---
title: "Outline of science"
chunk: 2/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_science"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:27:54.489612+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Alchemy is the historical study of what is now associated with chemistry. It was accepted as a science until the end of the 17th century.
Astrology is a method used in ancient and medieval times to study the social sciences through physical phenomena.
Cosmogony is the study of Earth's origins through divine creation.
Natural history is the historical name for study of subjects that are now associated with biology.
Natural philosophy is the historical name for study of subjects that are now associated with physics and astronomy.

== Philosophy of science ==

Philosophy of science encompasses the questions, assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science.

Anti-realism is the opposition to scientific realism. Anti-realists believe that scientific theories cannot be objectively true or that they do not correlate to objectively real phenomena.
Antiscience is a criticism and rejection of modern science and the scientific community.
Denialism is the rejection of scientific facts that conflict with one's previous beliefs.
Empiricism is the belief that truth is obtained from sense experience. Empiricists believe that science is a systematic and detailed application of common everyday thought and inquiry.
Constructive empiricism is the belief that scientific theories can be true but successful testing does not affirm their truth.
Logical positivism is an empiricist school of thought that was developed in Europe by the Vienna Circle in the 20th century.
Operationalism is an empiricist school of thought developed by Percy Williams Bridgman in 1927. It holds that all terms used in science must correspond to an observational test.
Verificationism is the empiricist belief that testability and verifiability must be possible for a claim to have meaning.
Evidentialism is the belief that a claim should only be accepted if there is evidence supporting it.
Fallibilism is the belief that no claim can ever be known with absolute certainty. The term was defined by Charles Sanders Peirce.
Holism is the belief that individual scientific claims cannot be understood without also considering related claims, as it is only a network of claims that allows scientific prediction. This argument, the Duhem–Quine thesis, was developed by Willard Van Orman Quine as a response to logical positivism by adapting the philosophy of Pierre Duhem.
Instrumentalism is the belief that science should be used as a guide predict phenomena without presenting it as a means of finding truth.
Normal science is a system defined by Thomas Kuhn which described science in a given field as beginning with a paradigm shift that emerges from a new theory.
Pragmatism is the belief that claims should be accepted based on value rather than evidence.
Realism is the belief that true scientific theories can describe existing phenomena instead of merely hypothetical phenomena.
Reductionism is the understanding of phenomena through fundamental causes and explanations.
Relativism is the belief that knowledge cannot be understood objectively, but in relation to other forms of knowledge.
Reliabilism is the belief that a fact is considered knowledge when it is derived from reliable methods.
Science studies is the blending of perspectives and theories on scientific study to create a holistic understanding of science.
Scientism is the belief that science should go beyond mere explanation and become the guiding force in society.
Skepticism is the belief that unproven or widely-accepted beliefs should be questioned.

== Scientific community ==

The scientific community encompasses scientists, their interactions, and their influences on one another.