(N.B. This is the study blog for the
course Theory and Method for Media Technology. More detailed information
regarding the theme as well as the course is available on the course page [1].)
In this blog, I will reflect on all the
efforts I made for the first theme, so this could be seen as a study review
blog.
In order to get a better understanding of
the course, a lot of reading and information search work has been done during
both the preparation and conclusion phases. To be specific, two main texts
recommended by course professor have been thoroughly read and studied, which
are "Critique of Pure Reason" [2] from
Kant, and Plato’s The Theaetetus [3]. Meanwhile,
I also did some research work from the wikis and dictionary with regard to the
key concept and terminology mentioned in the works, which provided me some
interesting hints to think deeper about the theories. On the other hand, more
papers and books written by other authors have also been read and reviewed for
the course preparation as well as the assignments writing. These extra readings
include “From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of Mathematical Astronomy [4]”,
“companion to philosophy of science [5]”, “Science &
the Scientific Method: A Definition [6]”, “Philosophy of
the Cultural Sciences Preliminary draft [7]”,“
Conjectures and refutations [8]”, and so on. In
addition, I also spent some time to discuss the questions from assignment and
the works with my friends who majored in philosophy. They kindly shared their
understandings with me and their words inspired me a lot.
It is a very glad study experience and I
am now proud to say that a much better understanding of the theory regarding
knowledge and science has been learnt during last week. Before this course, I
was always thinking that neither knowledge nor science is a strange word for
most people, especially for the students like me. When we were little, we might
think science more from the view point of natural science, such as biological
science, physical science, earth science, etc. And we might also assume
knowledge as all the useful information which cannot be acquired without
learning. However, a new idea was well received based on this study that
both ‘knowledge’ and ‘science’ are far more than that. Previously I tried to
conclude that the relationship between science and knowledge is illustrated as
shown in Figure 1 [9]. It is simply described that on
one hand science is not same as knowledge; on the other hand ‘scientific
knowledge’ is what matters most for scientific practice. Furthermore, I believe
that knowledge is important to all of us, and science is a useful tool to
enable us getting to understand the world around us. Therefore, I understand
that we must study and employ scientific methods to obtain scientific
knowledge. Yet, I did not think too much on how we acquire knowledge until this
course. It is very good to know that when we try to learn the world, we have to
think about the relationship of objects and our cognition since both of them
are important. It is a good argument from Kant that “objects must conform
to our cognition”, because it is very inspiring at that time and even for now
as well. Departure from this point, a lot of example had been proposed by me
and discussed with others. Some were good examples, while some were not. In the
future, I would like to continue to discover and discuss more if possible. I
believe this is a very good thinking not only for my research career but also
for a better understanding of life itself. This also relates to another
question regarding the perception. For me, life is a journey of perception. All
we can get or learn from our life has to be based on our perception. Therefore,
personally I like the quote “Knowledge is perception” very much. Knowledge is
all the information we learn from life or the world. And yes, everything we
learn is actually the perception. We have to see, to hear, to feel, and so
forth. After that, we can understand, think, believe, etc. As a result, I think
the argument that “we do not see and hear ‘with’ the eyes and the ears, but
‘through’ the eyes and the ears” is very persuasive and reasonable to me.
Again, perception might be more like a tool, and what real matters is the
deeper thinking with mind which enables us gain the knowledge and know the
world. To conclude, I enjoy this study experience much. It makes me not
only think more about knowledge and science, but also understand more about
life. Maybe this is the essence of philosophy, or maybe this is the real
objective for learning.
Figure 1 The Relationship of
Science and Knowledge
That's all for today’s blog.
More information might be added later after further discussion with professor
and classmates if necessary. Thanks very much for your reading. Your valuable
comments are more than welcome.
Sources:
[2] Kant, I.,
& Guyer, P. (1998). Critique of pure reason. Cambridge University Press.
[3] Theaetetus,
by Plato, section §152e
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0171%3Atext%3DTheaet.%3Asection%3D152e
[4] Linton, Christopher M. (2004).
From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of Mathematical Astronomy. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82750-8.
[5] Psillos,
Stathis; Curd, Martin (2010). The Routledge companion to philosophy of science
(1. publ. in paperback ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 129–138. ISBN
978-0415546133.
[6] Bradford, A.
(2015). "Science & the Scientific Method: A Definition." from
http://www.livescience.com/20896-science-scientific-method.html.
[7] Carlshamre,
S. (2014). "Philosophy of the Cultural Sciences Preliminary draft."
[8] Popper, K.
R. (1954). Conjectures and refutations, Minumsa.
[9] Tianzi Wang.
Assignments for course Scientific Method and Research Ethics VT 2015.
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