Reflexive debate on use of philosophy in scienctific research
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Date
2020-06-01
Authors
Muchanga, Manoah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ARC
Abstract
How should philosophy be used in scientific research? is the question addressed in this paper. The
aim of this desktop research was to critically contribute to the already ongoing debate around the use of
philosophy in scientific research and to propose a user friendly framework on how to integrate philosophical
decisions with methodological decisions. This paper argues that the content and length of a research does not
make it scientific, but its philosophical foundation and related methodologies. It also shows that use of
philosophy in research is not merely a recitation, repetition and dumping of borrowed words, but a reasoned
and careful re-contextualization of philosophical assumptions to apply them to one’s own research thesis.
There is also no such a thing as epistemological and ontological monovalence because there are many ways
of creating and understanding reality and, moreover, which paradigmatic framework is ‘better’ partly
depends on the research question(s) one seeks to answer. Only if we understood each philosophy and its
assumptions, would we be in a better position to challenge them and, reflexively think differently.
Description
Keywords
Scientific research , Epistemology , Ontology
Citation
Muchanga, M. (2020). Reflexive Debate on use of Philosophy in Scientific Research. International Journal of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education. Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 208-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349- 0381.070600, www.arcjournals.org