Philosophy and Humanity

It is possible to read many articles comparing natural sciences with social sciences. I have not come across a comment that states that this fundamental distinction of science is "the analysis of the universe that we find ready in front of us, and the analysis of variables related to humans that we have created and that have emerged only in the limited space of the Earth."

Human beings, being a part of both nature and the social environment they have created, stand at the intersection of both sets. They are the creators of both types of science. In other words, humans are right in the middle of a rich fountain of knowledge created by intense curiosity.

While trying to explain the experiences gained throughout history and beginning to produce knowledge, man sets out with philosophy. While seeking answers to questions such as why, how, where, where to, etc., he questions the foundations and reasons of his existence. He has to wait hundreds of years to find answers to this questioning. He can reveal the greatest intellectual power during the waiting process by creating philosophy. Humanity paves the way to laboratories, test tubes, measuring instruments, and statistical methods with philosophy. And with the Enlightenment, it experiences an explosion.

Although philosophy is perceived as a field where very abstract concepts are defined, it acts as the main pillar of finding, discovering, inventing and creating the concrete. Natural events or social phenomena that develop, change or are discovered cannot emerge without philosophy.

The spirit of science is hidden in the definitions and concepts of philosophy that seem abstract. Martin Heidegger does not like the philosophy created by humanity. Because the concept of "being" was not defined at the beginning. In Being and Time (Sein und Zeit in German and Being and Time in English), he describes the "baseless" foundations of Western philosophy in his own interpretation.

While humanity questions the reasons for the experiences it has, it throws the variables of daily life into the laboratory of philosophy. In the laboratory of philosophy, it defines and conceptualizes daily experiences. In other words, it discovers the spirit of each variable through philosophy. Then, it offers the concepts to the use of science. It also reveals the relationships of those concepts with other variables and thus turns the abstract into the concrete. Therefore, the definitions and concepts perceived as abstract are actually very concrete.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Thinker-sculpture-by-Rodin

Years and centuries pass and with newly accumulated experiences, concepts that have been defined before are taken into care in the philosophy laboratory again. Humanity is in search of finding new things or explaining the things it has just noticed. Those "things" turn into concepts and this time form the basis of other variables to be discovered or invented. Science progresses in this way and continues its long adventure.

In 1784, Kant came onto the scene with his article What is Enlightenment? (German: Was ist Aufklärung? and English: What is Enlightenment?). In the article, he talks about freedom of thought and individuals who can think independently. He states that at the time he wrote the article, we were in a period that was not enlightened but was becoming enlightened. Discoveries follow one another. New variables are defined in every branch of science. Philosophy is always making a continuous contribution to this process in the background.

The enlightened man, together with the industrial revolution, begins to use enlightenment to dominate nature. Different perspectives are needed in social sciences and economics. The process of creation and destruction inherent in human nature changes dimension with enlightenment. On the one hand, man creates, on the other hand, he destroys.

Before the enlightenment, small-scale struggles reached large dimensions with the enlightenment. The slavery system that existed in history gained a new definition with imperialism. Advances in natural sciences either redefine the relationships between variables in the social sciences that emerged or lead to the emergence of new social sciences.

Science progresses, humanity is enlightened. In the background, philosophy is always there. It is constantly turning the abstract into the concrete and back into the abstract, creating new concretes. Humanity is right in the middle of natural and social sciences. It is a part of both.

The tremendous movement of science is intertwined with the creation and destruction movement of humanity. Without philosophy, science cannot create, it cannot progress. Without philosophy, there is no progress in science. Without man, there is no science, or without science, there is no man.

The enlightened man enters into a struggle for dominance with nature. The enlightened man fights more, exploits more. There is a contradiction. Without this contradiction, there is no movement.