Meaning of "working out"

Question

The philosophical outlook seemed to find its confirmation in science, and science provided materials for the development and working out in detail of the philosophical outlook.

Materialism and the Dialectical Method - Maurice Cornforth

I find some meaning of "work out" in the dictionary but I don't know which one fits best. Could you tell me what "working out" means in the context?

Answer 1

In this context, "working out" means gradually showing, empirically (through science), that philosophical truths can be realized by understanding physical truths. Without more textual context, it's difficult to understand what Cornforth's own view is. He's neither a materialist nor an empiricist, and he opposes the reduction of philosophy to science. So my sense is that he's presenting the view in the sentence you quote, not because he agrees with it, but because he's going to show how/ why the view is wrong. The use of the word "seemed" supports this, since it implies that the relationship between science and philosophy may have appeared to have been what the sentence describes, but that he's going to argue that that's not actually the case.