Introduction

Marxism provides a coherent understanding of the philosophy of science. According to the materialist view all our ideas come not from heaven or some special realm of thoughts but from the world we live in. This is as true of science as it is of religion or anything else. Marx's view was more subtle than that of deterministic materialism in that he saw how our ideas did not simply reflect the real world passively, but that they could consciously shape our environment in order to satisfy our needs.

Science, however, is different to other forms of thought because, in contrast to religion, it can discover and make sense of the way the world behaves. Newton's theory of gravitation, for example, was not just an idea in Newton's mind -- it contained at least a partial truth that allowed humans to explain and control a whole range of phenomena, from the falling of apples to the motion of planets. Science is not a fixed methodology but a developing process, nevertheless two prominent features can be identified:

• scientific ideas are not to be taken on trust, but are open to rational disagreement and debate
• scientific theories must be tested in practice, modified and corrected where necessary.

Of course this scientific ideal is rarely matched by reality, but there is a strong contrast between the scientific method and the way religious ideas are developed. With religion there is an emphasis on faith -- i.e. the unquestioning acceptance of dogma. Many of the ideas cannot be tested in practice (how can you tell whether you go to heaven when you die?) and those religious ideas which can be tested usually fail that test (the world was not made in seven days!) The two features of scientific thought (above) help to explain the enormous advance that science made over its predecessors. It has been a vital ingredient in a process that has extended the understanding and control of humans over every aspect of our environment.