METHODOLOGY OF HISTORICAL ANALYSIS IN CONTEMPORARY NATURAL SCIENCES

Abstract

Background. The purpose of the article is to analyze the methodology of the historical approach in contemporary natural sciences and to determine its role in explaining the genesis, transformation, and future development of natural systems. The study aims to reveal the epistemological significance of historicism as a principle that combines objectivist scientific aspirations with the historical and cultural conditioning of scientific knowledge.

Methods. The research is based on an interdisciplinary methodological framework that combines historical, philosophical, comparative, and hermeneutic approaches. Special attention is paid to the meta-reflexive dimension of scientific inquiry, in which the history and philosophy of science are considered mutually connected fields. The article applies comparative analysis to examine radical constructivist interpretations and more moderate methodological positions concerning the stability and transformation of scientific concepts. Historical geography, historical ecology, and historical landscape studies are used as examples of interdisciplinary fields in which historical analysis performs explanatory and system-forming functions.

Results. The study substantiates that historical analysis in the natural sciences should not be understood merely as a descriptive reconstruction of past natural states. Instead, it is interpreted as a methodological instrument capable of identifying causal relationships, revealing the genesis of natural processes, and integrating temporal and spatial dimensions of scientific analysis. The article highlights the importance of the Ukrainian philosophical tradition in the development of historical and scientific methodology and demonstrates its contribution to overcoming purely descriptive models of historiography. It is also argued that, despite changing socio-cultural and institutional contexts, scientific concepts maintain a degree of continuity and relative stability, enabling cumulative scientific development.

Conclusions. The article concludes that historicism functions as a fundamental methodological principle in contemporary natural sciences. It provides a holistic understanding of nature by connecting the study of past processes with the interpretation of present conditions and the forecasting of future transformations. The historical approach strengthens the explanatory and prognostic power of the natural sciences, facilitates the integration of knowledge from diverse disciplines, and enables researchers to identify long-term trends in the evolution of environmental systems. The study demonstrates that combining temporal and spatial analysis creates new opportunities for interpreting complex natural phenomena and for developing scientifically grounded strategies for environmental assessment and prediction.