SCIENTIFIC RATIONALITY IN THE ERA OF AXIOLOGICAL RELATIVISM

Abstract

Scientifi c rationality from the 17 to 19 century has passed a sequence of classical, nonclassical and
postnonclassical stages of its development (V. S. Stepin). At each of these stages it variously interacted
with the norms and values of the era. Classical scientifi c rationality of the 17–19 centuries, even in the
strict mathematical version, included “beauty“ as a universal aesthetic value. Interaction of nonclassical
and postnonclassical rationality with intra- and extra values during the 1970-2010s has reached
a new level: science itself is seen as a “value system“ (A. Maslow), and axiology should be the basis of
the philosophy of science (A. P. Ogurtsov). However, axiology itself fi nd itself today in a situation of
theoretical pluralism and value relativism. Th erefore, only rationality in General, as an eff ective activity
of the mind, and the value of truth of the spirit, interacting in a single philosophical rationality, can
constitute a methodological basis for the development of the philosophy of science and axiology in the
twenty-fi rst century. Refs. 16.

Keywords:

science, rationality, value, axiology, philosophy, reason, relativism