Philosophy of Science
In some way or another, whether we consciously acknowledge it or not, we are all dependent upon science, which has powerfully, irrevocably formed our world and our thinking.
Science has altered our lives materially, making daily living a much less arduous task it has affected the way that we think, discuss, and pursue knowledge.
Scientific knowledge should stand alone and be a reasonable and adequate explanation of the phenomena despite the scientist’s or the reader’s beliefs, values and concerns.
The distinction between:
- Wisdom knowledge has to do with values, beliefs, and expectations; it is internal knowledge and is dependent upon human beings for its existence. It is an explanation or interpretation of phenomena. It gives a reason for the phenomenon’s existence.
- Science knowledge is objective and independent of human belief. Even if there were no human beings, scientific knowledge would still be true. Claims to explain how something occurs not why.
If you believe that Wisdom-knowledge is inferior to Science-knowledge then you will tend to support the notion that all forms of medical care must ultimately be objectively verifiable – i.e., shown to be of value apart from a human being’s evaluation of them.
Medical ‘science’ is not pure science. Medical science is the attempt to apply science when evaluating human beings. It is therefore not possible to have an inquiry that is independent of people, as they are the purpose of the inquiry.
Questions:
- Is it possible to study a disease apart from the person suffering from it?
- Is the focus of medical inquiry the person or the disease?
- Is the role of science to encourage human beings to dominate or accommodate to nature?
- Is scientific truth more trustworthy than other kinds?
- If a scientist starts with no preconceptions at all, what motivates him to investigate the particular thing in the first place?
Key concept; we rarely diagnose something that we have not ever come across before either in practice or during our studies. We require the theoretical possibility for it to occur before we can recognize it in practice.
Stephen Tyreman 1992. Concepts for Osteopathic Health Care, Section 3 Scientific Inquiry 3a Philosophy of Science. BSO course notes (extracts).