Science and Social Science

An Introduction

Where did science come from?

Science is not something that we can call as extraordinary, neither is its current
evidence from the result of an extraordinary birth. Just like the social activity of a
parental role in a family, the children or in this case we can call it as offspring will
find their own characteristics though some of it may have retained from its parents. If
we felt mesmerized by the term of science, implicitly we will feel mesmerized of
ourselves too. The long history of science is not just simply talking about
extemporaneous speaking of a relationship of human beings with nature, but it is
actually more like the relationship of a scientists with their theories, also scientists
with society.

With the explanation above, we can conclude that there are three interrelated
characteristics of science. First of all, the relationship between metaphysics and
science. The early ages of science is still considered taboo and mystical, often linked
with religious beliefs about nature creation or the universe itself. Second, the social
position of science. In this society, there are some individuals with power who has the
ability to influence another beings to achieve his/her own goals whether it is directly
or indirectly. And third interrelated characteristics of science is, the cognitive
development of human beings. As we may already know it, scientists and researchers
around the globe has progressively boost their learning capacity and has contribute a
lot through the history of science.

The emergence of unnatural thinking

In the beginning of time, there was most definitely a sense of curiosity, a need to
resolve problems and mostly survival instinct in human beings. Humans learn how to
hunt wild animals, surviving the scorching desert and harsh winter as the earth
climate is not as stable as now. Through the timeline of history, Greeks and Romans
Empire gave most to the society as we know it, they were the experts of predicting the
future. An abstract metaphysical curiosity was the hallmark of growing social
complexity and required a reliable system of measurement; one which, as Tolsoy
notes, provided ‘a continuous running check on the validity of methods’ (Tolstoy
1990: 58).

According to Lewis Wolpert (1992) the foregoing, though evidence of advanced

technological thinking, does not amount to science. He maintains that science
emerged only when there was a separation between what he calls ‘natural’ and
‘unnatural’ thinking. Through this separation, he believes that, first took place in
ancient Greece (Wolpert 1992: xxi).

“Here, for the first time, were general statements about lines and circles – statements
of a kind never made before. They were general statements that applied to all circles
and lines everywhere …” (Wolpert 1992: 37)
In the name of God

With the decline of Classical Greek civilization and the early beginning of Roman
Empire scientific endeavor declined, at least in Europe. It continued to grow in the
eastern part of the world which is the Muslim world, despite that, another advances
were made, specifically in mathematics of algebra. While it flourishes immensely in
the eastern side of the world, it did not apply to the west side of the world.
Nevertheless, there are still some advancements by the metaphysical basis of science
in the early Christian civilization and the rose of social structure from the Christian
hegemony. The power of Christian Church’s from all of many different view such as
spiritual, ideological, and political has successfully affects to variety aspects of life.

The rise of social science

Had it not been for the success of the science and its resulting technology, inspired
by Newton and his followers, studies of the social world might have taken on a very
different character, at least initially. Thinkers from the seventeenth century (in
particular) such as Thomas Hobbes and Giambattista Vico had emphasized the
‘voluntaristic’ nature of human beings (Manicas 1987: 28).

So what is science?

In conclusion, this chapter has taught us many different aspects of science and the
fact that science is not just wholly interpreted by nature, society or prevailing
philosophical beliefs but what has been called as science is the product of a dynamic
interrelationship of metaphysical, social and cognitive factors.