5. How Does Knowledge Evolves Flashcards
What is falsification
.way to refute theories, concept that scientific theories should be structured in a way that makes them testable/ open to réfutation
.associated with Karl Popper
.underlines the importance of disproving rather than proving theories
Ex of Thompson and the ‘spasmodic views of social History with falsification
. Thompson’s theory: social violence and Roots among poor are driven by hunger: when food prices exceed a certain threshold
. Critics of Thompson (he showed how his theory is not good to illustrate falsification): violence does not consistently appear in historical sources, even during instances where food prices surpasses thé thresholds so theory fails, hunger alone cannot explain violence
.alternative explanation to explain non violence: moral economy (communities’ shared expectations about fairness in eco transaction) + Linked to relative (percieved inequality) vs absolue deprivation (hunger): percieved inequality= stronger motive
In practice what falsification forces us to think? Ex of democratic peace theory
How would WE know if WE are wrong?
Ex: claim: démo do not engage in War - falsification criterion: finding even one instance of conflict btwn démo would disprove thé theory
Challenges to falsificationism
A. Auxiliary assumption: (Duhem/ Quine thesis)
. SC hypothèses cannot bé tested in isolation, thé dépend on background assumptions
.if a theory appeared falsified, it might be due to errors in thèse auxiliary assumptions rather than in thé theory itself
.ex: testing planetary orbites relies on assumptions abt thé completeness of astronomical knowledge
Ex: Newton’ s theory: thé irregular orbite of Uranus seemed falsify Newton’ s theory of planetary motion BUT thé discovery of Neptune accounted for thé anomaly showing that thé theory remianed valid with additionnal data
B.stickiness of théories:
. popper’s admission: in some case it may bé better to retain a theory despite apparent falsification esp when thé falsifications are minority or explainable by revising auxiliary assumptions
.weinberg’s observation: excessive modifications to a theory to fit data might make it less crédible
C.test situations nas erroneous prédictions:
. Apparent falsifications maya Rise from flaws in thé expérimental setup or incomplete data, rather than thé core theory itself
.difficulty in decisively ruling out a theory
What is a paradigm
A compréhensive methodological framework that defines research objets, methods, and assumptions and remains unchallenged until a crisis arises
