Quasiscience in non-scientific knowledge: structure and evolution

In non-scientific knowledge one can distinguish such kinds of knowledge as extra-scientific, unscientific (being inside science and called quasiscientific) and non-scientific one concentrated around science, which is named parascience or pseudoscientific knowledge. Both quasiscience and pseudoscientific knowledge parasitize on anthropological sense of science: quasiscience simulates sociocultural force, pseudoscientific knowledge tries to imitate science as productive and saving power. Quasiscience is generated as the result of violation of high requirements and norms and ideals of the scientific ethos by some scientists. In such cases violation may be insignificant which generates quasiscience, but in the course of more and more significant deviations from the norms and ideals new kinds of quasiscience appear. Three main types of quasiscience can be singled out. The first type includes works known to be weak in scientific respect and this type can be defined as quasiscientific hack. Spreading of swindling, shobby research and publications provokes further deviation from ideals and norms of scientific investigation and creates a new kind of quasiscience i. e. scientific fraud. Fabrication, falsification and plagiarism are referred to scientific fraud. Under fabrication the creation of a false scientific product is meant. Under falsification the distortion of the scientific product already created by other scientist, distortion of scientific truth and results of scientific experiments or observations is implied. Plagiarism is presentation of the scientific product which has been created by someone else as the scientific product created by the person who presents it at the moment. Quasiscience which begins to be supported by public authorities is evolving into the third type of such phenomenon and becomes ideologised science. In ideolo-gised science quasiscientific hack and quasiscientific fraud receive state justification and qua-siscience itself is transformed in pseudoscientific knowledge.

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