“God and the World: Mystery and

“God and the World: Mystery and Mastery”

Technologically, scientifically and socially the world is so advanced but no one has ever and will never be able to unveil the mystery of God. Talking about God is an easy thing when it is only at a superficial level but when we try to go deeper we realizes that God is a mystery. Why people are so much affected by the notion of God? Why people spent so much time and money in performing religious activities? God is the only being that existed, exist and will exist. Human beings have a beginning through birth and end through death. Nature too has its beginning and its end. God is the only living being who has no beginning and has no end. Understanding about God depends on the Social background, Intellectual understanding and benefit we receive from the Understanding. People yearn God either because of their beliefs, experiences, love, thankfulness for what they have received or either because they are frightened that they will be punished when they die. The deepest questions of life and death, love and sex, authority and freedom, or duty and fulfilment cannot be solved like algebra problems, but searching for God through religion does have the power to create a kind of resolution to people. People seek God because they perceive God as a closest friends, creator, sustainer, and protector and as a being that is generous and care for them. According to Panikkar Any ultimate problem-reality, truth, Brahman, the mystery of life, existence, human nature, God- is certain “not understood by those who understand,” for their understanding of the mystery is reduced to their capacity to understand.[1]

God is the master of the mystery however His existence exists only in relations with Human being and Cosmos. We might call God as the creator, preserver, protector and destructive force, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, unchanging or immutable, sovereign, wise, holy, righteous and just, faithful, true and truth, good, merciful, gracious, love, healer, spirit, light, triune or trinity, Indra, Agni, Varuna or any other titles but these are only qualities and God will not exists without being related to Cosmos and Anthropos. The creation theories of different religions are only means that help to build relationship because without any start people will be in confusion. The Cosmotheandric Theory of Panikkar gives a depth in understanding the interconnectedness and relationship of God, Cosmos and Human being. Panikkar said “Father, Son and Spirit would correspond to what Christian theology calls immanent Trinity, divine interiority; God-Man-Cosmos would correspond to what that theology calls economic Trinity, the relationship of God with the world and with man”.[2] There is always an invisible harmony which we human being at times failed to realize and experience. Nothing in this universe happen by chance. Everything has got a purpose that God has assigned. Everything that existed exists and will exist on earth and in heaven has got their uniqueness and worthiness. Things in the universe may seem small, unimportant and useless but everything in the universe big or small have a function that cannot be complemented by other things. In the universe a blade of grass or a drop of water is as precious as the costliest diamond. Nothing is inferior or superior in the universe.

An old saying says, “When we stay united we progress”. In the beginning when God, Nature and Human being remain together there was a perfect harmony in creation. There was peace, love, joy, unity and tranquillity everywhere. God created human being in His own image and likeness, “You (God) have made them little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet”.[3] God makes human being to be master of creation. As human being go deeper into themselves their understanding of the mystery of creation becomes clearer. Human being is a rational being and with the help of rationality and intuition dissected the universe into good, better, best; great, greater, greatest; beautiful, more beautiful and most beautiful; and distinguishes between inferior and superior. Human being dissect or judge the universe with the help of sense organs; eye, skin, touch, ear, nose, and tongue which perceive the object elements like colours, touch, sound, smell, and taste. Human being collectively or individually yearns to know the mystery of creation. They want to know the Master of the mystery and so they use science and technology and Religion to find that mystery and to have an experience with the Master of the mystery.

Science and Technology in search of the mystery

Science and Technology are by products of the deeper understanding of human being on themselves and on nature. Human being has begun to realize the dominion or power which is a potential within them which God has given. The realisation has made human being to use science and technology to be masters to unveil the mystery that is hidden in creation, i.e. in cosmos and human being. Science and technology dissect the beautiful creation of God into pieces to arrive at a mystery. Human being with the help of science could unveil certain mystery aspects of creation and so they use the little mystery like chemicals, vehicles, aeroplane, robots, basic elements of nature like proton, electron and neutron, medicine and others to unveil the greater mystery of creation that is still hidden. Human intelligence have reached to a level of understanding even the minute detail of human life through the study of genetics and minute detail of nature trough study of quacks or nanotubes. How deep human being could go and how intelligent human being can be we will never fully understand the mystery of the creation.

Why we complaint of diseases, natural calamities, bomb blast and other problem that exist in the world it is because in the process of unveiling the mystery of creation which is known only by the Master of the mystery, God, human being destroys the harmonies that exist in nature and in human being. Possession, power and pride makes people, to use the certain mystery revealed to human beings like guns, bombs, jet plane, poison, money, and so on, to grab, dominate and destroy people who are on their way of achieving their selfish motives. Knowledge has become power to suck others and feed our own belly. The mystery revealed by God through science and technology like medicine, CT scan, agricultural implements, geological predictions of nature are now become means to become master over other creation. With the advancement of science and technology the mystery of nature and human being will be further revealed but before human being gets the revelation human being and nature will cease to exist because human being will destroy nature and humanity for want of the mystery. Science and Technology are means to realize the mystery within us and in nature, to have deeper understanding or knowledge of the mystery and to experience the master of the mystery, God.

Religion in search of the mystery

Our experiences and understanding of the mystery could be personal and general. When it comes to scientific proofs and technology it becomes general but when it comes to individual experiences it becomes personal. Religion helps us to understand the mystery of creation as a community or individually. Different religions, groups, schools and individuals have different understanding and experiences about God which made them to define God. God is understood as the Creator, Sustainer, Protector and Friend. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. He is the Alpha and Omega and the Present, the Past and the Future. He is ‘I Am who I Am’. God is the care taker and the punisher. He is the healer and he causes sickness and bad luck too. He is known by different names like Brahman, Ik Om Kar, Allah, Jesus, etc. The aim of Religion is to make human being to surrender totally to the Master of the mystery, God and to let go and let God directs our thought, words and deeds. Religion helps us to divert our attention from the suffering in the world and concentrate on the ultimate peace that dwells within us. Religion acts as a device that guides us to go deep within ourselves and realizes the potential that lies within us. Religion in a way directs our thought, words and deeds and controls our emotions. The various rituals, exercises, prayers, meditations, yoga or any services organized by Religion for its faithful is to make the people to go deeper into oneself because only when they go deeper to oneself they will understand the mystery that is in them and around them. Religion is a means to realize the mystery within us and in nature, to have deeper understanding or knowledge of the mystery and to know the master of the mystery, God.

When people, with the help of Religion, try to find the mystery and have the experience of the master of the mystery they will destroy all that comes their way to satisfy their selfish search for the mystery. Religion is not free from the clutches of the 3Ps, Position, Power and Prestige which we term it as sin. Greater the number of followers in a religion better will be the position, power and prestige of that religion. Once the religion is in position and power they will try to disharmonize the harmony that prevails in other religions. Why there is Jihad, communal violence, riots, and bloodshed in different parts of India and in the world? What are the objectives of RSS, Jihadist and crusades? The only reason is that one religion wants to have dominion over the other. They want to say that we can realize and experience the mystery of life and nature only through their religion which is not true at all. They want to say that my religion is the good, better, best and you cannot have any experience of the mystery or the master of the mystery through other religion.

Religion helps people to have a deeper understanding of oneself and nature and to have and experience of the mystery of oneself. Depending on individual depth the mystery will be revealed to them and depending on the depth of the mystery people will experience the master of the mystery, God. Religion also is a means to form rogue or criminals because people after certain stage of revelation of the mystery and having a glimpse of the Master of the mystery proclaim themselves as gods or as holy people. The people will not only claim as holy but will find ways and means to raise themselves up to a higher pedestal and win position, power and prestige. These people who have a very little experience of the mystery and a small glimpse of the master of the mystery will kill the mystery, human being, because they don’t want to be challenged and they want everyone to be their cushions. Is Religion a means to destroy the mystery created by the Master of the mystery or to help us go deeper into the mystery and help in building the creation? I think Religion is a means to work with the Master of the mystery and realize the mystery through another mystery.

Why do I believe that God is the Master of the mystery? Human as I am I will never be able to understand fully the mystery of God and I might or might not even have a glimpse of the master of the mystery, God in my life. My understanding of the mystery within me tells something about the mystery in the creation and about the master of the mystery. I believe that God is the master of the mystery because my faith and understanding say that God is;

1. Beginner of the Beginning:

Things in the universe including human being, plants and animals cannot exist by itself. There should be a being that existed before the beginning of something and so God is the only being who existed and begin the things in the universe. Human beings have limited force, so God gives the force for one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. God is not only the creator but He is also preserver, protector and destroyer. Everything that exists is from God and will be with God. Creation is a mystery and God is the master of this mystery.

2. Master of the mystery:

We see perfect harmony in the universe. There is no clash between the heavenly bodies, the earth, air, water, ether, human being, plants, and animals. Life and death and the functioning of human body and in fact of the universe is a mystery. There has to be a master, force, and controller who is above things and mystery and that master is God. God alone knows the complexity of the universe and of life and death. He is the first spark of light, drop of water, blower of the air, atom of matter, and the first seed of life. God maintains the universe that’s why there is harmony. Harmony in the universe existed because of a mystery and God is the master of the mystery that harmonizes the universe.

3. Knower of the unknown:

God is omniscient. He is the understanding of our understanding and the intelligence of our intelligence. What we know is a part of what is yet to be known, the unknown. Human knowledge about heavenly bodies, flora and fauna, human beings, and science and technology in a very limited way otherwise there wouldn’t be discoveries or inventions now and all the problems in the universe will be solve. Therefore there should be someone, God, who knows everything in that is in heaven and on earth and reveal to human being as per the need of the time. God is the very thought of our minds and our mind is a mystery and God is the master of the mystery of knowing what we know.

4. God of the gods:

People in the world yearn for God by using different ways and means. Different religions and groups of people believe in God and some individuals experiences God in their lives. God is known by different names like Brahman, Ik Om Kar, Jesus, or Allah. Some called God as their friend, savior, creator, destroyer and other names. While some consider wealth, elders, guru, animal, plants as their gods. Religion is only a means to experience God. If there are many gods, goddesses, names about God and many people have experiences God, surely there is one God who is above all the Gods and understood an experience it by people differently. God is the ultimate author of all holy books and general books. Religions, groups and individuals experiences and understand God differently and so different imagery, names is given to God but there is a God who is above all gods. Yearning for God is yearning for the master of the mystery and having experiences of the mystery is having and experiences of God.

5. Supreme Degree:

Human being might reach the stage of perfection, best, first, greatest, mightiest, beauties, richest, holiest, cleverest, strongest or any highest degree in human understanding but later we found it that the highest degree person will be overtaken by another. Therefore there must be a being that possess the supreme degree in everything that no human being can ever reach. The being with the supreme degree could be no one but God. He is the best of the best authors, scientist, leaders, teachers, administrators, CEO’s, engineers, doctors, financial experts, and best parents. He is the creator and promulgator of the moral laws because he is the perfect of perfects, holiest of holiest. God is the root of the degrees and numbers. To reaching the highest degree or numbers we need to know at least part of the mystery, human being in this life can never fully know the mystery and so only the Master of the mystery will know it.

6. Timer of the time:

Time keeps changing and so we experienced the past, face the present and longing for the future. Matter is born today, die tomorrow and will die the day after. History reveals that things happened in the past, happen in the present and will happen in the future. Genealogy revealed that people have lived in the past, live in present and will live in the future. Matter is bound by time and so there is the beginning and an end. God is an independent being. There must be a being, God who is beyond the time and He is above time that is why things go on smoothly. Human beings have a beginning and an end so before they could fully understood the mystery they will be gone so God is the only master of the mystery.

Human experiences and intelligence is limited to understand the mystery of God but “Nature reveals its splendid beauty or mystery to human being only if human being begins to reflect and go deeper”. Religion, science and technology are means that helps us to go deeper into the mystery and to have an experience of the master of the mystery, God. Human being and nature are a mystery of God but human being through their rationality and experience thought that we can fully understand the mystery of the Master however we Human being can never understand fully the mystery of creation because we are part of the mystery. We are only created being; we are only a part of the whole. People who posses more material things which are in a way a mystery of God’s revelation are powerful and famous however they need to realize that they should not dominate over other people for any cost because they are taking away the mystery, human being, that is in front of them. The more we help in building creation which is a mystery; greater will be our experiences and understanding of the mystery and the Master of the mystery, God. Journey to the mystery and to the Master of the mystery starts with one small step at a time, God doesn’t expect us to run the mile but He promises us to give the strength to go the distance.

Bibligraphy

1. Panikkar, Raimundo: Invisible Harmony: Essay on Contemplation and Responsibility, (edited by Harry James Cargas), Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1995.

2. Panikkar Raimon: Christophany: The Fullness of Man, Orbis Books, Newyork, 2004.

3. Holy Bible. The New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Published by Catholic Bible Press, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee.

FOOTNOTES

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[1] Raimon Panikkar; Invisible Harmony, p.37.

[2] Raimon Panikkar; Christophany: The Fullness Of Man

[3] Psalm 9:5-6

FALSIFICATION THEORY OF KARL RAIMUND POPPER

FALSIFICATION THEORY OF KARL RAIMUND POPPER

Introduction

The word ‘philosophy’ comes from the Greek word ‘philosophia’, which literally means ‘love of wisdom’. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning ‘to know’ or knowledge. Science means ‘knowledge gained by study’ to a ‘particular branch of study’. Science is a logically ordered system of true or at least probably true, and universal statement concerning the essences, foundations, causes and finality of object in a definite field of knowledge with reference to the investigations, arguments and demonstrations upon which the conclusion are based.

The Word Philosophy of Science was coined in 1840 by William Whewell. Philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth. Philosophy of science studies the world view of scientific theories and elaborates the broader implication. It elucidates various concepts in science like observation, evidence, law, theory and explanation etc. It studies the prejudices and pre disposition of scientist and the very language of science. Aristotle was the first philosopher of Science.

About Karl Raimund Popper

Sir Karl Raimund Popper was born on 28th July, 1902. He was an Austro-British philosopher and a professor at the London School of Economics. He is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century. He has written extensively on social and political philosophy and so he was known as a social and political philosopher of considerable stature, a self-professed ‘critical-rationalist’[1], a dedicated opponent of all forms of scepticism, conventionalism, and relativism in science and in human affairs generally, a committed advocate and staunch defender of the ‘Open Society’, and an implacable critic of totalitarianism in all of its forms. Popper is a rationalist and contended that the central question in the philosophy of science was distinguishing science from non-science. Popper died on 17th September, 1994. One of the main contributions of Popper is his theory of Falsification.

1. Explain the notion of falsification according to Popper?

The Theory of Falsification was made known by Popper when he tried to criticise the popular scientific world which said that a hypothesis, proposition, or theory talks about the observable only if it is falsifiable. Falsification is the process of changes that affects into a theory or document and makes it untrue after sometime. Falsibility is defined as, “to change a document, information and so on so that it is no longer true in order to trick somebody”[2]. Falsification is the logical possibility that an assertion can be contradicted by an observation or the outcome of a physical experiment. When something is "falsifiable" it does not mean it is false; rather, that if it is false, then some observation or experiment will produce a reproducible result that is in conflict with it. When speaking about Falsification Popper said, “A theory is falsifiable, if there exists at least one non-empty class of homotypic basic statements which are forbidden by it; that is, if the class of its potential falsifiers is not empty"[3]. The criteria to find out whether a statement is scientific or not depends on whether the statement is falsifiable or not. If a statement is falsifiable, then it is scientific, if it is not, then it is non-scientific. Popper accepts metaphysics as meaningful whereas he opines that religious statements may not be scientific but they can be meaningful. For example, while "all men are mortal" is unfalsifiable, it is a logical consequence of the falsifiable theory that "every man dies before he reaches the age of 200 years".

2. What does he aims to solve with.

When a theory is developed there is an aim in which the theory is developed. In order to fulfil the aim action or methods are used. When there is neither aim nor theory or method any undertakings will not be successful. So also Popper aims to solve the theory of Falsification with two types of methods. They are

a. Inductive Method

Inductive method is a method in which scientific research proceeds from observations to theories. Scientists begin with experiments, finding out what happens in specific cases. They then use the results of these experiments to develop general theories about what happens in all cases. In Inductive scientist can move from a series of singular existential statements to a universal statement. That is, that one can move from 'this is a white rabbit', 'that is a white rabbit', and so on, to a universal statement such as 'all rabbits are white'. In simple words Inductive method is a method which starts from specific cases or information in order to arrive at a theory.

b. Deductive Method

Deductive method is that method which uses a theory to explain specific results. Deductive method is different from an absence of verification. The falsification of statements occurs through modus tollens by some observation.[4] In Deductive method no logic is involved only intuition is involved. In simple words Deductive method in falsification is the method in which the results is found our by using the theories that was available. Past observation is necessary in order to make observation.

3. Does he succeed? If so how and if not why?

Popper was successful through his Theory of Falsification. The Theory is very helpful in providing effective evidence that supports a plan. ‘Science grows more only by taking bolder steps of falsification than by the passive attitude of confirming’[5]. Scientific theories and ideas have been falsify or challenge by the theory of Falsification and by doing so it helps in developing better or improved theories and ideas that is more relevant. Science like physics has grown successful in the predictions derived from hypothetical probabilities by method called ‘practical falsibility’[6].

4. Critical analysis

No theory is a perfect theory in itself. There will always be loopholes here and there. To critically analysis Popper’s Theory of Falsification I would it would be unfair to be one sided so I have taken the merits and demerits of the Theory so as to throw greater light in our understanding. The merits and the demerits that people got from Falsification Theory are:

Merits of Falsification Theory

a. The Observational and Categorical statements of used by Popper in this theory have been very much appreciated by scientist.

b. The Inductive and Deductive methods used in Falsification Theory made things to be logical and systematic.

c. It helps people to have a better approach to a problem and then solve them easily.

d. Falsification has also helped the people to get better and specific results and theories. Falsification Theory

Demerits of Falsification Theory

a. Most people find falsification difficult, and that people are prone to a confirmation bias: they tended to search for confirming evidence and avoid falsifying evidence.[7]

b. Researcher found that Popper’s Falsification Theory is unconnected, and thus the fundamental unity of his philosophical vision and method has to a large degree been dissipated.

In my observation I found that the Theory of Falsification has been of great help to scientist. The Observational and Categorical statements used in this Theory have made things simpler. The Inductive and Deductive methods used have tremendously affected in designing a theory or arriving at a specific results. Falsification Theory could be very much applied in our lives. In life we cannot always see only the right or positive things, we should also see the wrong and the negative things so that we will be able to correct the wrong and overcome negative things. In life there will always be failures and disappointments but until and unless we work hard and overcome it we will not reach to success or to a successful life. Falsification Theory is relevant not only to scientist but for our day to day living.

Bibliography

1. Jayard Stephen S: Philosophy and Science: Friends of Foes? Study Material for the B.Ph. Course, Pune, JDV, 2008.

2. Popper Raimund: The Logic of Scientific Discovery

3. Oxford: Student Learner’s Dictionary, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2005.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability, n.d., (accessed July 25, 2011).

FOOTNOTES

---

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability

[2] Oxford; Student Learner’s Dictionary.

[3] Popper; The Logic of Scientific Discovery, page 95.

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability

[5] S. Stephen Jayard; Philosophy and Science: Friends of Foes? Study Material for the B.Ph. Course, page 42.

[6] Ibid

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability

Basic Ideas in Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of Science

Section I

Basic Ideas in Philosophy of Science

Chapter 1: Philosophy of Science

1. What is Philosophy?

The word ‘philosophy’ comes from the Greek word ‘philosophia’, which literally means ‘love of wisdom’. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is a world view through which one looks at world, society, self and life in general. It provides a window in and through which one looks at everything else. It is the enquiry of wisdom which needs a natural enquiry and a moral enquiry. The main branches of Philosophy are Logic, Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Ethics.

2. What is Science?

Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by researchers making use of scientific methods, which emphasize the observation, explanation, and prediction of real world phenomena by experiment. In Subjective sense Science refers to the actual appearance of human intellect by which we arrive at conclusions, bring out theorems, explanations etc. In an Objective sense Science refers to the object of science as the subject of something. Science refers to the whole of Cognitive activities.

a. Etymological meaning of the term science

The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning ‘to know’ or knowledge. Science means ‘knowledge gained by study’ to a ‘particular branch of study’.

b. Different meaning of the Term science

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is "knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, especially as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world. "Science is a logically ordered system of true or at leastprobably true, and universal statement concerning the essences, foundations, causes and finality of object in a definite field of knowledge with reference to the investigations, arguments and demonstrations upon which the conclusion are based.

c. The Characteristics of Science

i. Science is a system which is coherent, logical and has interconnectedness.

ii. It has a definite field of knowledge, There is a clear demarcation

iii. It is expressed in Universal terms.

iv. Science is concern with essence, foundations, causes and finality

v. Conclusions of science are reliable, though tentative.

vi. It deals with Nature, with society, and has got rules and norms.

vii. It has a special technical language and methodology

viii. It is based on Observations and experiment

3. What is Philosophy of Science?

The Word Philosophy of Science was coined in 1840 by William Whewell. The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth. Philosophy of science studies the world view of scientific theories and elaborates the broader implication. It elucidates various concepts in science like observation, evidence, law, theory and explanation etc. It studies the prejudices and pre disposition of scientist and the very language of science.

v Aristotle was the first philosopher of Science.

Chapter 2: Relevance of Philosophy of Science

1. Relevance in Contemporary Science Today

a. Philosophy of Science is a basic force that shapes our character and actions in a way that affects our day-to-day experience.

b. It can examine the coherence of concepts, frameworks and existing practices within any individual discipline

c. Science can give answer to mystery of nature and about space and time.

2. Relevance in for a student of Philosophy

a. The most important value of philosophy of Science is that it utilizes reasoning as the method of rational enquiry.

b. It helps us to widen our "world-view".

c. It helps a person to have critical analysis

3. Relevance in for a person in a the Religious/ Priesthood training

a. It helps a person to deepen the faith in God

b. It helps a person to have better relationship with people

c. It helps a person to tackle problems efficiently.

Chapter 3: History of Science and Philosophy of Science

1. What is History

The word ‘History’ is derived from the Greek word ‘historia’, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation". It is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History is a record of event taken place in particular space and time. It is always written from the powerful, rich, dominant and even male respective. It is an instrument to guide us in understanding the past and revive the historical consciousness of the society.

v Heraclitus is the father of History

2. What is History of science?

The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world. History of Science is a branch of history which studies about the beginning growth and success of science. History of science gives us the information about the origin, growth, success, struggles and failures which Science or the state or religion encountered at a given time.

Relic: Any object that comes used in the past and become a source of information when a study or an experiment is performed on the object. Historians obtain information from two sources that is Primary sources (Newton’s Diary) and Secondary sources ( Newton’s report a century later.)

3. Why do we Need History of Science?

We need History of Science in order to

a. Realize the real picture of science

b. To realize the humble beginning of science

c. To make us learn a lot from our ancestors so that we will not be born ignorant

d. History of science provides case examples to be useful to philosophy

4. How are Philosophy of Science and History of Science Related

Lakatos said ‘History of Science is blind without philosophy of science and philosophy of science is empty without history of science”. The Philosophy of science and History of Science are both academic disciplines that encompass the philosophy of science and the history of science.Until the 18th and 19th centuries, there was no real distinction between scientist and philosopher, and many of the great scientist-philosophers of antiquity were also theologians.

Chapter 4: Scientific Methodolgy

1. What is Scientific Method

Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. A Scientific method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate (that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of the world. It is a method to attain a scientific end.

2. What is Not a Scientific Method?

a. A Rigid adherence to one’s beliefs without justification is not a scientific method but tenacity.

b. Believing in something because Authority has said so is not a Scientific method and whose authority is based on books, individual, institute and tradition

c. A method which is based on Intuition which is not scientific

3. Basic steps in Scientific Methodology

a. Stating a Problem: Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. Stating a Problem by asking right questions

b. Forming a Hypothesis: Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomena

c. Observation and experiment:Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.

d. Interpretation of Data:Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments. The data have to be interpreted.

e. Drawing conclusion.

4. ‘Mental Devices’ used in Scientific Method

The scientific method is the foundation of modern science. It is a process for making observations, recording data, and analyzing data. Scientific method uses Logic, Classification, Comparison, Models and Mathematics to arrive at a conclusion of a particular thing.

a. Logic: Scientific method uses inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning to try to arrive at an objective truth. Inductive reasoning is the examination of specific instances to develop a general hypothesis or theory, whereas deductive reasoning is the use of a theory to explain specific results.

b. Classification: The various data have to be classified for easy access and to give meaning.

c. Comparison and Analogy: It helps to understand the problem at hand in a better way.

d. Model: It is a miniature representation of the work to be done

e. Mathematics: It is the soul of science

5. Two Major Methods Used in Scientific Science: Inductivism&Hypotheism

Inductivism:

The word Inductivism is credited to Francis Bacon. David Hume said about Inductivism as “that general statements (theories) that have to be based on empirical observations, which are subsequently generalized into statements which can either be regarded as true or probably true. In Inductivism, scientific research proceeds from observations to theories. Scientists begin with experiments, finding out what happens in specific cases. They then use the results of these experiments to develop general theories about what happens in all cases.

Hypothesism

The word ‘Hypothesis’ is derived from Greek word ‘hypotithenai’, meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". Hypothesis is and observation which depends on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Hypotheism generates new, creative hypotheisis which is realistic. René Descartes is the father of Hypothesim.

Comparison between Inductivism and Hypotheism

Inductivism	Hypotheism
v Method of science is method of Induction.	v Method of science is method of Hypothesis
v Francis Bacon is father of Induction	v Rene Descartes is the father of Hypotheism
v It is rooted in Empiricism	v It is rooted in Rationalism
v Science must start from fundamental observation	v Science starts only when we go beyond observation
v It is Anti- Realism	v Realism