On The Rationality Of Science

The scientific rationality has all along been the key problem in scientific philosophy. However traditional scientific rationality can not contain the modern science which expands increasingly swiftly and violently. In the age of large-scale science, the more people recognize the great social function of science, the more they want to study what science may'and should become during its development influenced by human being. This requires that systematic explanation and interpretation should be made in advance about the importance, the goal, the means of science, its possible prospect and consequence, its risks and cost, etc. At the same time a good many conception changes caused by science desiderated to be pondered over and researched. Therefore it constitutes a contemporary question how to regard and evaluate modern science thoroughly and carefully.This thesis reviews the history of scientific rationality from ancient Greece to post-modern times. It analyzes from the angle of axiology the tendency from logical empiricism to scientific realism via historicism of science. The meanings of rationality is expounded after the discussion of the relation of rationality and reason. It is pointed out that rationality is an appraisal concept which expresses the connection between excuse and criterion. The criteria and content of rationality vary with history, society and culture, but the variance is restricted by the unity of laws and aims.The evaluation criteria of scientific rationality are both the result of the understanding of science plus the practice in science and the reflection of human value criteria. Science is not only the instrument but also the goal of human survival and development, it becomes the carrier of the loft human ideal of "the true, good and beautiful". The ceaseless progress and perfection embodies the growth and consummation of humankind. The pursuit of science is in a sense the seek of freedom.Hereby the relevancy of science to "the true, good and beautiful" is deeply demonstrated step by step, and the evaluate principles of the three values are expatiated respectively. The "true" of science can only be perpetually convergent The criteria of "true" include the verifiability, the rigorousness of logic, the function of explaining the causation, the ability to forecast. The "good" does don't mean the kindness and vice of theory itself, but the social problem manifested by responsibility during the scientific exploration. The criteria of "good" include beneficial result, benevolence, humanity and the harmony with nature. The "beauty" can be taken as attaining the state of freedom in which one appreciates himself to the fullest extent on the basis of pursuing truth and good. The criteria of "beauty" include briefness, concordancy and creativity.The scientific rationality is affected by factors both inside science and out of it, which represents some relevant characteristics. The subject of evaluation is not the purely biological body but the entity of reason and sensibility. The evaluation concerns the needs and interests, will and feeling, which is called relativity. Nevertheless, the value of science is unitary with regard tothe mankind as a whole although it is diversified in the light of the individual. The appraisal of scientific rationality is the unity of the diversification with the unification. The criteria of "the true, good and beautiful" which vary with certain social and historical conditions. Science is a subsystem of the society, its external rationality is the demand of the social dynamics while the inner part stems from its independency.The scientific rationality provides actual inspiration for us to treat the relation between humanism and reason, seeking truth and concerning practice, science culture and humanity culture, which are tentatively considered at the end of this article.