepted by the rational mind. Theclassical scenario of scientific work gives you an austere picture of heroicactivity, undertaken against all odds, a ceaseless effort to subjugate hostileand menacing nature, and to tame its formidable forces. Science is depicted ...

scholarly journals A scientist is almost always a collectioner

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-188
Author(s):  
Andrey Vaganov
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Science Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Physiological Phenomenon ◽  
Research Collection ◽  
History Of ◽  
Blank Spot

Collecting as a social, psychological and even physiological phenomenon has not been devoted to much serious research. Those that exist focus on the phenomenology of collections. The phenomenon of collecting and collecting remains largely unexplored. The topic of “collectors-scientists” is, in general, a blank spot in the study of science and the social history of science. Nevertheless, there is quite legitimately a special concept - “research collection”. For example, the collection of collections for Goethe was one of the ways of his scientific work. As a result of this work, Goethe became an expert in the field of knowledge, the objects of which he collected. This kind of rapprochement between science and collecting seems to be an interdependent process. Not only collecting in the highest phase of its development is being melted into a scientific occupation, but also an occupation in science has all the features inherent in project collecting. The article makes an attempt to establish some ontological patterns inherent in this process, to outline the paths to the natural science study of the phenomenon of scientists-collectors.

Accounting for discovery

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Sampson ◽  
Paul Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Autobiographical Work ◽  
Genetic Medicine ◽  
Important Milestone

The paper presents an analysis of genetic scientists’ accounts of a 1992 scientific breakthrough. Members of the research team were interviewed in the course of a wider study of the history of the discovery and its implications for clinical practice. The isolation of the genetic basis for myotonic dystrophy was an important milestone in the development of contemporary genetic medicine and a significant event in the lives and careers of the scientists involved. Despite the significance of some key publications on scientists’ discovery accounts, the paper argues that there has been a neglect of scientists’ narratives and accounting practices, despite the increased visibility of narrative analysis in the social sciences, the increasing sophistication of qualitative research methods, and the expansion of qualitative research on scientific work and practice. The paper outlines a number of themes in the scientists’ autobiographical work and their methods in recounting the discovery.

Intellectuals, Scholars, and the Value of Science

2019 ◽  
pp. 535-556
Author(s):  
Gangolf Hübinger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Construct ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Raymond Aron ◽  
Scientific Ethos ◽  
Final Question

This chapter covers Weber’s understanding of science as a cultural construct having intrinsic value and the decisive part played by the sciences in the “rational mastery of the world.” A complex modernity would demand a complex social and cultural scientific paradigm, in order to be able to understand and grasp “the reality in which we are placed.” And it discusses the habitus taken shape in the history of science that can be identified as Weberian. For example, Raymond Aron in France and Ralf Dahrendorf in Britain and Germany applied Weberian thinking to the social sciences. The final question is, how can we track down the presence of Weber’s scientific ethos from the twentieth century to the present. How can we reread Weber faced with the new problems and intellectual challenges of “global modernities” in our times?

scholarly journals SOCIAL AND POLITICAL VIEWS OF OSYP HERMAIZE

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-38
Author(s):  
L. Mohylnyi
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Educational Potential

In the late 19th – early 20th century intelligentsia of various ethnic origins in Ukraine formed the idea of the importance of personal contribution to the development of scientific, cultural and educational potential of the peoples in the Russian Empire. Leading figures of Ukrainophile community called on talented intellectuals to contribute to the development of education and science in Ukraine. Osyp Hermaize was one of those who responded to this unofficial call. The purpose of this article is to analyze the social and political beliefs of O. Hermaize as one of the active representatives of the intelligentsia of Kyiv in the first third of the 20th century. In the research, the method of historicism, objectivity and science has been used. The scientific novelty is that the article is the first attempt to investigate the social and political views of the famous historian of the 1920’s O. Hermaize. The social and political views of the scientist determined his deep interest in Ukrainian studies. His cultural and educational work began immediately after graduation from the Faculty of History and Philology of Kyiv University when he joined the local community of Ukrainians. The February Revolution of 1917 radically changed the life of the scientist. The scientist devoted a significant part of his life to cultural and educational activities, including work at Kyiv “Prosvita”, the Ukrainian Scientific Society named after Taras Shevchenko, the Kyiv Labour School, organization of the research on the history of RUP and other Ukrainian parties at All-Ukrainian Academy of Ukrainian sciences. The study of social and political views of O. Hermaize allowed us to identify three main stages in the formation of his beliefs: 1) the 1916-1917 determined his interest in Ukrainian studies; 2) the 1918-1924 put forward an educational factor in his public activities, and 3) during the 1924-1929 both pedagogical and scientific work came forward.

Towards an Externalist History of Islamic Science

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-201
Author(s):  
Mohamed S. Fakir
Keyword(s):  
No Value ◽  
Narrative Writing ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
The Past ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
Clear Insight ◽  
Islamic Science ◽  
Methodology Of Science ◽  
Insight Into

This essay will attempt to propose a methodology for the study of the historyof Islamic science. The method outlined below offers a way of reinterpretingthe history of Islamic science and covers those angles that have been obscuredby the method of narrative writing. The project itself remains an immense oneand cannot be simply dismissed, as there is always room for reinterpretation.Foucault writes: “History shows that everything that has been thought of willbe thought of again by a thought that does not yet existl’l There is no value inthe glorification of the past if that glorification hides the conflict within thetradition-a conflict that may remain unresolved.The central focus of this study will be that of the externalist method ratherthan the intemalist method. To the internalist, the methodology of science followsa rational course: to theexternalist, many irrational factors, at times beyond therational, may influence the direction of science. However, one must state, withcaution, that both methods are indispensable, for the development of sciencecan only be understood with a clear insight into how they intersect in the evolutionof science as a body of knowledge. Besides presenting an evolution of scientificideas, they give an insight into scientific research itself and, secondly, into thesociological context in which science developed. This is only possible, Kuhnstates, if there is a bridge between internal history (which concerns itself withthe evolution of the field, its chief actors, and in what way their discoveries andmethods have helped to develop the field [this view is insular as it argues that ...

Notes On the History of Mathematics

1950 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 292-294
Author(s):  
Vera Sanford
Keyword(s):  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Teaching Mathematics ◽  
Mathematical Concepts ◽  
Weights And Measures ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Class Discussions ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

One of the difficulties we meet in teaching mathematics is the conviction which many people have that mathematics is a finished body of knowledge. Our pupils tend to take for granted that mathematics has always been as it now is and that it will always remain in that state. The use of materials from the history of mathematics helps to meet this situation, and class discussions become more interesting when it is realized that mathematical concepts, notations, and processes are the product of an evolution that is not yet complete, and that will probably continue to advance as our civilization becomes even more complex. Students are annoyed when they are introduced to fractional exponents when radical signs seem an adequate way to indicate roots. Why not choose one method and stay with it? It is a matter of surprise to discover that today 3.50 means the product of 3 and 50 in England and that the number an American writes as 3,500 would be written as 3.500 by a Frenchman. Apparently even ordinary notations are not entirely international. The topic of weights and measures becomes much more alive when a class discusses the social and economic importance of standardized units and then brings the subject down to earth by investigating the ways in which people have coped with this problem.

Kuhn, Thomas Samuel (1922–96)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hoyningen-Huene
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Logical Empiricism ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Philosophical Discussion ◽  
Structure Of Scientific Revolutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theoretical Physicist ◽  
Important Publication

The early 1960s saw substantial turmoil in the philosophy of science, then dominated by logical empiricism. Most important was the confrontation of the prevailing philosophical tradition with the history of science. Whereas the philosophy of science was mainly normatively oriented, that is it tried to delineate what good science should look like, historical studies seemed to indicate that the practice of science both past and present did not follow those prescriptions. Thomas S. Kuhn was educated as a theoretical physicist but soon turned to the history and philosophy of science. In 1962, he published The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR). This book was the single most important publication advancing the confrontation between the history and the philosophy of science; it is now a classic in science studies. SSR was most influential not only in the discussion within philosophy but also in various other fields, especially the social sciences. The central concepts of SSR, like scientific revolution, paradigm shift and incommensurability, have been in the focus of philosophical discussion for many years, and the term ‘paradigm’ has even become a household word (although mostly not in Kuhn’s intended sense). After SSR, Kuhn continued to develop his theory; apart from minor modifications it is mainly the explication of SSR’s more intricate philosophical topics, especially of incommensurability, which is characteristic of his later work.

The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II

1959 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
K. Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Early Career ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Origins ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complete Study ◽  
History Of

During the last twenty or twenty-five years medieval historians have been much interested in the composition of the English episcopate. A number of studies of it have been published on periods ranging from the eleventh to the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. A further paper might well seem superfluous. My reason for offering one is that most previous writers have concentrated on analysing the professional circles from which the bishops were drawn, and suggesting the influences which their early careers as royal clerks, university masters and students, secular or regular clergy, may have had on their later work as bishops. They have shown comparatively little interest in their social background and provenance, except for those bishops who belonged to magnate families. Some years ago, when working on the political activities of Edward II's bishops, it seemed to me that social origins, family connexions and provenance might in a number of cases have had at least as much influence on a bishop's attitude to politics as his early career. I there fore collected information about the origins and provenance of these bishops. I now think that a rather more careful and complete study of this subject might throw further light not only on the political history of the reign, but on other problems connected with the character and work of the English episcopate. There is a general impression that in England in the later middle ages the bishops' ties with their dioceses were becoming less close, and that they were normally spending less time in diocesan work than their predecessors in the thirteenth century.

Individual differences, social attention, and the history of the social motivation hypotheses of autism

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Mundy
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Emotional Development ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Social Emotional Development ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Precise Understanding ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

Abstract The stereotype of people with autism as unresponsive or uninterested in other people was prominent in the 1980s. However, this view of autism has steadily given way to recognition of important individual differences in the social-emotional development of affected people and a more precise understanding of the possible role social motivation has in their early development.

The Multilevel p2 Model

Methodology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonne J. H. Zijlstra ◽  
Marijtje A. J. van Duijn ◽  
Tom A. B. Snijders
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Mcmc Algorithm ◽  
Independent Observation ◽  
Single Observation ◽  
Multiple Networks ◽  
Social Network Data ◽  
Multiple Observations ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
The Social

The p 2 model is a random effects model with covariates for the analysis of binary directed social network data coming from a single observation of a social network. Here, a multilevel variant of the p 2 model is proposed for the case of multiple observations of social networks, for example, in a sample of schools. The multilevel p 2 model defines an identical p 2 model for each independent observation of the social network, where parameters are allowed to vary across the multiple networks. The multilevel p 2 model is estimated with a Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm that was implemented in free software for the statistical analysis of complete social network data, called StOCNET. The new model is illustrated with a study on the received practical support by Dutch high school pupils of different ethnic backgrounds.

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