| This question <587|246> overall <217|219> Utegirl: <131|295>. |
| Question 277: Where else should one start science if not with facts? How did Marx himself come to his findings? |
| [218] Utegirl: There would be no facts without science. To find facts scientists use the scientific method. Scientists start with a question or with identifying a problem. Then they create a hypothesis. Once they start collecting data they will find facts, but not necessarily a solution. The scientist will then either confirm or disprove the hypothesis. |
| Marx's work was mostly studying the theories of other scientists and philosophers and deciding whether they were correct or not. He would try to go more in-depth and find missing pieces or the fault of other theories. Marx would also try to understand why the scientist came up with their theory, how they got their information, and what was their main motive and objective for stating their theory. Marx did act as a scientist by researching, observing, and creating theories through the research of others combined with his own. |
| Hans: In your first paragraph you give a definition of science according to which Marx was no scientist, because he certainly proceeded quite differently. Also your second paragraph makes Marx a little less than a scientist: he was someone who reviews the work of others and “decides whether they were correct.” |
| I would argue against this that the kind of reasoning of Marx which we sometimes find odd is an example of the things a social scientist must do who is not a methodological individualist. |
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