The Synergy in Science and Technology: An Investigation into the History of the Philosophy of Science

Abstract

What this paper sets out to investigate is the nature of the relationship between science and technology today. The relationship between science and technology is akin to the contentious relationship between knowledge and production, theory and praxis, or idea and progress. The history of the philosophy of science records two models of this relationship: the “liberal” and the “materialist” models. The liberal model holds that idea leads the way; that idea comes first and then it is put into practice. The materialist model, deriving from Marxism, holds that in their relationship, practice leads the way and idea follows (Gibbaons, 99). This paper considers these two models out-moded and proposes the synergistic model. The synergistic model, a via media between the liberal and the materialist models, holds that science and technology today are symbiotic and mutually re-enforcing. It holds that science and technology are interacting more closely, exchanging relevant information, insights, and theories. It holds that science and technology are mutually illuminating, stimulating and bolstering up each other.