Philosophy is the study of the basic ideas about knowledge, right and wrong, reasoning, and the value of things. The study of philosophy helps us to enhance our ability to solve problems, our communication skills, our persuasive powers, while science is valued by society because the application of scientific knowledge helps to satisfy many basic human needs and improve living standards. Finding a cure for cancer and a clean form of energy are just two topical examples. The main similarity between philosophy and science is that they both try to find out about reality, so good philosophers certainly use scientists or their tool e.g. verifying and falsifying claims in physical reality, trying to be coherent, adding up probabilities, etc. Complementary to its role in conceptual clarification, philosophy can contribute to the critique of scientific assumptions, and can even be proactive in formulating novel, testable, and predictive theories that help set new paths for empirical research.
However, Philosophy is not science, for it employs the rational tools of logical analysis and conceptual clarification in lieu of empirical measurement as required in science, this approach, when carefully carried out, can yield knowledge at times more reliable and enduring than science. The main difference between philosophy and science is in the way they work and treat knowledge. Science is concerned with natural phenomena, while philosophy attempts to understand the nature of man, existence, and the relationship that exists between the two concepts. Philosophy does this by using logical argumentation, while science utilizes empirical data.
The Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science? It is concerned with all the assumptions, foundations, methods, implications of science, and with the use and merit of science. This discipline sometimes overlaps metaphysics, ontology and epistemology, viz., when it explores whether scientific results comprise a study of truth. The scientific method in philosophy is limited only in response to questions about human existence while the scientific method in science encompasses all questions about matter. Complementary to its role in conceptual clarification, philosophy can contribute to the critique of scientific assumptions, and can even be proactive in formulating novel, testable, and predictive theories that help set new paths for empirical research.
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