Beliefs In Society Flashcards
Beliefs in society
.A belief is something that someone holds to be true
.Berger and Luckmann 1967-the social construction of reality beliefs are formed in a context
.these manufactured ‘universes of meaning’ organises and makes sense of experience
.they require reinforcement and legitimisation to be maintained and themselves help to perpetuate the context that constructed them
.in this sense there is a little difference between scientific theories,political beliefs and religious doctrines
.belief systems = ideology
Horton 1970 open vs closed belief systems
Science .knowledge is provisional .open to criticism .challenge through testing Evolving ( conventional view)
Religion .absolute truth .knowledge is sacred .divine authority legitimises .ideological monopoly .fixed .circumvents challenges from different standpoints own believers with “get out clauses” that prevent disproved
.inflexible,conservative and resistant to social change
.led to a decline in religious beliefs secularisation
Debate religion as the open belief system
.some religious haver become more open systems as they are adapting to stay relevant
.Herberg 91960 refers to internal secularisation diluting core beliefs
.E.g the CofE felt the need to push through the vote to allow women bishops in their hierarchy in 2015 or risk becoming out of touch with the rest of society
Science and falsification open belief system
Karl Popper the logic of scientific discovery 1959 science rests on observation and experiment in this sense its ability to objectively test theory is superior to common sense beliefs
Science should be systematic in its testing to disprove theories the pursuit of evidence that contradicts hypothesis if theories can withstand testing they gain acceptance
How ever all we can state is that a theory has not be shown falsify the theory
Theories are modified or overturned falsified claims can be discarded
In practice we will never know with certainty
Merton 1973 the context and ethos of science
Science thrives if supported from other institutions and values
Protestant reformation especially Puritanism and its worldly calling and industriousness
The belief that the study of nature led to an appreciation of gods work encouraged experimentation
Recognised technology could support social welfare
Economic and military institutions endorsed development as values became obvious
Scientific ethos or norms
Goals of increasing scientific knowledge served by (CUDOS)
Communism -all scientists should have common ownership of scientific goods (intellectual property), to promote collective collaboration
Universalism - “the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours
Disinterestedness- scientific institutions act for the benefit of a common scientific enterprise, rather than for the personal gain of individuals within them
Organised scepticism-expresses the idea that the acceptance of all scientific work should be conditional on assessments of its scientific contribution, objectivity and rigor.
The status of science
.The ability to explain, predict and control the world
.Impressive medical and technological achievements
.impacts on the standard of living
.more recent reservations as science has been shown to create an alternative set of problems to the ones that it has sold
Science as a social construction/closed belief system
The sociology of scientific knowledge
.interpretivists all knowledge is socially constructed by groups using the resources available to them
.scientific facts are the product of shared culture that prejudices expectations
.knorr-cetina(1999) new instruments permit scientists to ‘fabricate’ new facts is science ‘real’ i.e lab is highly synthetic
Polyani (1958) Self sustaining belief
Argues science is also a closed theory
3 devices to sustain a system in the face of contradictory evidence
.circularity
.subsidiary explanations
.denial of legitimacy
Polanyi argued in 1958 that all belief systems, be they scientific or religious, reject fundamental challenges in order to sustain themselves. Interpretivists argue that all knowledge is relative and socially constructed, including that which claims to be scientific.
Circularity
Each idea in the system is explained in terms of another
Subsidiary explanations
Explaining away an idea e.g if the oracle fails it may be explained away due to incorrect use of the benge
Self sustaining beliefs
Denial of legitimacy to rivals
Reject alternative worldviews by refusing to grant any legitimacy to their basic assumptions e,g creationism rejects evolutionists knowledge
Thomas Kuhn the structure of scientific revolutions 1962
.views science as socially constructed within scientific communities and rejects the idea that it is based solely on objectivity
.mature sciences are based on shared assumptions-paradigms; frameworks that prioritise which theories to investigate,what methods to use and the data to collect
.socialisation and status is dependant on working within the paradigm
.successful science ‘puzzle solving’ is rewarded research grants and prizes
.mostly scientists conduct normal science that is from within the existing paradigm upon which their careers have been built and to the exclusion of challenging contradictory evidence
The fabrication of facts 2005
Karin Knorr-centina science is not a solid rock observation and measurement not as objective as they are seen to be
Science is a fabrication in the sense that it is constrained by its existing theories and technologies.Thie meaning of evidence is a pre judgement theories direct scientists what to look for and how to see it
The theory of evolution directs scientists to examine fossils to see how they fit into an evolutionary sequence and to look for the missing link
