Trigger words: science (3) sciences Science
Indicator sentences: I think that the center of you argument is your opinion on what science is, and this does not agree with the accepted definition of what a science is.
Negotiation parts: Philosophy is a science. Mathematics is a science. Engineering is an application of physical and chemical sciences. Software engineering is an application of computer science. From a different angle; how is the unsolvability in the general case of the halting problem, and its proof not science? I guess I would need to know how you're defining science then. In my mind, science is defined by empirical knowledge gained through some kind of experimentation. What alternate definition do you propose? "Science" has had different definitions throughout the history of the word. Originally, it meant "knowledge" (from the Latin "scientia"). More recently, the common definition has shifted to refer to the *acquisition* of knowledge, rather than to the knowledge itself. However, you still encounter the older definition when people say things like, "It's more an art than a science" (i.e., it is achieved through intuition, not through knowledge). In addition to that change in definition, the word has become increasingly exclusive and nuanced in recent decades. By strictest modern usage, it refers to fields of study that are built upon empirical observation and the scientific method. But you still see older definitions of the word in terms like "library science" and "political science". "Computer science" appears to be an offshoot of this. I think you have this reversed. Science is a branch of philosophy, as is mathematics. Science was born from philosophy, but since then science has become much broader, and philosophy more specialized. The wikipedia article on [natural philosophy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy) is a good read if you have the time. Although, I admit my initial statement of philosophy being a science is inaccurate. The areas of philosophy that I am familiar with are related to experimental philosophy, which can fit under the science umbrella. I wrongly assumed that other areas philosophy would also fit in, but many of them don't satisfy falsifiability and so aren't science. That was a good read, thank you. This is my current view as well.
Trigger words: Computer Science (4) CS (2) Computer scientists
Indicator sentences: Sure, but I would argue that that's not CS, especially when you think about 'pure' computer science.
Negotiation parts: CS Curricula often contain things that aren't pure CS. Math majors often take classes about applications of the math they're learning. Those classes aren't pure math, they're taken because of math's practical applications. What I'm arguing is that the things we consider pure CS are not a science. [STA-CITE]> From the outside you see a lot of test tubes and trials, but all these trials and experiments really are is busywork to verify that the theories and the mechanisms that biologists are researching are valid. Computer scientists do the same thing through constructing their own digital mechanisms either for algorithms, computer security, etc. [END-CITE]The difference is how they go about verifying their hypotheses. Alice is a biologist, who thinks ABC is the cause of phenomena DEF. Bob is a computer scientist who believes that the XYZ conjecture is true. Alice devises an experiment to see if she is right. Her results will verify her hypothesis. Bob devises a proof (or counter-proof) of the XYZ conjecture. No experiment was ever done. That's the important difference for me. You don't experiment in CS, you prove. And that in my mind makes it not a science, it makes it a math. Do you do CS research? Because unless a **ton** of us who call ourselves CS people aren't actually CS people then you are wrong. Go read a bunch of CS papers and you will find loads of experiments. Absolutely loads of them. Some conferences are more "proofy" and some conferences are more "experimenty" but go check out some papers in ICSE or ICST (a testing conference! so much for the idea that testing isn't CS) or CHI (the list goes on and on) and you will see lots of experimental work. I don't doubt you, but could you give me some examples of the type of papers that involve experiments? I gave the ICST website a cursory glance but I couldn't find where they're hiding their papers. What sorts of things in CS require experiments? I'm on mobile right now so I'll send some later. I'll try to grab them where they aren't pay walled. Thanks