7 is not an idealized object. Object of knowledge. Real and idealized objects. Dialectics of nature by F. Engels and his characterization of the method of materialist dialectics

I. Structural elements theories

Lecture II. Structure and functions scientific theory

B. Religious knowledge

B. Artistic\aesthetic knowledge

A. Ordinary knowledge

2. Malignant unscientific knowledge = pseudoscientific knowledge (= pseudoknowledge)– all varieties of misconceptions dressed in a scientific form and claiming to be scientific.

Types of malignant scientific knowledge :

A. Pseudoscience- any teaching that claims to be a development or even a revolution in one or another branch of traditional science, which is in fact the result of a fundamental error or a deliberate distortion of facts, which entails a chain of false conclusions. (Ancient pseudosciences: astrology, palmistry, numerology, alchemy...; modern pseudosciences: dianetics, ufology...).

b. Parascience– a set of pseudo-scientific knowledge that claims to be scientific; parascience actively uses scientific terminology, some techniques of scientific argumentation, imitates scientific style and methods of presenting material, but, at the same time, deals not with real things, but with fictions. A distinctive feature of parascience is that it does not have a subject of its research.

V. Quasinascience ( lat.quasi – something, like, as if ) – method of interpretation of natural science and humanitarian knowledge, contributing to the theoretical substantiation of the ideology of the dominant political forces, classes, the bearer of which enjoys the patronage and support of these forces. Examples: social Darwinism V fascist Germany, postmodernism as a modern quasi-philosophy of Westernization (Western version of globalization), praxeology(the doctrine of human activity), as a quasi-scientific basis of neoliberal economic doctrine, etc.

Any scientific theory is the unity of thinking and practice, the result of the dialectical removal of their opposition. That is why statements according to which this or that theory “failed in practice” do not make sense. It can be said that every genuine theory is thinking practice, its direct, active application.

Moreover, the theory is it is a holistic developing system of true knowledge, which has complex structure and executes a number of functions.

1) initial grounds– fundamental concepts, principles, laws, equations, axioms, etc.

Idealized object is an abstract model of the essential properties and connections of the objects being studied (for example, in physics: “absolutely black body”, “ ideal gas"; in philosophical teachings about society, in particular in the socio-political teachings of Thomas Hobbes - “selfish man-atom”).

Ideal type– mentally constructed formations as auxiliary means, a product of the synthesis of certain concepts (For example, in medicine anyone is an ideal type diagnosis, under which the real state of a particular person is summed up; or in psychology ideal types are types of temperaments, personality accentuations and so on.). In other words, the ideal type is a system of conceptual means (“idea-synthesis”) that generalizes certain volume phenomena of common origin.

3) logic of theory– a set of certain rules and methods of proof aimed at clarifying the structure and clarifying knowledge.

It seems to me that establishing the subject area of ​​each science begins with developing specific idealizations and making assumptions about the nature of the objects under study.

1.1. ABSTRACTING AND IDEALIZATION

The process of cognition always begins with the study of a certain subject area: a set of specific objects, relationships between them, situations in which specific objects are located. These objects exist outside and independently of the cognizing subject and are displayed by him using the senses, thinking and language. In the process of representing real objects, the cognizing subject creates a special kind of mental objects that do not exist and cannot even exist as real objects. These include objects such as, for example, a material point, an ideal gas, an absolutely black body, geometry objects, etc. Objects of this kind serve as the most important means of understanding real objects and the relationships between them. They're called idealized objects and the process of their creation is idealization. Thus, idealization is the process of creating mental objects, conditions, situations that do not exist in reality through mental abstraction from some properties of real objects and relationships between them or endowing objects and situations with those properties that they do not actually possess or cannot possess for the purpose of deeper and more accurate knowledge of reality. The use of idealization and idealized objects is most typical for scientific knowledge, therefore, in the future we will talk mainly about idealization in scientific knowledge.

Idealization is sometimes confused with abstraction, but this is unlawful, because although idealization essentially relies on the process of abstraction, it is not reducible to it. Every scientific theory studies either a certain fragment of reality, a certain subject area, or a certain side, one of the aspects of real things and processes. At the same time, theory is forced to abstract itself from those aspects of the subjects it studies that do not interest it. In addition, theory is often forced to abstract from some differences in the objects it studies in certain respects. This process of mental abstraction from certain aspects, properties of the objects being studied, from certain relationships between them is called abstraction. It is clear that the creation of an idealized object necessarily includes abstraction - abstraction from a number of aspects and properties of the specific objects being studied. But if we limit ourselves to only this, then we will not yet receive any integral object, but will simply destroy a real object or situation. After abstraction, we still need to highlight the properties that interest us, strengthen or weaken them, combine and present them as properties of some independent object that exists, functions and develops according to its own laws. All this, of course, represents a much more difficult and creative task than simple abstraction.

I. 2. METHODS OF FORMATION

AN IDEALIZED OBJECT

The creation of an idealized object can be carried out in different ways and is based on different kinds abstractions. It is possible to indicate some ways of forming idealized objects that are widely used in science and in Everyday life:

1. It is possible to abstract from some properties of real objects, while at the same time retaining their other properties and introducing an object that has only these remaining properties. So, for example, in Newtonian celestial mechanics we abstract from all the properties of the Sun and planets and imagine them as moving material points that have only gravitational mass. We are not interested in their size, structure, chemical composition and so on. The sun and planets appear here only as carriers of certain gravitational masses, i.e. in the form of idealized objects.

2. Sometimes it turns out to be useful to abstract from some relationships of the objects being studied to each other. With the help of such abstraction, for example, the concept of an ideal gas is formed. In real gases there is always a certain interaction between molecules. Abstracting from this interaction and considering gas particles as having only kinetic energy and interacting only upon collision, we obtain an idealized object - an ideal gas. IN social sciences when studying individual aspects of the life of society, individual social phenomena and institutions, social groups and so on. we can abstract from the relationships of these parties, phenomena, groups with other elements of social life.

3. We can also attribute properties to real objects that they do not have, or we can think of the properties inherent in them in some limiting value. Thus, for example, in optics special idealized objects are formed - an absolutely black body and an ideal mirror. It is known that all bodies, to a greater or lesser extent, have both the property of reflecting some part of the energy incident on its surface and the property of absorbing part of this energy. When we step up limit value property of reflection, we get an ideal mirror - an idealized object, the surface of which reflects all the energy incident on it. By enhancing the absorption property, in the limiting case we obtain an absolutely black body - an idealized object that absorbs all the energy incident on it.

4. An idealized object can be any real object that is conceived in non-existent, ideal conditions. This is how the concept of inertia arises. Let's say that we are pushing a cart along the road. The cart moves for some time after the push and then stops. There are many ways to lengthen the path covered by a cart after a push, for example, lubricating the wheels, creating a smoother road, etc. The easier the wheels turn and the more smoother road, the longer the cart will move. Through experiments it is established that the less external influences on a moving body (in in this case friction), the longer the path traversed by this body. It is clear that it is impossible to eliminate all external influences on the moving body. In real situations, a moving body will inevitably be subject to some kind of influence from other bodies. However, it is not difficult to imagine a situation in which all influences are excluded. We can conclude that under such ideal conditions a moving body will move indefinitely and at the same time uniformly and rectilinearly 1.

5. Most often, the above methods of creating idealized objects are used in various combinations. We can abstract from some properties and aspects of real objects, and endow them with some non-existent properties, and imagine them in some ideal conditions.

The process of idealization and the use of idealized objects are a clear expression of the activity of human cognition of reality. Man is not a passive being, dispassionately recording external influences. A person lives, acts and experiences the world with the goal of transforming it. And human activity has a decisive influence on his attitude to the world and on his knowledge of the world. It is the needs of practice that determine the interests of people in the sphere of knowledge and direct the attention of scientists to certain aspects of reality, to certain groups of phenomena. On the other hand, the objects of reality are infinitely complex, changeable, fluid, they are included in a universal system of interrelations and interdependencies. A person cannot immediately comprehensively embrace or cognize a single real object. Therefore, in the process of cognition, a person consciously singles out certain aspects of objects, temporarily distracting from all the others, draws sharp demarcation lines where they do not exist, consciously simplifies and impoverishes reality in order to understand it better and more deeply.

Idealization helps us to isolate in their pure form the aspects of reality that interest us and, based on a relatively simple idealized object, to give a deeper and more complete description of these aspects. Cognition moves from concrete objects to their abstract, ideal models, which - becoming more and more accurate, perfect and numerous - gradually give us an increasingly adequate image of concrete objects. This widespread use of idealized objects is one of the most characteristic features of human cognition.

If we accept modern hypothetico-deductive model of the structure of scientific knowledge with its division of knowledge into two levels - empirical and theoretical, it can be shown that idealization is used at both the empirical and theoretical levels. The objects to which scientific statements refer are always idealized objects. Even in cases where we use empirical methods of cognition - observation, measurement, experiment, the results of these procedures directly relate to idealized objects and only due to the fact that idealized objects at this level are abstract models of real things, the data of empirical procedures can be attributed to real ones subjects.

I. 3. IDEALIZATION AT THE THEORETICAL LEVEL

The role of idealization increases sharply during the transition from the empirical to the theoretical level of scientific knowledge. Modern hypothetico-deductive theory is based on a certain empirical basis - a set of facts that need explanation and make the creation of a theory necessary. But a theory is not a generalization of facts and cannot be logically deduced from them. In order to make it possible to create a special system of concepts and statements called theory, First, an idealized object is introduced, which is an abstract model of reality, endowed with a small number of properties and having a relatively simple structure. This idealized object expresses the specificity and essential features of the field of phenomena being studied. It is the idealized object that makes the creation of a theory possible. Scientific theories are primarily distinguished by the idealized objects underlying them. special theory relativity, the idealized object is an abstract pseudo-Euclidean four-dimensional set of coordinates and instants of time, provided that there is no gravitational field. For quantum mechanics characterized by an idealized object represented in the case of a collection P particles Ψ - wave in n-dimensional configuration space, the properties of which are associated with the quantum of action" 2.

The concepts and statements of a theory are introduced and formulated precisely as characteristics of its idealized object. The basic properties of an idealized object are described by a system of fundamental equations of the theory. The difference in idealized objects of theories leads to the fact that each hypothetico-deductive theory has its own specific system of fundamental equations. In classical mechanics we deal with Newton's equations, in electrodynamics - with Maxwell's equations, in the theory of relativity - with Einstein's equations, etc. The idealized object provides an interpretation of the concepts and equations of the theory. Clarification of the theory equations, their experimental confirmation and correction lead to clarification of the idealized object or even to its change. Replacing the idealized object of a theory means reinterpreting the basic equations of the theory. No scientific theory can be guaranteed that its equations will not sooner or later be subject to reinterpretation. In some cases this happens relatively quickly, in others - after a long time. So, for example, in the doctrine of heat, the original idealized object - caloric - was replaced by another - a set of randomly moving material points. Sometimes modification or replacement of the idealized object of a theory does not significantly change the form of its fundamental equations. In this case, it is often said that the theory remains the same, but its interpretation changes. It is clear that this can be said only with a formalistic understanding of scientific theory. If by theory we mean not only a certain mathematical formalism, but also a certain interpretation of this formalism, then a change in the idealized object should be considered as a transition to a new theory.

Every idealized object is ultimately an abstract image of specific objects, their individual aspects or properties. The fruitfulness of the use of idealized objects in science is a consequence of the fact that these objects reflect and represent in their pure form certain aspects of reality. The creation of an idealized object allows science to highlight the essential aspects of the object, simplify it and, thanks to this, make it possible to use precise quantitative concepts and mathematical apparatus to describe it, i.e. understand it more deeply. The creation of an idealized object is not a departure from reality, but, on the contrary, a deeper penetration into it.

On empirical and everyday level the connection between the idealized object and real objects is obvious. When we say, for example: “A.S. Pushkin is a great Russian poet,” then our statement directly refers, of course, to some ideal person who has absorbed only the most essential features real person. The idealized subject of the above statement is poorer and more abstract than a living person who grew, changed, traveled, etc. But this idealized subject expresses the most important, the deepest thing in a particular person, namely, that this person was, first of all, a poet of genius. Here the connection between an idealized object and a specific object is directly visible, and we can say that the concrete living Pushkin at different moments of his life was an exemplification of this idealized object. It is more difficult to see the connection between an idealized object and reality in cases where we are dealing with such idealizations as “point”, “inertia”, “incompressible fluid”, etc. Such objects cannot be directly compared with real things. Their connection with reality is revealed in the process of social and scientific practice. Experimental confirmation of scientific theories, their practical applications, the development of social production, based on the successes of science in understanding the world - all this shows that idealized objects introduced into science for the development and interpretation of its conceptual apparatus represent a deep penetration into the nature of reality, a reflection of its most essential aspects and properties.

1.4. HYPOTHESIS. TYPES OF HYPOTHESES

When faced with new objects or phenomena both in science and in everyday life, we begin the process of understanding them by making assumptions about the properties of unknown objects, about their possible relationships, about their internal structure and so on. Even simple recognition of objects and phenomena around us begins with the assumption of their possible attribution to one or another type of object. For example, while walking through the forest, you notice a bird sitting on a tree. Trying to determine what kind of bird it is, you make various assumptions: a crow? Magpie? Rook? Then you test these assumptions by trying to get closer and get a better look at the object.

Hypothesis called an assumption about the properties, causes, structure, connections of the objects being studied. The main feature of a hypothesis is its speculative nature: we do not know whether it will turn out to be true or false. In the process of subsequent testing, the hypothesis may find confirmation and acquire the status of true knowledge, but it is possible that the test will convince us of the falsity of our assumption and we will have to abandon it. A scientific hypothesis usually differs from a simple assumption by a certain validity.

Simplified accounts of the history of certain scientific disciplines sometimes they create the impression that science confidently and methodically moves from one discovery to another, without knowing any doubts or defeats. This is, of course, far from the case. Any scientific truth grows out of many conjectural solutions to a problem - hypotheses, most of which do not stand up to testing and are discarded. But they were not completely useless. Any hypothesis for some time directs knowledge in a certain direction, stimulates the search for facts, setting up experiments, and therefore contributes to the search for truth. This is the greatest heuristic role of hypotheses. For example, thinking about the structure of the atom, Japanese physicist X. Nagaoka at the beginning of the 20th century. hypothesized that the atom's structure resembles solar system: in the center there is a positive charge, around which electrons - negatively charged particles - move in planetary orbits. However, facts and calculations related to the radiation of atoms came into conflict with Nagaoka's hypothesis, and it was discarded. Physicists accepted the hypothesis of the English scientist D.D. Thomson, according to which the atom does not have a center, but is a sphere in which electrons are embedded. Several years passed, and the experiments of E. Rutherford showed that the bulk of the matter of an atom and its positive charge concentrated at a certain point, and not “spread out” over a sphere. Physicists had to return again to the hypothesis of the planetary structure of the atom. And such a development of knowledge, putting forward, rejecting, correcting certain hypotheses, is characteristic of any science. “The form of development of natural science,” F. Engels wrote back in the last century, “since it thinks, is hypothesis. Observation reveals some new fact, making impossible the previous way of explaining facts belonging to the same group. From this moment on, there is a need for new methods of explanation, based at first only on a limited number of facts and observations. Further experimental material leads to the purification of these hypotheses, eliminating some of them, correcting others, until finally the law is established in its pure form. If we wanted to wait until the material was ready in its purest form for the law, then this would mean suspending the thinking research until then, and for this alone we would never have received the law" 3.

From a logical point of view, a hypothesis is a proposition whose truth value is uncertain. Therefore, the simplest classification of hypotheses is based on the form of the sentences expressing them. In this regard, hypotheses can be divided into general, specific and individual. General a hypothesis is an assumption about the entire class of objects being studied; private a hypothesis expresses an assumption about some part of the class of objects being studied; finally, single a hypothesis speaks about specific individual objects or phenomena. For example, Democritus' hypothesis "All bodies are composed of atoms" was general; the hypothesis “Some viruses cause disease” is a particular one, and the hypothesis “The Sun is a relatively young star” is a rare one.

However, with a broader approach that takes into account the content of a scientific assumption, and not just the form of the assumption expressing it, many other types of hypotheses are distinguished. In particular, in science assumptions are made about individual facts or about natural connections between things and phenomena, i.e. about laws. A hypothesis can speak about the essence of certain processes or phenomena, about their causes, while at the same time, hypotheses about the phenomena themselves, about the possibility of their existence, about the consequences of known causes, etc. are widely used.

A special place in scientific research is occupied by the so-called "workers" hypotheses. A working hypothesis differs from an ordinary hypothesis only in being less justified and arbitrary. When faced with new facts and new experimental material, a scientist often cannot immediately put forward a hypothesis that plausibly explains these facts and is consistent with true scientific theories. At the same time, continuation of the research requires some guiding idea, which helps to somehow navigate the chaos of data and suggests some further path of research. Therefore, a scientist often accepts some hypothesis, which, although not worthy of serious consideration, but for a certain time helps him conduct research in a certain direction. This is what is called a working hypothesis. As a rule, it is soon discarded and replaced by another, but there are cases when such a deliberately implausible hypothesis, which is accepted only temporarily as a working one, unexpectedly turns out to be fruitful, receives confirmation and acquires the status of a serious scientific hypothesis.

There is another type of hypothesis that attracts a lot of attention from philosophers and scientists. These are the so-called ad hoc hypotheses(for this case). Hypotheses of this type are distinguished by the fact that their explanatory power is limited only to a small range of known facts. They say nothing about new, not yet known facts and phenomena. A good hypothesis should not only provide an explanation for known data, but also direct research to the search and discovery of new phenomena and new facts. Hypotheses ad hoc They only explain, but do not predict anything new. Therefore, scientists try not to use such hypotheses, although it is often quite difficult to decide whether we are dealing with a fruitful, heuristically strong hypothesis or a hypothesis ad hoc.

1.5. HYPOTHETICAL-DEDUCTIVE METHOD

IN modern science hypotheses are used as an element gonomemmo-deductive method- one of the most important methods of scientific knowledge and reasoning. It is based on the derivation (deduction) of conclusions from hypotheses and other premises, the truth value of which is unknown. Since in deductive reasoning the meaning of truth is transferred from premises to the conclusion, and the premises in this case are hypotheses, the conclusion of hypothetico-deductive reasoning is only probabilistic in nature. According to the type of premises, hypothetico-deductive reasoning is divided into two main groups. The first, most numerous group includes such reasoning, the premises of which are hypotheses and empirical generalizations, the truth of which still needs to be established. The second includes hypothetico-deductive conclusions from premises that are obviously false or the falsity of which can be established. By putting forward some assumption as a premise, it is possible to deduce consequences from it that contradict well-known facts or true statements. In this way, during the discussion, you can convince your opponent of the falsity of his assumption. Fine famous example This application of the hypothetico-deductive method is a method of reduction to the absurd.

In scientific knowledge, the hypothetico-deductive method became widespread and developed in the 17th-18th centuries, when significant advances were made in the field of study mechanical movement earthly and celestial bodies. The first attempts to use the hypothetico-deductive method were made in mechanics, in particular in the studies of Galileo. The theory of mechanics, set forth in Newton’s “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,” is a hypothetico-deductive system, the premises of which are the basic laws of motion. The success of the hypothetico-deductive method in the field of mechanics and the influence of Newton's ideas led to the widespread use of this method in the field of exact natural science.

From a logical point of view, the hypothetico-deductive system is a hierarchy of hypotheses, the degree of abstraction and generality of which increases with distance from the empirical basis. At the top are the hypotheses that have the most general character and therefore having the greatest logical power. From them, as premises, hypotheses are derived more low level. At the lowest level of the system are hypotheses that can be compared with empirical data. In modern science, many theories are constructed in the form of a hypothetico-deductive system.

This construction of scientific theories is of great methodological importance due to the fact that it not only makes it possible to study the logical relationships between hypotheses different levels abstractness, but also allows for empirical testing and confirmation of scientific hypotheses and theories. The lowest level hypotheses are tested by comparing them with empirical data. If they are confirmed by these data, then this serves as an indirect confirmation of higher-level hypotheses, from which the first hypotheses are logically derived. Most general principles scientific theories cannot be directly compared with reality in order to verify their truth, because they, as a rule, talk about abstract or ideal objects that themselves do not exist in reality. In order to correlate general principles with reality, it is necessary, using a long chain of logical conclusions, to obtain consequences from them that no longer speak of ideal, but of real objects. These consequences can be verified directly. Therefore, scientists strive to give their theories the structure of a hypothetico-deductive system.

A type of hypothetico-deductive method is considered mathematical hypothesis method, which is used as the most important heuristic tool for discovering patterns in natural science. Typically, the hypotheses here are some equations representing a modification of previously known and tested relationships. By changing these relationships, a new equation is created that expresses a hypothesis that relates to unexplored phenomena. So, for example, M. Born and W. Heisenberg took as a basis canonical equations classical mechanics, but instead of numbers they introduced matrices into them, thus constructing a matrix version of quantum mechanics. In the process of scientific research, the most difficult - truly creative - task is to discover and formulate those principles and hypotheses that can serve as the basis for all subsequent conclusions. The hypothetico-deductive method plays an auxiliary role in this process, since with its help new hypotheses are not put forward, but only the consequences arising from them are derived and tested. However, without resorting to this method, we would not be able to distinguish true assumptions from false ones.

I. 6. CONFIRMATION AND REFUTATION OF HYPOTHESES

Confirmation call the correspondence of a hypothesis or theory to some fact or experimental result. In the methodology of scientific knowledge, confirmation is considered as one of the criteria for the truth of a hypothesis or theory. In order to establish whether the hypothesis corresponds to reality, i.e. whether it is true, a sentence is deduced from it, speaking about observable or experimentally detectable phenomena. Then they make observations or set up experiments that determine whether the sentence is true or false. If it is true, then this is considered confirmation of the hypothesis. For example, the discovery of chemical elements predicted by D.I. Mendeleev based on his table was a confirmation of this table; the discovery of the planet Uranus in a place calculated according to Newton's equations of celestial mechanics was a confirmation of mechanics, etc. From a logical point of view, the confirmation procedure is described as follows. Let G- testable hypothesis, A is an empirical consequence of this hypothesis, the connection between G And A can be expressed by the conditional proposition “If G, That A". During the verification process it is discovered that A true; we conclude that G confirmed. The line of reasoning looks like this:

Such a conclusion does not give a reliable conclusion, therefore, based on the truth A we cannot conclude that the hypothesis G is also true, and we only say that the hypothesis G confirmed. The more verified true consequences a hypothesis has, the more it is considered confirmed.

It should be borne in mind, however, that confirmation can never be complete and final, i.e. No matter how much confirmation a hypothesis receives, we cannot claim that it is true. The number of possible empirical consequences of a hypothesis is infinite, but we can only test a finite number of them. Therefore, there is always the possibility that one day the prediction of the hypothesis will turn out to be false. A simple example: the statement “All swans are white” was confirmed by hundreds and thousands of examples for centuries, but one day people met a black swan, and it was discovered that this statement was false. This suggests that the confirmability of a certain hypothesis does not yet allow us to say with certainty that the hypothesis is true. A false hypothesis can be confirmed for a long time

From a logical point of view, the process refutations described by the modus tollens scheme (modus tollens). From the hypothesis being tested G some empirical proposition is deduced A, those. true "If G, That A". During the verification process it is discovered that A false and true sentence not-A. Thus:

The conclusion according to this scheme gives a reliable conclusion, so we can say that hypothesis G is false.

When we are talking about an isolated proposition or a hypothesis of a low level of generality and abstraction, a disconfirming inference is often useful and can help us eliminate false assumptions. However, if we consider a complex, hierarchically ordered system of propositions - the hypothetico-deductive theory - then the situation is not so simple at all. The refutation procedure detects only a clash between a theory and a fact, but it does not tell us which member of the contradiction is false - the theory or the fact. Why are we obliged to believe that it is the theory (hypothesis) that is false? Perhaps a fact that was established as a result of a “dirty” experiment, misinterpreted, etc., is false?

Added to this is another consideration. It is usually impossible to derive an empirical proposition from one theory (hypothesis). To do this, special rules must be added to the theory (hypothesis), giving an empirical interpretation of the terms of the theory (hypothesis), and sentences describing the specific conditions of empirical verification. Thus, the empirical proposition A follows from more than one theory (hypothesis) T, and from T plus rules of empirical interpretation plus propositions describing specific conditions. If we take this circumstance into account, it immediately becomes clear that from the falsity of the proposal A we have no right to draw a conclusion about the falsity of the theory (hypothesis) T. The false premise may be included in added rules or sentences. That is why in real science, having discovered a clash between a theory (hypothesis) and a certain fact, scientists are in no hurry to declare the theory false. They check again and again the purity of experiments, the premises on which the interpretation of experimental results is based, the links of a refuting conclusion, etc. Only when enough such facts accumulate and a hypothesis appears that successfully explains them, scientists begin to be inclined to think that their theory (hypothesis) is false.

“We can state a fairly universal methodological thesis: the formulation theoretical laws directly relate to the system of theoretical constructs (abstract objects). And only to the extent that the theoretical schemes constructed from them represent the essential connections of the reality under study, the corresponding laws can be applied to its description.

This feature of theoretical knowledge can be traced not only in physics, although here it manifests itself in its most distinct form. This feature can be traced in all those areas of science that have entered the stage of theorization.

Let's take for example Hardy-Weinberg law, a well-known law of population genetics that characterizes the conditions of genetic stability of populations. This law belongs to a rather small group of biological laws that have received mathematical formulation. It was formulated in relation to the theoretical model (scheme) of distribution of mutant forms in the population constructed by Hardy and Weinberg. The population in this model was a typical idealized object - it was an unlimitedly large population with free interbreeding of individuals. It could be compared with real, large populations, if migration and mutation processes are negligible and one can ignore the factors natural selection and from restrictions on panmixia.

But it was precisely thanks to these idealizing assumptions that the theoretical model fixed the essential connections characterizing the relative stability of populations, and the Hardy-Weinberg law, formulated on the basis of this model, rightfully took the place of one of the most important laws of population genetics.

Here it is easy to see a direct similarity with developed forms of theoretical knowledge of physics. The idealized object, in relation to which the Hardy-Weinberg law was formulated, performed the same functions as, for example, the model of an ideal pendulum when discovering the law of small oscillations or the model of an ideal gas when formulating the laws of behavior of rarefied gases under relatively low pressures.

In theories social sciences one can also find that the formulation of theoretical laws is associated with the introduction of idealized objects that simplify and schematize empirically observed situations.

Thus, in modern neoclassical economic theories, one of the important laws, which is specified and modified in the process of deployment of these theories and their development, is the famous law L. Walras- Swiss economist of the late 19th century. This law assumes that on the scale of the economy, represented by various commodity markets, including the money market, the amount of excess demand (the size of the gap between the demand for individual goods and their supply) is always equal to zero. It is not difficult to establish that Walras’s law describes an idealized model (scheme) of the relationship between various commodity markets when their system is in equilibrium (the demand for goods in each market is equal to their supply). In reality this does not happen. But this is approximately the same as there are no material points, an absolute solid body, or an ideal gas.

Of course, each theoretical scheme and the law formulated regarding it have limits of its applicability. Ideal gas law Not Suitable for high pressure situations. In this case, it is replaced by the equation (law) of J. van der Waals, which takes into account the forces of molecular interaction, from which the ideal gas model is abstracted. Exactly the same in economic theory model and law Walras require adjustments when describing complex processes interactions of various markets associated with disruptions in the sale of goods and not close to equilibrium processes. These situations express more complex theoretical models (for example, the model Keynes-Wicksell, improved by J. Stein and G. Rose, which allowed market disequilibrium, and also proposed by American economists D. Patinkin, D. Levhari and G. Johnson in the 60-70s. model of market disequilibrium, taking into account the effect of cash balances and active role money market.

The formulation of new theoretical laws allows us to expand the possibilities of a theoretical description of the reality under study. But for this you need to enter each time new system idealization (theoretical constructs), which form in their connections a corresponding theoretical scheme. Even in the “softest” forms of theoretical knowledge, which usually include such humanitarian disciplines as literary criticism, musicology, and art history (contrasting them with the “hard” forms of mathematized theories of natural sciences), one can detect a layer of abstract theoretical objects that form theoretical models of the reality under study.

I'll link to research here. V.M. Rosina, who applied the concept of theoretical knowledge that I developed to technical and humanitarian disciplines. V.M. Rozin texts of works were analyzed MM. Bakhtin and B.I. Bursova, dedicated to creativity F.M. Dostoevsky, texts of theoretical musicology and the text of art criticism by V.A. Plugin, in which painting is analyzed Andrey Rublev. In all these situations, the author reveals a layer of theoretical knowledge and shows that the movement of research thought in this layer is based on the construction of ideal theoretical objects and operating with them.

In particular, the main theoretical conclusions Bakhtin concerning the features of the “polyphonic novel” Dostoevsky, were obtained through the construction of a theoretical scheme, the elements of which are such ideal objects as “the voices of heroes” and “the voice of the author”, which enter into dialogical relationships.

Thus, we can conclude that ideal theoretical objects and integral theoretical models (schemes) constructed from them are an essential characteristic of the structure of any scientific theory, regardless of whether it belongs to the sphere of the humanities, social or natural sciences.”

Stepin V.S., Philosophy of Science. General problems, M., “Gardariki”, 2006, pp. 182-184.

IDEALIZED OBJECT

(from the Greek idea - image, idea) - an object conceivable in a concept formed through idealization. For example, in science such objects are material point, ideal liquid, absolutely solid, ideal gas, absolutely black body, etc., which are components of the corresponding physical theories. The introduction of this kind of fictitious, non-existent and unrealizable objects as a subject scientific research allowed because, being limiting cases of certain real objects, they serve as the basis for the construction of theoretical models, which ultimately turn out to be capable of describing the patterns of reality. In the latter circumstance, one should also see a criterion that distinguishes fruitful, scientifically based idealizations from empty fictions.

Philosophy: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M.: Gardariki.Edited by A.A. Ivina.2004 .

IDEALIZED OBJECT

a mental, knowledgeable construction that is the result of idealization. Being elements scientific theories, I. O. serve as the most important means of cognition. activities in science. Theoretical statements, as a rule, directly relate not to real objects, but to I. O., butknow. activities with whom (thought experiment. their understanding in various theoretical schemes and models) allows you to install creatures. connections and patterns that are inaccessible when studying real objects, taken in all their empirical diversity. properties and relationships.

Character I. O. depends on the degree of development scientific knowledge. They highlight I. O., which are formed by idealizing empirical. ideas about objects. However, as a rule, the introduction of I. O. associated with the possibility of theoretical analysis of the phenomena being studied.

In developed scientific theories are usually not considered dept. AND. O. and their properties, and structures and systems I. O. When constructing and developing theories of I. O. act in the context of a holistic and at the same time internally differentiated theoretical. models of reality (e.g. “ideal gas” in the context of its molecular kinetic model).

see also Theory, Empirical and Theoretical, Abstract Subject.

Marx K. and Engels F., Works, T. 20, With. 543-44; Kuznetsov I.V., Izbr. works on the methodology of physics M., 1975, With. 30-31; S t s? and V.S., Formation of scientific theory Minsk, 1976, With. 21-56; Sh v y p e in V.S., Theoretical and empirical in scientific knowledge, M., 1978, With. 321-22; 324-54.

Philosophical encyclopedic Dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia.Ch. editor: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov.1983 .

IDEALIZED OBJECT

IDEALIZED OBJECT - an object that makes up the volume of the concept obtained as a result of the act of idealization. Examples of such objects in science are: a point, a straight line - in geometry; material point - in mechanics; ideal gas, absolutely black body - in physics; ideal solution - in chemistry. The introduction of this kind of fictitious, non-existent and unrealizable objects as a subject of scientific research is justified by the fact that, being limiting cases of certain real objects, they serve as the basis for constructing theories that ultimately turn out to be able to describe the patterns of reality. This circumstance is at the same time the criterion that distinguishes these idealized objects from empty, meaningless fictions.

Ideal gas, absolutely black body, etc., which are components of the corresponding physical theories. The introduction of this kind of fictitious, non-existent and unrealizable objects as a subject of scientific research is allowed because, being limiting cases of certain real objects, they serve as the basis for constructing theoretical models that ultimately turn out to be capable of describing reality. In the latter circumstance, one should also see what distinguishes fruitful, scientifically based idealizations from empty fictions.

Philosophy: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M.: Gardariki. Edited by A.A. Ivina. 2004 .

IDEALIZED OBJECT

mental in a knowing way. scientific theories, I. O. serve as the most important means of cognition. activities in science. Theoretical statements like , do not directly relate to real objects, but to I. O., butknow. With which (mental. their understanding in various theoretical schemes and models) allows you to install creatures. connections and patterns that are inaccessible when studying real objects, taken in all their empirical diversity. properties and relationships.

Character I. O. depends on the degree of development scientific knowledge. They highlight I. O., which are formed by idealizing empirical. ideas about objects. However, as a rule, I. O. associated with the possibility of theoretical analysis of the phenomena being studied.

In developed scientific theories are usually not considered dept. AND. O. and their properties, and structures and systems I. O. When constructing and developing theories of I. O. act in the context of a holistic and at the same time internally differentiated theoretical. models of reality (e.g. “ideal gas” in the context of its molecular kinetic model).

Marx K. and Engels F., Works, T. 20, With. 543-44; Kuznetsov I.V., Izbr. works on the methodology of physics M., 1975, With. 30-31; S t s? and V.S., Formation of scientific theory Minsk, 1976, With. 21-56; Sh v y p e in V.S., Theoretical and empirical in scientific knowledge, M., 1978, With. 321-22; 324-54.

Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ch. editor: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. 1983 .

IDEALIZED OBJECT

IDEALIZED - an object that is a component obtained as a result of the act of idealization. Examples of such objects in science are: a point, a straight line - in geometry; material point - in mechanics; ideal gas, absolutely black body - in physics; ideal solution - in chemistry. The introduction of this kind of fictitious, non-existent and unrealizable objects as a subject of scientific research is justified by the fact that, being limiting cases of certain real objects, they serve as the basis for constructing theories that ultimately turn out to be able to describe the patterns of reality. This circumstance is at the same time the criterion that distinguishes these idealized objects from empty, meaningless fictions.

A. L. Subbotin

New Philosophical Encyclopedia: In 4 vols. M.: Thought. Edited by V. S. Stepin. 2001 .

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