THE 4 MOST IMPORTANT TYPES OF SCIENCE - SCIENCE - 2025

The types of science that are distinguished today are four: factual sciences, social sciences, natural sciences and formal sciences. The word science (from the Latin «scientia», which means knowledge) refers to the system of rational knowledge that man has obtained through reason and experience in a systematic, methodical and verifiable way.

Science has replaced myth as a way of seeking the explanation of natural phenomena and social phenomena. Thanks to it, the deductive laws and principles that derive from reasoning and observation are known as human activities that were always present, but without a systematic and verifiable form.

It is the result of an activity based on the application of the scientific method to an object or situation. To do this, follow the steps of formulation, hypothesis, testing and return to theory.

In this way, science is understood as rational, systematic, verifiable and reliable knowledge that has given a turn to history and human thought.

The application of reasoned knowledge and the scientific method led to the acquisition of new paradigms that predicted in a concrete and quantitative way the present and future actions.

These can be formulated through reasoning and structured through general rules or laws that account for the behavior of phenomena.

Throughout history, different ways of typifying and classifying science have been proposed. One of the first attempts was made by Auguste Comte. However, today they are classified on a broader and more general scale.

- Factual Sciences

Also known as empirical sciences, they are those that aim to understand a fact or phenomenon. These sciences create mental or artificial representations of the facts of reality. In this way it makes use of logic.

The students of science and the scientific method are based on natural facts of an observable nature and from there, they develop knowledge.

Some authors suggest that the factual sciences fall into two groups. The first is social science; sociology, economics and political science. The second is the natural sciences: biology, physics, chemistry…

However, these fields are usually separated from the factual sciences as they are considered as autonomous types.

- Social Sciences

The social sciences affirm that human behavior is not adjusted to scientific laws, as if it occurs with natural phenomena.

The social sciences are often limited to deducing probabilities derived from research and quantitative analysis of the frequency with which social events occur.

Social scientists argue that natural phenomena have little influence on human behavior. Par excellence the fields of study of the social sciences are usually: sociology, psychology, political science and history, among others.

The social sciences delve into societal variables such as freedom, oppression, rules, political system, and beliefs. In this way, they analyze the types of organization and probabilities of future events.

One of the most significant tasks of the social sciences consists of self-reflection and criticism of scientific activity. Which contributes to its development, as it questions it and imposes ethical limits that could undermine human integrity.

- Natural Sciences

They use the hypothetical deductive method. The natural sciences are nourished by rational reflection and observation of reality. Unlike the social sciences, in these sciences events are determined by laws.

The applicable rules or laws of the natural sciences obey the principle of cause and effect. What they allow them to be totally predictable.

The application of the hypothetico-deductive method is elementary, since it starts from observation to formulate a hypothesis, then deduces its consequences and, finally, checks with experience.

Within the natural sciences, chemistry, veterinary medicine and physics, among others, are framed. The natural sciences have universal validity, therefore they are often used to predict and anticipate the phenomena that occur in nature.

- Formal sciences

They are the sciences that start from the ideas formulated by the human mind. They employ the axiomatic-inductive method par excellence, which refers to the fact that their axioms or statements do not demonstrate or can contrast reality.

Its validity is located in the field of the abstract, unlike the natural sciences that are located in the field of the concrete. These sciences appeal for their validation to the rational analysis of knowledge.

They are also called self-sufficient sciences, by virtue of which they can reach the truth from their own content and testing methods. Within the formal sciences, there are mathematics and logic.

The formal sciences are based on the study of analytical ideas and formulas that are validated by rational analysis.

Comte's classification

Auguste Comte is considered one of the fathers of positivism and sociology, which he actually called "social physics". Comte made a classification that was later improved by Antoine Augustin in 1852 and by Pierre Naville in 1920.

For Comte, the sciences had entered a “positive” state and this required a hierarchical and generalized classification. In this way he ordered the sciences in:

• Maths
• Astronomy
• Physical
• Chemistry
• biology
• Sociology

At the time of the classification, sociology was not seen as a scientific discipline, however, Comte justifies it by stating the following:

Although Comte's classification model was valid for a long time, today the model used is the one described above.

References

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2. Ernest, N. (2006) The structure of science. Publisher: Paidos Ibérica. Spain.
3. Encyclopedia of Classifications. (2016) Types of science. Recovered from: typesde.org.
4. Montaño, A. (2011) Science. Recovered from: monografias.com.
5. LosTipos.com, writing team. (2016) Types of science. Educational Gazette. Recovered from: lostipos.com.
6. Sánchez, J. (2012) Science. Publisher: Díaz de Santos. Mexico.