| Description of the Structure of Philosophy of Science|

| Philosophy of Science |
| Puthut J. Buntolo |

Philosophy of science

ontology

epistemology

axiology

how is science gained

scientific method (research; begins with a problem)
paradigms/approaches
quantitative

qualitative

positivism

phenomenology

experiment & non-experiment

(correlation, ex post facto, etc.)

content analysis, introspective

& retrospective, grounded
theory, ethnographic study, etc.

deductive reasoning

inductive reasoning

hypothesis-testing verification

hypothesis-generating

context of justification

context of discovery

coherence theory of truth

correspondence theory of truth

science (scientific truth): answers to questions

philosophy: questions to answersas mater scientiarium

Philosophy is the study of the nature, reasons, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values,
based on logical reasoning. The original meaning of the word philosophy comes from the Greek
roots philo meaning love and Sophos meaning wisdom. Science is a systematic knowledge
of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation. The word
science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning knowledge. So, Philosophy of science is the
study, from a philosophical perspective, of the elements of scientific analysis. Philosophy of
science can also be viewed as a way of describing how research is conducted, and a way of
deciding how it should be carried out.

Based on the structure above, Philosophy of Science has three aspects of questioning; ontology
(What is studied in science), epistemology (How is science gained), and axiology (What is the
science for).

Ontology, deals with the scientific truth that has two kinds of objects; they are material object
and formal object. Axiology deals with the moral values that the science gain when the research
has done. It is used to find the ultimate benefits for humans, not to find the ultimate truth.
Epistemology, discusses how the science is gained through the scientific method, that is
research which begins with a problem. It relates to the scientific method used in a research by
starting with identifying a problem. In conducting a research, the problem is then tried to be
solved by using paradigms or approaches, whether quantitative or qualitative. These two
approaches have different perspectives.

The quantitative approach is based on positivism or a natural phenomenon and its properties
and relations as verified by the empirical studies. It has two types; Experiment and NonExperiment, such as Correlation, Ex Post Facto, etc. It emphasizes objective measurements

and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls,
questionnaires, and surveys. While the qualitative approach is based on phenomenology in
which the researcher investigates the problem from some indicators made by the objective of
science. The typical types of this approach are content analysis, introspective and
retrospective, grounded theory, ethnographic study, as the method of gaining the data. After
the data is gained, the researcher needs to interpret the data.

Quantitative approach uses deductive reasoning (from general to specific) whereas qualitative
uses inductive reasoning (from specific to general). Quantitative approach contains a
hypothesis which tests verification of the phenomena being investigated, in the context of
justification and has coherence with theory of truth because quantitative approach is basically
a hypothesis testing process. While in the qualitative approach the hypothesis gained from the
result of the study is for generating the phenomena in the context of discovery. Eventually, the
hypothesis plays role in a correspondence theory of truth.

The approach/paradigm used, whether quantitative or qualitative, along with the ontology and
axiology, results in answers to questions related to science (the scientific truth). A research is a
cycle process. It happens to come to the start again if there is other problem to be solved. In other
words, as mater scientiarium, philosophy leads to question to answers, therefore, science
continues to work in cycle.