Science has a philosophical basis and philosophy uses scientific rigor. Philosophy is used in mathematics and language. Science is based on a worldview that affects scientific observations. Both disciplines evaluate hypotheses and consider ethics. The philosophy of science considers many aspects of science, but they may not always draw the same conclusions.
The connection between philosophy and science is multifaceted and complex. Science has at its core a philosophical basis and philosophy often uses scientific rigor in its methodology. Most people think of science as a physically justified kind of knowledge, but many kinds of science are theoretical. Philosophy is often thought of as purely existing in the realm of thought, but some aspects of philosophy are used in mathematics, language, and other disciplines. There are many ways in which philosophy and science relate, and the specific relationship depends on the context.
People often don’t realize that science is based on a worldview that is itself a philosophy. Humans tend to view the world as a series of causes and effects over time, and this underlying philosophy is evident in the way scientific observations are encoded in scientific theories. It is possible to think about scientific processes in a deterministic way or even through other perspectives. How people philosophically believe the world works drastically affects science.
Philosophy often appears to exist purely in the mental realm, but an important link between philosophy and science is the rigor with which both disciplines evaluate hypotheses. Both scientific hypotheses and philosophical arguments must be weighed against all other possible claims. Some types of philosophy are less rigorous than science, but the idea that a proposition can be challenged and tested is as important to philosophy as it is to science.
In ancient times, philosophy and science were much more closely related. The inability to test hypotheses has made most scientific experiments the equivalent of philosophical thought experiments. This did not prevent scientific progress, and many ancient ideas turned out to be correct.
Another of the most important relationships between philosophy and science has to do with ethics. Science often creates changes in the world and these changes are subject to ethical considerations. Thinking about the effects of science through a philosophical lens is important for both scientists and people who have to live with the results of science.
Besides these broad connections, philosophy and science are also deliberately connected in some situations. The philosophy of science is itself a type of philosophy that considers many aspects of science. Science often uses philosophy in the form of logic, but it also draws on the ethical thoughts of the age in which scientists live. While science and philosophy are related, they do not necessarily always draw the same conclusions and issues therefore need to be assessed independently in some cases.
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