ABSTRACT
Philosophy of science can be divided historically into two main schools: positivism and historicism. Positivism holds that theoretical reason should be separated from practical reason in science. Philosophy of scientific practice can be generally divided into three approaches: the hermeneutic, the new experimentalist, and the embodied cognition approach. The embodied cognition approach stresses on the mechanisms and functions of cognitive practice in building knowledge. A new hermeneutic theory of practice is proposed regarding functions of scientific reason in philosophy of science by taking scientific practices as a starting point. This theory re-examines classical issues in philosophy of science, such as explanation, confirmation, the relation of science and value, and theoretical changes of science. Traditional philosophy of science regards theory as prior to experiment and observation in science, which is considered as meaningful only in theoretical context. The description of theory provides a scope for explaining observation in the construction and operation of experiment.
