Beliefs

Question 1

Science and Ideology

Question 2

What is a belief system?

Answer 2

a set of beliefs that society has about what is right and wrong or true and false.

Question 3

What are other belief systems aside from religion?

Answer 3

Political ideologies: claim how societies should be organised e.g. democracy/ bureaucracy

Scientists: tell us how the world works and how we should behave - enables us to explain/predict and control the world - has face value

Question 4

Open belief system- Science (Popper)

Answer 4

• Says that science is open to criticism and testing (falsification)
• Building on achievements of previous scientists to develop understanding of the world (cumulative)
• Possible for science to be disproved- its not sacred/ claim truth (no absolute truth)

Question 5

Open belief system (Merton)

Answer 5

CUDOS norms promote knowledge and encourage openness
Communism- knowledge is shard with scientific community
Universalism- scientific knowledge is judged by universal/objective criticism
Disinterestedness- seeking knowledge for its own sake
Organised skepticism - every theory is open. to criticism

Question 6

Closed belief system - Religion (Horton)

Answer 6

distinguishes between closed/open systems and claims religion is closed as they make knowledge claims that can be overturned

Question 7

What do closed belief systems have?

Answer 7

‘get out’ clauses that prevent is from being disproved in the eyes of the believers

Question 8

Example of closed belief system

Answer 8

Evans- Pritchard - Azande witchcraft
They believe that witchcraft is at the base of all misfortune and that natural events have natural causes
- EP argues that this system performs useful social functions - prevents grudges & encourages neighbours to act accordingly towards each other

• therefore the belief system is an important social control mechanism ensuring conformity + cooperation

Question 9

What does polanyi suggest about belief systems?

Answer 9

belief systems have 3 devices to sustain themselves in the face of contradictory evidence

Question 10

Can science be a closed belief system (Kuhn)?

Answer 10

Yes- science is based on paradigms and it tells scientists what methods and equipment to use, what will count as evidence and what basic rules of science are.
-if a scientists works in opposition to the paradigm their work is ridiculed and they won’t be taken seriously - except doing periods of a scientific revolution

Question 11

What do interpretevists say about science

Answer 11

argue that scientific knowledge is a social construct - paradigms and theories tell scientists what to think and what they should expect to see meaning findings are subjective
- things that scientists study are removed from the natural world and syudied in labs

Question 12

What does Woolgar argue?

Answer 12

scientists have to persuade the scientific community to accept their interpretations of the world - a scientific fact is simply a shared socially constructed belief

Question 13

What do postmodernists say about science?

Answer 13

reject sciences claims to have the truth. Some argue it has become techno science to benefit capitalist interest by producing commodities for profit

Question 14

What do Marxists and Femenists’ say about science?

Answer 14

serving interest of dominant groups - ruling class or men.

Question 15

Ideology

Question 16

What is an ideology?

Answer 16

worldview set of ideas/values (belief system)

Question 17

What are some of the features of ideology?

Answer 17

• Distorted, false or mistaken ideas about the world or a one sided/ biased view of reality
• ideas that conceal the interests of a particular group
• irrational and closed to criticism

fits into feminist and marxist view as it serves the interest of dominant groups

Question 18

Analysis of ideology

Question 19

Marxism and ideology

Answer 19

• capitalist exploit their workers labour to produce proft
• workers must overthrow capitalism by a revolution and create a classless society (communism). However, revolution cannot until wc become aware of their position
• ruling class prevent class consciousness developing by legitimising capitalism
• Gramsci - believes wc will overthrow capitalism led by organic intellectuals

Question 20

Evaluation of Marxist view of ideology (Althusser)

Answer 20

Revolution is not possible. Althusser - we are not the free agents that humanists think we are and the belief we have free will and choice is an illusion created by the ISA because we are puppets of the system.
There is no way the proletariat could cause a revolution as we are blindsided by what the ISA is teaching us

Question 21

The ideology of nationalism

Answer 21

claims that nations are real communities each with its own unique characteristics
Anderson - a nation is an ‘imagined community’ but nationalism can bind people together and create a sense of common purpose

Question 22

How do functionalists see nationalism?

Answer 22

A secular civil religion that integrates everyone into a single community, regardless of differences such as religion or class

Question 23

How do Marxists see nationalism?

Answer 23

A false consciousness that helps prevent the overthrow of capitalism by dividing the International working class

Question 24

Nationalism as a key feature of modernity

Answer 24

Gellner - industrialisation crates large scale, impersonal societies with a complex division of labour. nationalism uses education to impose a single standard, national culture making communication and economic cooperation possible

Question 25

Wha do feminists say about ideology?

Answer 25

religious beliefs and practises often define women as inferior e.g. menstruating women are regarded as unclean and excluded from rituals.