Publication Details

Abstract

In the paper mutual determination and mediation of the empirical and theoretical as two inevitable parts, two reciprocally linked phases of the reproduction cycle of scientific konwledge are analyzed. The empirical component grows out of the practice, it takes over its objective content from practice and is permanently mediated through theoretical knowledge and practical-spiritual activity. In the second half of the paper the idea is stressed that science cannot be looked at as an isolated system, closed in itself. Scientific knowledge is continual interaction with other elements of culture of a given period. Rise and development of the empirical and theoretical cannot be explicated correctly without taking into account broader social-cultural context of scientific cognition, the unity of internal and external factors influencing the rise and development of scientific knowledge.