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We are now once again taking a new step. The idea of a theory of science has not yet satisfactorily come about in every way through the thoughts so far, whether we were abiding by the standpoint of a science of reality, or that of science in general. In defining formal logic, our attention was directed toward the composition of sciences and theories. And, theories were systems of propositions in which the characteristics of things (Sachen) came to meaningful expression in terms of being and state, in terms of arguments and conclusions. The theories rested on individual propositions, and every proposition expressed a state of affairs within the respective domain. For this reason, the theory of forms and theory of laws of propositions and of relations of inference among propositions had at the same time, in a correlative conception, the character of a theory of forms and laws of states of affairs, therefore, of a formal ontology. And, likewise, the real categories and the accompanying laws stated something about the things, not in terms of mere form, but of content.We quickly notice, though, that in scientific discourse, and even in that finding expression in scientific treatises, not all concepts and propositions have reference to things in this manner—expressing their formal or real nature. Subjectivity also finds expression in the sciences and determines the meaning of many propositions. Only were we to restrict ourselves to the purely mathematical disciplines, and even to the formal ones, could we fail to see this. In these disciplines, only exceptionally does it happen that anything other than objective theoretical concepts and propositions is expressed. It is different in the natural sciences. There, subjectivity enters into the sphere of scientific discourse on a broad scale.

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-6727-3_4

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