SCIENCE AT WORK: THE TRUE METHOD OF STUDYING BY LUÍS ANTÓNIO VERNEY

Abstract

The advance in scientifi c knowledge transformed the epistemology of science itself. The positivist conception, according to which science is a number of objective, universal and eternal knowledge, run by immutable laws and extracted from reality by way of a precision methodology, has confronted some criticisms from scientifi c communities which involve diff erent reconfi gurations. This study approaches science from the thought of Luís António Verney (1713-1792) in his work “The True Method of Studying” (1746). The text is to analyze how science is presented in Verney’s work as a support for the reformulation of the Portuguese education system in the 18th century, at the same time as it dialogues with the emerging conceptions of science in
19th century Europe and with the Catholic religious tradition that marked the author’s upbringing. The text is a
bibliographical review with a theoretical basis. As a result, we see that the internal aspects of the work reflect the socioeconomic and cultural contexts of Europe, in line with Verney’s religious background. It concludes that the educational project conceived for Portugal was born from the coexistence of philosophy, science, and religion.