This article explores the relationship between philosophy and science, emphasizing that the profound questions philosophy addresses are not solved by the scientific method. It discusses that while science provides knowledge, philosophy provides wisdom to humans and plays an important role in the search for truth and the nature of existence.
“As Cicero had already observed, the only thing to be found in the books of philosophers is folly. Certainly, philosophers reject common sense and seek all kinds of wisdom. They are driven by a desire to explore the reason of the world and the nature of human existence, sometimes transcending the boundaries of reality in the process. But many of their philosophical visions rely on the uplifting power of thin air. They sometimes stray too far from reality in their attempts to understand the world. So while science always seems to be making progress, philosophy always seems to be losing ground.
Why does philosophy falter like this? Because the problems that philosophy deals with are profound and complex, such as good and evil, beauty and ugliness, order and freedom, life and death, and so on, which are difficult to solve using the scientific method. These issues cannot be explained in simple formulations, nor can they be proven by precise experiments. Philosophy is an attempt to find answers to the most fundamental questions of human existence, and it is always struggling with uncertainty.
Any field of inquiry that yields knowledge that can be precisely formalized is called science. Science begins with philosophy and ends with technology, and it also flows from the fountain of hypotheses to the ocean of achievement. Philosophy is a hypothetical interpretation of the unknown or imprecise. If philosophy is the front line of the search for truth, and science is the occupied territory, then our lives are the rear safe houses built with knowledge and technology. Science serves to resolve uncertainty and stabilize our lives, but it inevitably leaves philosophical questions in its wake. These questions exist beyond the realm of science’s conquests and remain open to exploration.
Philosophy seems to stand by helplessly, but after handing over the fruits of its triumph to science, it moves on, with a holy discontent, into still unexplored and uncertain territory. Philosophy seeks to find truth in this uncertainty, and finds its meaning in exploring questions that science cannot answer. Questions such as the reason for human existence, ethical standards, the nature of beauty, etc. cannot be solved by the scientific method and require philosophical thought.
Let’s get a little more technical. Science is an analytical technique, while philosophy is a synthetic interpretation. Science tries to break down the whole into parts, the ambiguous into the definite. Science does not explore the value or ideal possibilities of things, nor does it inquire into the ultimate meaning of things as a whole. It is content to reveal the phenomena and behavior of things, and limits its vision to the properties and processes of existing things. The scientist is as intrigued by the leg of a flea as by the creative labor of a genius. But in the course of this inquiry, the scientist inevitably encounters ethical and philosophical problems.
The philosopher, however, is not satisfied with the description of facts. By establishing the relationship between facts and experience, the philosopher seeks to find their meaning and value. Philosophers interpret things synthetically. If a curious scientist takes apart the great clock of the universe, a philosopher tries to put it back together again, better than before. If science is the knowledge to observe processes and devise means, philosophy is the wisdom to criticize and regulate different ends. Facts are meaningless if they don’t relate to ends. Science without philosophy, knowledge without wisdom, will not save us from despair. Science gives us knowledge, but philosophy gives us wisdom. This wisdom can guide us through the ethical, social, and existential issues facing humanity and is essential to our pursuit of true happiness.
