Scientific experiment is the historical origin of united theory and practice

Evidence

One might say that the typical unitary process of reality is found here in the experimental activity of the scientist, which is the first model of dialectical mediation between man and nature, and the elementary historical cell through which man puts himself into relation with nature by means of technology, knows her and dominates her. There can be no doubt that the rise of the experimental method separates two historical worlds, two epochs, and initiates the process of dissolution of theology and metaphysics and the process of development of modern thought whose consummation is in the philosophy of praxis. Scientific experiment is the first cell of the new method of production, of the new form of active union of man and nature. The scientist-experimenter is also a worker, not a pure thinker, and his thought is continually controlled by practice and vice versa, until there is formed the perfect unity of theory and practice. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1586

Categorization

• DEFINE: Specifies what ‘philosophy of praxis’ consummation means via the experimenter as model.
• XREF: connects to: Interpretation of experiments depends on the history of their implementation — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1956