Science and philosophy are two fields of knowledge creation that are often confused with each other.

Philosophers and scientists are often taken simply as experts of everything and nothing, intellectual authorities on any subject, and this blurs the boundaries between their functions. Next, we will see exactly what distinguishes science from philosophy and what are its fields of action.

Main differences between science and philosophy

These differences are very basic and general , and it should be taken into account that both science and philosophy are very broad and diverse fields of knowledge, so it is not always easy to generalize about them.

However, in global terms all forms of science have a series of characteristics in common that bring them closer to each other than to philosophy, and the same is true of the latter discipline.

1. one wants to explain reality, the other manipulates ideas

Philosophy, unlike science, does not depend on empirical contrasts. This means that while all the work of scientists revolves around whether their hypotheses and theories are confirmed by experience, philosophers do not need to make these kinds of contrasts to develop their work.

This is because scientists try to find the basic mechanisms by which reality works, while philosophers focus more on investigating the relationships between certain groups of ideas on the basis of basic theoretical assumptions.

For example, the work of René Descartes developed from an exercise in logic: there is a subject, because otherwise he could not think of himself.

2. One is speculative and the other is not

Philosophy is basically based on speculation, to a greater or lesser degree, while science, although it also incorporates a certain degree of speculation, limits the power of this through empirical contrasting. That is to say, in the latter those ideas and theories that do not fit with what is observed and do not explain things as well as others, are no longer used, since they are considered to have reached a dead end.

In philosophy, on the other hand, it is possible to take for granted any theoretical starting point (however crazy it may seem at first) if it allows to create a map of ideas or a philosophical system that is interesting from some point of view.

3. Philosophy deals with morality

Science tries to answer questions, not to point out which ethical positions are best. Its task is to describe things in the most objective and aseptic way possible.

Philosophy, on the other hand, has incorporated the theme of ethics and morality for thousands of years. It does not only deal with building knowledge; it also tries to answer questions about what is right and what is wrong .

4. They answer different questions

Science asks very specific questions that are formulated in a very careful way. In addition, it tries to use very clear and specific definitions in the vocabulary it uses, so that it is clear whether a theory or hypothesis is fulfilled or not.

Philosophy, on the other hand, asks much more general questions than science , and usually uses much more difficult to define concepts that, in order to be understood, first require knowledge of the philosophical system to which they belong.

5. They have different needs

In order for science to develop, a lot of money must be invested in it, as this kind of research is very expensive and requires very expensive instruments, such as special machines or a staff of people who spend several months working in coordination to answer a very specific question.

Philosophy, on the other hand, is not so expensive , but instead requires a social climate in which it is feasible to initiate certain types of philosophical research without suffering censorship. Moreover, since philosophy is not usually as applied as science, it is not easy to earn a salary these days.

6. One has given way to the next

Science has emerged from philosophy, since in the beginning all forms of knowledge were a mixture of systematic empirical contrast, philosophy and myth.

This is clearly seen, for example, in the way of thinking typical of Pythagorean sects, which investigated mathematical properties while attributing an almost divine character to numbers and linking their existence to that of an afterlife in which disembodied souls hypothetically inhabit (since mathematical rules are always valid, regardless of what the matter does).

The split between science and philosophy occurred after the Scientific Revolution , at the end of the Middle Ages, and since then it has been developing more and more. However, it has never become totally autonomous from philosophy, since the latter watches over the epistemological conditions of the discoveries that are made and the conclusions that they allow to be reached.

Bibliographic references:

  • Blackburn, S., Ed. (1996)The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
  • Bunnin, Nicholas; Tsui-James, Eric, eds. (2008). The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Popkin, R.H. (1999). The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. New York, Columbia University Press.
  • Rutherford, D. (2006). The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy. Cambridge University Press.
  • Super, Elliott. (2001). Core Questions in Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall.