SOCIOCULTURAL ANALYSIS IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Abstract

The contemporary analysis of science is impossible without taking into account sociocultural characteristics. Philosophy of science suggests the comprehensive analysis according to three main directions: a methodological direction, a sociological direction, and a socio-cultural direction. Two last directions allow to take into consideration influence socio-cultural factors have on scientific knowledge.

The sociocultural aspect of researching science contains studying it as a social phenomenon, as a collective and social process first of all. Realizing a social need in sociocultural researches of science was caused by a necessity to describe the most important social functions of science in a separate independent shape. This approach allows to distinguish a number of typical phenomena and science categories which enable an adequate opportunity to explain its social qualities. The comprehending of results of a sociocultural approach contains also using a culturological analysis of science. It is worth noting that such approach had been formed in Kant’s philosophy and in philosophy of Schiller who was a Kant follower in terms of developing philosophical ideas but it had been disregarded by a philosophical community till the middle of the 20th century. In a number of modern philosophical conceptions, the sociocultural is defined even more broadly and is corresponded to the actual concept. The presented research will also help to designate the feature of the articulation of “knowledge/society” in the modern philosophical and culturology conceptions. Peculiarities of producing scientific knowledge are caused by corresponding characteristics of a science object.