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CHAPTER 2 History and Philosophy of Science 15

(Brown, 1977). Although philosophy has been docu- additional research is conducted or modifications
mented as an activity for 3000 years, formal science are made in the theory and further tests are devised;
is a relatively new human pursuit (Brown, 1977; otherwise, the theory is discarded in favor of an
Foucault, 1973). Scientific activity has only recently alternative explanation (Gale, 1979; Zetterberg, 1966).
become the object of investigation. Popper (1962) argued that science would evolve more
Two competing philosophical foundations of sci- rapidly through the process of conjectures and refuta-
ence, rationalism and empiricism, have evolved in tions by devising research in an attempt to refute new
the era of modern science with several variations. ideas. For example, his point is simple; you can never
Gale (1979) labeled these alternative epistemologies prove that all individuals without social support have
as centrally concerned with the power of reason and frequent rehospitalizations since there might be one
the power of sensory experience. Gale noted similarity individual that presents with no rehospitalization. A
in the divergent views of science in the time of the single person with no social support that does not have
classical Greeks. For example, Aristotle believed that a readmission disproves the theory that all individuals
advances in biological science would develop through with a lack of social support have hospital readmis-
systematic observation of objects and events in the sions. From Popper’s perspective, “research consists
natural world, whereas Pythagoras believed that knowl- of generating general hypotheses and then attempting
edge of the natural world would develop from mathe- to refute them” (Lipton, 2005, p. 1263). So the hypoth-
matical reasoning (Brown, 1977; Gale, 1979). esis that a lack of social support results in hospital
Nursing science has been characterized by two readmission is the phenomena of interest to be refuted.
branching philosophies of knowledge as the discipline The rationalist view is most clearly evident in the
developed. Various terms are utilized to describe these work of Einstein, the theoretical physicist, who made
two stances: empiricist and interpretive, mechanistic extensive use of mathematical equations in developing
and holistic, quantitative and qualitative, and deductive his theories. The theories Einstein constructed offered
and inductive forms of science. Understanding the an imaginative framework, which has directed research
nature of these philosophical stances facilitates appre- in numerous areas (Calder, 1979). As Reynolds (1971)
ciation for what each form contributes to nursing noted, if someone believes that science is a process of
knowledge. inventing descriptions of phenomena, the appropriate
strategy for theory construction is the theory-then-
Rationalism research strategy. In Reynolds’ view, “as the continuous
Rationalist epistemology (scope of knowledge) empha- interplay between theory construction (invention) and
sizes the importance of a priori reasoning as the testing with empirical research progresses, the theory
appropriate method for advancing knowledge. A priori becomes more precise and complete as a description
reasoning utilizes deductive logic by reasoning from of nature and, therefore, more useful for the goals of
the cause to an effect or from a generalization to a science” (Reynolds, 1971, p. 145).
particular instance. An example in nursing is to reason
that a lack of social support (cause) will result in hos- Empiricism
pital readmission (effect). This causal reasoning is a The empiricist view is based on the central idea that
theory until disproven. The traditional approach pro- scientific knowledge can be derived only from sensory
ceeds by explaining hospitalization with a systematic experience (i.e., seeing, feeling, hearing facts). Francis
explanation (theory) of a given phenomenon (Gale, Bacon (Gale, 1979) received credit for popularizing
1979). This conceptual system is analyzed by address- the basis for the empiricist approach to inquiry. Bacon
ing the logical structure of the theory and the logical believed that scientific truth was discovered through
reasoning involved in its development. Theoretical generalizing observed facts in the natural world. This
assertions derived by deductive reasoning are then approach, called the inductive method, is based on the
subjected to experimental testing to corroborate the idea that the collection of facts precedes attempts to
theory. Reynolds (1971) labeled this approach the formulate generalizations, or as Reynolds (1971) called
theory-then-research strategy. If the research findings it, the research-then-theory strategy. One of the best
fail to correspond with the theoretical assertions, examples to demonstrate this form of logic in nursing