If we look closer, philosophy is actually a radical and comprehensive way of thinking. It is an approach that explores various things in depth, not just stopping at the surface. Interestingly, philosophy and science actually discuss the same object: everything we can know. The difference is that philosophy tries to understand the big picture, while science focuses on specific parts according to the objectives of each field.
In this article, we will discuss further the various schools of thought in the philosophy of science, so that we can see how these different perspectives have influenced the emergence of the various forms of knowledge we know today.
The school of materialism includes several figures, namely Anaximenes, Thales, Anaximander, Democritus, Lamettrie, Thomas Hobbes, Spencer, Feuerbach, and Karl Marx.
The materialist school of thought holds the view that everything in this world is matter or, in other words, reality consists only of nature and physical things. It is not surprising that this idea sparked a great debate, especially among religious circles. In the 19th century, materialism was considered controversial because it rejected the existence of God (atheistic), something that contradicted the beliefs of society at that time.
In another view by Marx and Engels, materialism developed into historical materialism. This emphasises that human life is determined by material conditions: human activities, the environment, and basic needs that must be met. Society is seen as the result of human interaction with nature, so that even social and cultural differences still have the same material foundation. This foundation is also referred to as the ‘basis of life values’. This also confirms that all cultures depend on human relations with nature.
The second school of thought is idealism, which places reason or the ‘mind’ as the most fundamental thing. For this school of thought, the mind must be completely real, while matter is only a result or derivative of mental activity. Reality is considered to be composed of ideas, thoughts, and the soul, not physical objects.
Idealism provides a view that knowledge is a subjective mental process, so what we know does not always accurately describe the nature of the outside world. The reality we understand is greatly influenced by how the mind works.
The third school of thought, existentialism, emerged in the 20th century in France and Germany as a reaction to the collapse of Enlightenment optimism, particularly after the First World War, which destroyed Europe’s economic, political, and intellectual stability. When large systems lost their legitimacy and were no longer able to provide direction, existentialist thinkers offered a return to humanity as the centre of meaning and the determiner of one’s own life.
This movement also arose from social anxiety over the fear of war, manipulative human behaviour, collapsing values, and the identity crisis that plagued society. Religion was considered to have failed to provide answers, while humans felt threatened by their own actions. It was in this chaotic and uncertain situation that existentialism found its footing as a philosophy that called for authenticity, freedom, and personal responsibility.
The next school of thought was pragmatism, a philosophy that judges truth based on its usefulness. In other words, pragmatism considers something to be true if it is proven to be useful and can be applied in real life. This school accepts anything as truth as long as it has a practical and beneficial impact. Both personal experience and mystical truths can be used as a basis for action if they are proven to be useful. This is the main measure in pragmatism, namely benefits for practical life.
Finally, there is the school of phenomenology, which studies anything that appears in human consciousness. This approach is used to understand various social phenomena in society. Initially, phenomenology developed as a school of thought in philosophy.
The meaning of phenomenology became clearer after Hegel formulated it. He defined phenomenology as ‘knowledge as it appears to consciousness’. Simply put, phenomenology can be understood as the science of studying how a person describes what they see, feel, and perceive directly through experience without intermediaries.
Essentially, phenomenology encourages each individual to interact directly with and learn from the phenomena that constitute their lived reality. In its development, phenomenology is now widely used as an important research method for exploring the unique experiences of each individual in society.
Overall, various schools of thought in the philosophy of science show that the way humans understand reality is highly dependent on the perspective used. The differences that exist in each school of thought can enrich the philosophy of science and shape the various ways in which humans construct, interpret, and develop knowledge to this day.
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