Goals and Limitations

of Science
 WHAT IS SCIENCE?

SCIENCE IS THE PURSUIT AND APPLICATION OF

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF NATURAL AND
SOCIAL WORLD FOLLOWING A SYSTEMATIC METHODOLOGY
BASAED ON EVIDENCE. IT IS A BRANCH OF KNOWLEDGE OR
STUDY DEALING WITH A BODY OF FACTS OR TRUTHS
SYSTEMATICALLY ARRANGED AND SHOWING THE
OPERATION OF GENERAL LAWS.

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 THE GOALS
OF SCIENCE

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 Science aims to explain and
1 understand
• Science as a collective
institution aims to produce
more and more accurate
natural explanations of how
the natural world works,
what its components are,
and how the world got to be
the way it is now

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 Science aims to understand certain
2 phenomena
• One of the main goals of
science is to understand
and also explain the
phenomena in our
universe, showing the
mechanics and laws that
regulate these
phenomena.

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 3 Science aims to make predictions

• Besides explaining the

phenomena, science
aims to predict events
based on natural laws.

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 Science aims to develop new technologies
4 and applications for the knowledge

• The knowledge produced

by scientific inquiry can be
used for practical purposes.
Such as new technology or,
in the case of social
sciences, public policy.

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 Science aims to discover true
5 knowledge
• Science focuses on evidence,
reproducible results, prediction
and precision of theory. It stands
in opposition to flawed methods
like convention or conspiracy, or
being swayed by sentimental
generalities or relativism.

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 THE LIMITS
OF SCIENCE

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 Science does not make moral
1 judgements
• Science helps us
describe how the world
is, but it cannot make
any judgements about
whether that state of
affairs is right, wrong,
good or bad.

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 Science doesn’t make aesthetic
2 judgements
• Individuals make those
decisions for
themselves based on
their own aesthetic
criteria.

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 Science doesn’t tell you how to
3 use scientific knowledge
• Individuals make those
decisions for
themselves based on
their own aesthetic
criteria.

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 Science does not draw conclusions
4 about supernatural explanations
• Questions that deal with
supernatural explanations
are, by definition, beyond
the realm of nature – and
hence, also beyond the
realm of what can be
studied by science.

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 The knowledge acquired by science is
5 partial and provisional
• Although science
accumulates knowledge
and is progressive, the
more we know, the more we
ignore. We have to learn
how to define the limits of
our real capacity to obtain
reliable knowledge.

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THANK YOU!