Veritas filia temporis: The origins of the idea of scientific progress.
The article provides insight into the epistemological and anthropological aspect of the origination of the idea of scientific progress. It focuses on the relationship between individual's limited lifetime and the immensity of nature. The basic assumption is that the idea of scientific progress offer...
| Published in: | Annals of Science Vol. 73; no. 4; pp. 375 - 392 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Oct2016
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=118553586&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 118553586 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00033790 7J1 jtl: Annals of Science issn: 00033790 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Oct2016 vid: 73 iid: 4 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 118553586 10.1080/00033790.2016.1178804 ppf: 375 ppct: 17 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.1MB tig: atl: Veritas filia temporis: The origins of the idea of scientific progress. aug: au: Špelda, Daniel affil: University of West Bohemia, Department of Philosophy, Pilsen, Czech Republic su: Scientific development Theory of knowledge Scientific discoveries Science & state Technological innovations Anthropology sug: subj: Scientific development Theory of knowledge Scientific discoveries Science & state Technological innovations Anthropology ab: The article provides insight into the epistemological and anthropological aspect of the origination of the idea of scientific progress. It focuses on the relationship between individual's limited lifetime and the immensity of nature. The basic assumption is that the idea of scientific progress offers a solution of the epistemological problem stemming from the finding that there is no (teleological) coincidence between human cognitive abilities and the extent of nature. In order to facilitate the understanding of the origin of the idea of scientific progress, I propose distinction between the descriptive and prescriptive concepts of progress. While the descriptive notion of progress expresses the cumulative character of scientific knowledge and the superiority of the present over preceding generations, the prescriptive concept pertains to progressivist epistemology directing scientific research at the future development of knowledge. This article claims that the prevalent concept in Antiquity was the descriptive concept of scientific progress. The prescriptive notion had developed only in ancient astronomy. Early modern science was faced with similar issues as ancient astronomy – mainly the empirical finding related to the inexhaustible character of nature. Consequently to the introduction of the idea of progress, the progress of sciences became a purpose in itself – hence becoming infinite. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Annals of Science is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Annals of Science holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd dt: @attributes: year: 2016 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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