HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
OF SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION
Scientific activity has persisted because:
it has improved quality of life
has satisfied human needs for creative work,
a sense of order and
the desire to understand the unknown
The construction of nursing theories is the formalization of attempts to
describe, explain, predict or control state of affairs in nursing
HISTORICAL VIEWS OF THE NATURE
OF SCIENCE
To formalize the science of nursing, basic questions must be considered:
What is science, knowledge and truth?
What methods produce scientific knowledge?
THESE ARE PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS.
EPISTEMOLOGY – concerned with the theory of knowledge in philosophical
inquiry.
The particular philosophical perspective selected to answer these questions
will influence how scientists perform scientific activities, how they interpret
outcomes and even what they regard as science and knowledge
Two competing theories of science:
◦ RATIONALISM
◦ Rationalist epistemology emphasizes the importance of a priori reasoning as
the appropriate method for advancing knowledge
◦ A priori reasoning utilizes deductive logic by reasoning from the cause to an
effect or from a generalization to particular instance
◦ Theoretical assertions derived by deductive reasoning are the subjected
to experimental testing to corroborate the theory
◦ This approach is theory-then-research strategy
◦ If the research findings fail to correspond with the theoretical assertions, additional
research is conducted or modifications are made in the theory and further tests are
devised otherwise, the theory is discarded in favor of a alternative explanation (Gale,
1979; Zetterberg, 1966)
◦ Example : to reason that a lack of social support (cause) will result in hospital readmission (effect).
Two competing theories of science:
◦ EMPIRICISM
◦ The empiricist view is based on the central idea that scientific knowledge
can be derived only from sensory experience
◦ Bacon believed that scientific truth was discovered through generalizing
observed facts in the natural world
◦ the inductive method
◦ the collection of facts precedes attempts to formulate generalizations
◦ the research-then-theory strategy.
◦ Example: formulating diagnosis
◦ The strict empiricist view is reflected in the work of
the behaviorist Skinner.
◦ In a 1950 paper, Skinner asserted that advances in the
science of psychology could be expected if scientists
would focus on the collection of empirical data
◦ He cautioned against drawing premature inferences
and proposed a moratorium on theory building until
further facts were collected
Early 20th Century Views of Science and Theory
◦ 1st half of the century:
◦ Philosophers focused on the analysis of theory structure, whereas
scientists focused on empirical research
◦ minimal interest in the history of science, the nature of scientific discovery,
or the similarities between the philosophical view of science and the
scientific methods
◦ Positivism, a term first used by Comte, emerged as the dominant view of
modern science (Gale, 1979).
◦ Modern logical positivists believed that empirical research and logical
analysis (deductive and inductive) were two approaches that would
produce scientific knowledge (Brown, 1977).
◦ The logical empiricists offered a more lenient view of logical positivism and
argued that theoretical propositions (proposition affirms or denies something)
must be tested through observation and experimentation (Brown, 1977).
Emergent Views of Science and Theory in the Late Twentieth
Century
◦ In the latter years of the twentieth century, several authors presented
analyses challenging the positivist position, thus offering the basis for a
new perspective of science.
◦ Foucault (1973) published his analysis of the epistemology (knowledge)
of human sciences from the 17th to the 19th century.
◦ His major thesis stated that empirical knowledge was arranged in
different patterns at a given time and in a given culture and that
humans where emerging as objects of study.
◦ In The Phenomenology of the Social World, Schutz (1967) argued that
scientists seeking to understand the social world could not cognitively know
an external world that is independent of their own life experiences.
◦ Phenomenology, set forth by Edmund Husserl (1859 to 1938) proposed that
the objectivism of science could not provide an adequate apprehension of the
world (Husserl 1931, 1970).
◦ A phenomenological approach reduces observations or text to the
meanings of phenomena independent of their particular context. This
approach focuses on the lived meaning of experiences.
◦ One of the major perspectives in the new philosophy emphasized
science as a process of continuing research rather than a product
focused on findings.
◦ In this emergent epistemology, emphasis shifted to understanding
scientific discovery and process as theories change over time.
STRUCTURE OF NURSING
KNOWLEDGE
Four kinds of theoretical works
◦ PHILOSOPHY
◦ Sets forth the meaning of phenomena through analysis, reasoning and
logical argument or presentation
◦ Early works that predate or introduce the nursing theory era have
contributed to knowledge development by providing direction or forming a
basis for subsequent development
Four kinds of theoretical works
◦ NURSING CONCEPTUAL MODELS
◦ Comprises the works of grand theories or pioneers in nursing
◦ Provides a distinct frame of reference for its adherence..that tells them
how to observe and interpret the phenomena of interest to the
discipline
◦ The nursing models of these grand theories are comprehensive and
include their perspective on each of the metaparadigm
concepts :people, environment, health and nursing
Four kinds of theoretical works
◦ NURSING THEORIES
◦ Derived from works in other disciplines and related to nursing from
earlier nursing philosophies and theories, from grand nursing theories
or from nursing conceptual models
◦ Less abstract than a grand theory but not as specific as middle range
theory
Four kinds of theoretical works
◦ MIDDLE RANGE THEORIES
◦ Narrower focus yet and is much more concrete than grand theory or
nursing theory in its level of abstraction
◦ More precise and focus on answering specific factors such as age
group of the patient, the family situation, the health condition, the
location of the patient and most importantly, the action of the nurse
◦ Address the specifics of nursing situations within the perspective of
the model or theory from which they derived.
Nursing Paradigms
Are patterns or models used to show a clear
relationship among existing theoretical works in
nursing.
The Metaparadigms of Nursing
1. Person- the recipient of nursing care like individuals, families,
and communities.
2. Environment- the internal and external aspects of life that
influence the person.
3. Nursing- interventions of the nurse rendering care in support of,
or in cooperation with the client.
4. Health- the holistic level of wellness that the person experiences.
