Klasyfikacja nauk

Abstract

The article begins with the critique of the neopositivist classification of sciences and concludes with a presentation of an improved classification. In the critical part it is shown that the neopositivist classification of sciences into empirical and formal sciences is double- faulted: firstly, there are no formal sciences, and thus mathematics does not consist of analytic propositions, secondly, physics - treated as the most developed empirical science - is not “empirical” in the sense that is commonly assigned to the word. It is argued that there exist two traditions of empirical research: one is connected with medicine and was first codified by Aristotle; the other appeared with the ancient astronomy and was described by Plato in Timaeus. The above-mentioned remarks allow not only to reject the neopositivist classification, but also to construct a much better classification based on Plato’s idea.