It's often been asked if philosophy is a science; if so, to what extent; and what the relationship is between philosophy and the other sciences. To find answers to these questions, we must define science. The first thing that comes to mind when we think of science is a system of knowledge. But this system has some special characteristics. To identify these, let's examine the goal of science. Actually, science has two goals. It should satisfy a need of the mind and make human life better. This need of the mind is the instinct of curiosity, the passion to know. But in the end, science always has – if not for its explicit aim, then at least as its consequence – the improvement of the material conditions of existence, for advances, even in theoretical matters, often result in an improvement in human life. Science achieves these two goals by a single means – explanation. Through explanation, the instinct of curiosity is satisfied in the most complete and perfect way possible. To know what the facts of a given case are brings us immediate pleasure, but to know why they exist – to understand them – brings a satisfaction of a higher order. Science should be seen as a struggle between intelligence and things. Depending upon whether intelligence wins or loses, it is satisfied or suffers. Intelligence is happiest when it can seize in its entirety the thing it studies, understand it, and, so to speak, make the thing its own.