Epistemology: The Essence of Cognitive Activity

Scientific Cognition: Levels, Forms, Methods

The highest form of cognition is science—a mode of human intellectual activity aimed at producing objective knowledge about nature, society, and the very act of cognition itself. Its immediate goal is the comprehension of truth and the discovery of objective laws based on the generalization of real facts, enabling the anticipation of developmental trends in reality and facilitating its transformation. Science, as a vital element of culture, is a multifaceted phenomenon characterized by both the creative endeavor of acquiring new knowledge and the resulting body of knowledge regarding the essential connections of reality. It also constitutes a distinct social institution. At the present stage, science transforms into a direct productive force within society.

Notable features of scientific knowledge include a specialized language—a set of concepts for describing objects that transcend everyday experience; the presence of specific methods and procedures for substantiating the veracity of knowledge; continual methodological reflection—an awareness of the methods and approaches employed in studying objects; the use of specialized material means of research (instruments, tools); and the rigorous substantiation and evidential support of the results obtained.

Scientific cognition is examined by a specific branch of philosophy—“the philosophy of science.” Within this field, two levels of scientific cognition are distinguished: the empirical and the theoretical, corresponding to the movement of thought from knowledge of phenomena to understanding of essence. At the empirical level, there is a reflection of the external being of objects; at the theoretical level, there is a reflection of the essential connections of the object, expressed in laws.

At each level, unique methods of cognition are applied. A method is understood as a particular way, technique, or path for solving a problem or task. The philosophical doctrine that investigates methods of cognition is known as methodology.

At the empirical level, the primary methods are observation and real experimentation. Observation is the intentional study of objects based on sensory data, aimed at substantiating specific theoretical conclusions. It can be direct or mediated through various instruments and technical devices. Despite its significance and necessity, observation has substantial drawbacks: the limitations of the sensory organs and the passive role of the subject in the act of cognition. As noted by the renowned French physiologist Claude Bernard, observation occurs under natural conditions that we cannot control.

This significant limitation is largely overcome in experimentation, where individuals actively intervene in the natural state and development of objects, creating artificial conditions for them. Furthermore, there is the possibility of repeatedly reproducing the process under strictly fixed and controllable conditions. Every scientific experiment is always guided by some idea, concept, or hypothesis. Without an idea in mind, as I.P. Pavlov noted, one cannot perceive a fact. The data from the experiment are invariably “theoretically loaded” from its formulation to the interpretation of its results. The main task of the empirical level of scientific cognition is the accumulation of facts.

As previously mentioned, empirical cognition alone is insufficient for penetrating the essence of objects. At a certain stage, when a substantial number of facts have been accumulated, the task of their classification and systematization arises, marking the transition to the theoretical level of cognition. At the theoretical level, specific methods are employed, including idealization—the construction of an idealized object; thought experiments with idealized objects; formalization—temporary abstraction from the content of the subject, focusing attention on its form; modeling—a method based on transferring knowledge gained from analyzing a particular object (model) to another, less studied object; and the method of formulating hypotheses—establishing assumptions to explain specific facts.

An essential method for constructing theory, particularly for sciences studying developing systems, is the combination of historical and logical methods. The historical method of investigation reflects the actual history of the object in its specific diversity, revealing the most significant facts and stages of development, ultimately allowing for the creation of a theory of the object that uncovers the logic and regularities of its evolution. The principle of historicism inherently contains the necessity and potential for transitioning to the logical understanding of the process being studied. Therefore, the logical method can be regarded as the historical method, albeit freed from historical form and contingencies, meaning the logical method reflects the historical process in an abstract and theoretical form. The logical method elucidates history not in all its diversity but clarifies the directions and trends of historical development and functioning; in logical investigation, thought concentrates on the essential, the necessary, without reflecting all the zigzags and fluctuations that are inevitable in the actual historical process.

The task of theoretical cognition is to provide a holistic representation of the phenomenon under study. Any phenomenon of reality can be conceived as a concrete intertwining of various connections. Theoretical investigation identifies these connections and represents them through specific scientific abstractions. However, a mere collection of such abstractions does not yet provide an understanding of the nature of the phenomenon, nor of the processes of its functioning and development. For instance, when pre-Marxist economists documented certain aspects and connections characterizing capitalist production, highlighting abstractions such as “commodity,” “value,” and “money,” they lacked a comprehensive understanding of the essence of capitalist production and its developmental trends. To create such an understanding, it was necessary to mentally reconstruct the object in all its fullness and complexity of connections and relations. This task was accomplished by Karl Marx, who identified the fundamental abstractions characterizing the studied object and then gradually elaborated their content to construct a cohesive system of concepts that reveals not only individual connections and aspects of capitalist production but also the specific interplay of these connections.

This approach to investigation is known as the method of ascending from the abstract to the concrete. By employing this method, the researcher first identifies the main connection (relation) of the object under study, and then, step by step, traces how it transforms under various conditions, unveiling new connections and establishing their interaction, thereby fully reflecting the essence of the object being studied. The method of ascending from the abstract to the concrete is applied in constructing various scientific theories and can be utilized in both social and natural sciences.

The forms of the emergence and development of scientific knowledge include fact, problem, hypothesis, and theory.

A fact (from Latin factum—made, that which has occurred) represents a fragment of reality established by humans, thus in the scientific fixation of a fact, there exists a blend of the objective and the subjective. A fact is the result of rational processing of observational data, their interpretation based on specific theoretical premises. Facts play a significant role in testing, confirming, or refuting theories. Conformity to facts is one of the essential requirements for a scientific theory. In contemporary philosophy of science, two main trends are distinguished in understanding the nature of the fact: factualism and theoreticism. Factualism posits the independence and autonomy of facts concerning various theories. Theoreticism asserts that facts are entirely dependent on theory, and that a change in theories leads to a transformation of the entire factual basis of science. It is crucial to emphasize that the absolute opposition of fact and theory, on one hand, and the complete dissolution of facts within theory, on the other, are extremes in resolving the problem of the relationship between fact and theory.

A problem (derived from the Greek for obstacle, task) is a specific question that objectively arises during the development of cognition, the answer to which can be achieved through empirical and theoretical investigation. The entire progress of human cognition consists of the formulation, clarification, and resolution of problems, transitioning from the identification of specific problems to their resolution, and then to the formulation of new problems. The discovery and formulation of a problem reveal the incompleteness of previous knowledge and thus serve as a necessary moment for transitioning to new understanding.

A hypothesis (Greek for assumption) is a scientifically grounded supposition regarding the cause of a specific phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis is always proposed within the context of the development of science to address a particular problem, aiming to explain new experimental data or resolve contradictions in theory resulting from negative experimental outcomes. In the process of verifying a hypothesis and practically confirming its consequences, which describe and explain previously unknown facts of reality, the connection between the hypothesis and scientific theory is established. The development of scientific theories invariably occurs through hypotheses, as all new knowledge initially possesses a hypothetical nature. Hypotheses emerge during the development of science and transform into reliable propositions of scientific theories when practice reveals and confirms such results.

A theory represents a form of systematic knowledge pertaining to a specific area of reality or certain aspects of it. It constitutes the most rigorous and thoroughly tested segment of scientific knowledge. The goal of scientific theory is to make sense of already known results and delineate pathways to achieving new knowledge, as well as to predict new phenomena. It accomplishes this through intellectual tools: concepts, hypotheses, mathematical apparatus, and so forth. Theory is closely linked with facts and hypotheses. It differs from scientific facts through its strict logical organization and objective content. A well-developed scientific theory represents a system of interconnected laws, enabling an understanding of the object of cognition in its internal connection and integrity as a system, performing essential functions such as explanation and prediction.