TOWARDS A CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY’S ASSESSMENTS OF PHILOSOPHICAL ACTIVITY IN SCIENCE
V.M. Reznikov
Institute of Philosophy and Law, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
Keywords: philosophy of science, conceptual analysis, critical analysis, physics, medicine, cancer diseases, cancer stem cells, data analysis
Abstract
The article proposes a variant of classification of assessments of the significance of philosophical ideas and the involvement of philosophers in science, as formulated by renowned scientists: A. Einstein, R. Feynman, P. Medawar and S. Weinberg. Much attention is paid to analyzing Weinberg’s critical arguments, such as the lack of universal philosophical theories adequate for research in physics, the absolute conservatism of philosophers, and the paucity of approaches for explaining and understanding physical phenomena. It is shown that only the last argument is justified; however, new approaches to understanding science are being vigorously studied in contemporary philosophy of science. Based on a literature review, it is shown that biologists highly appreciate the involvement of philosophers in science and their results in applying conceptual analysis to the life sciences, particularly in cancer stem cell research. The potential for applying critical philosophical analysis to certain fields of knowledge, such as data analysis, is demonstrated.
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