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Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the [[scientific method]], as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research.

Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research. The [[scientific method]] is widely taught as describing how knowledge is acquired, but historians and philosophers and sociologists of science have long recognized that it is not so simple; see for example "Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method" by Henry H. Bauer, University of Illinois Press 1992.

Science is based on the ontological position of [[Empiricism]], which states that knowledge must be based upon observable phenomena that are both testable (their valididty can be falsified) and repeatable (another researcher, working under the same conditions, can produce a similar result). Science is not to be confused with [[Materialism]], the view that the material realm is all that exists. As a rule, science does not discount the existence of non-observable phenomena, however since theories concerned with such matters are not falsifiable they are not amenable to empirical investigation, and are therefore not topics that science addresses.

Science is based on the ontological position of [[Empiricism]], which states that knowledge must be based upon observable phenomena that are both testable (their valididty can be falsified) and repeatable (another researcher, working under the same conditions, can produce a similar result). Science is not to be confused with [[Materialism]], the view that the material realm is all that exists. As a rule, science does not discount the existence of non-observable phenomena, however since theories concerned with such matters are not falsifiable they are not amenable to empirical investigation, and are therefore not topics that science addresses.