The development of knowledge is closely linked to humanity’s needs in terms of solving various problems. Humans carry out the process of cognition by gathering knowledge while simultaneously developing methods for understanding the reality that surrounds them. This is how they coexist: Knowledge and Science. “The concept of knowledge is broader than that of science, as it encompasses all information acquired by any means, both theoretical and practical.”
Knowledge allows for achieving intended goals more efficiently and effectively, but Science provides something more; it creates opportunities to solve new problems and allows for answering questions whose formulation is conditioned by Knowledge. Science ceases to make sense where daily practice begins, where procedures appear instead of doubts. Experience and the accumulation of knowledge alone do not constitute science; it is the approach to problem-solving that defines it. Science is not a uniform system, nor is it a process; it seems to have the character of a phenomenon. It develops in such a way that it escapes control; successively adopted paradigms are replaced by new ones, although often paradigms that do not find experimental confirmation are not rejected, but merely trigger intensified searches for evidence of their truth. An undoubtedly interesting aspect is the relation of the nature of science to the nature of the world around us, in which, as it turned out as a result of research on elementary particles, determinism is not the only prevailing principle. Equally important for understanding the mechanisms of all things is the stochastic approach. From an intuitive understanding of a concept to its definition, it is necessary to carry out a specific procedure. “We arrive at a concept through multi-faceted stages of approaching reality. Hence, a concept, or the general meaning of reality, is a continuous synthesizing determination of a phenomenon; it enables its cognitive description, classification, and analysis, as well as a synthetic grasp of regularities, dependencies, etc.” This statement belongs to the general methodology of sciences, which emerged from classical logic. On the other hand, specific methodologies “develop detailed methodological concepts, that is, concepts of those types of cognitive procedures that occur only in certain sciences.”
Knowledge, which makes up the methodology of every science, is primary in relation to research processes, because “What methodology can do is provide criteria that allow for the acceptance or rejection of research programs, that is, establishing standards that will help us distinguish the wheat from the chaff.” Methodology is simultaneously the result of research. By combining existing achievements of philosophical methods of thinking with the achievements in a given field and its related fields, as well as with one’s own experience, we make progress – both in a given area of research and in the scope of the methodology of sciences. In the vast majority of cases, we can separate the layer of theory from empiricism only for research and didactic purposes. It is essential for conducting inference to choose a methodology that allows for a proper, from a scientific point of view, presentation of the problem.
In seeking an answer to the question of what logistics deals with, one should refer to the contemporary philosophy of science. But can a clear answer be found there? Economics is a recognized field of science, and yet, writing about contemporary economic thought, Professor Wacław Stankiewicz states: “there is much to indicate that the boundaries of schools and trends are blurred, and that there is mutual penetration of research areas and the use of common research methods and tools. (…) we do not have evidence of the radical replacement of paradigms or research programs, but rather of their interpenetration, evolution, and long periods of coexistence. Methodological pluralism rather favors than hinders the development of economic thought.” Changes in science, in the concepts of its understanding, do not, however, change such facts as the constancy of the basic questions organizing the cognitive effort of science and the unity of scientific knowledge, while maintaining the methodological autonomy of scientific disciplines. Science points to objective laws, which it then transforms into patterns of proper behavior, relating them to specific situations. This is the applied dimension of science, which for some constitutes its value, while for others it is a contamination unworthy of pure – theoretical – sciences. However, all sciences originate from life and therefore relate to it; the application of knowledge, however, is no longer science, but practice.
The article comes from the journal “Logistyka” 1/2009.