The adjective scientific is applicable to a type of knowledge and a methodology. On the other hand, if there is a scientific method and knowledge, this implies that certain knowledge and methods are on the fringes of science and, therefore, are pseudoscientific or unscientific.
The origin of scientific knowledge
The first element of any scientific knowledge is the use of human reason with an approach away from opinions, prejudices or ideas based on mythological stories. The first who raised the need to develop scientific knowledge were the Greek philosophers from the lV century BC. C. Its purpose was to reach the truth about reality and this truth had to be objective and reliable.
Rational knowledge or logos must have three fundamental premises: the propositions must not be contradictory to each other, the statements must be derived logically from consistent propositions (supported by experience) and the statements must refer to empirical or theoretical questions, but not fictitious entities . From these general principles the subsequent articulation of the different concrete sciences (biology, mathematics, medicine, social sciences and a long list of knowledge) was possible.
The cientific method
The scientific method consists of a work procedure ordered in a series of steps through which an attempt is made to explain specific facts.
When science became more and more complex, it became necessary to design a reliable path that guarantees true knowledge, and this path is known as the scientific method.
The scientific method as we know it appears from the seventeenth century. They were thinkers like Bacon and Descartes, who laid the foundations of the method, the first the inductive method and the second the deductive method.
The inductive is based on the observation of a series of facts in order to perceive the regularities that they present and on experimentation.
The deductive method does not start from observation but is based on initial hypotheses that are subsequently contrasted by the reality of the facts (if the hypothesis is confirmed by reality, it becomes a law and a set of laws form a scientific theory).
Pseudoscientific knowledge
All that knowledge that does not comply with the principles of scientific knowledge and that does not respect a scientific methodology is considered as pseudoscientific knowledge. The list of pseudoscientific knowledge is extensive (astrology, alchemy, feng shui, homeopathy, numerology, etc.).
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