Epistemology-lec 2 Flashcards
Epistemology
is the study of the conditions under which a subject’s beliefs count as
knowledge. The central traditional view on this matter is that a belief counts as knowledge iff
(read ‘if and only if’) it is both justified and true.
the ‘tripartite’ or ‘JTB’ account of
knowledge:
S knows that p iff S has a justified true belief that p.
(where the right hand side is treated as prior in order of explanation to the left)
Realism about scientific theories (scientific realism)
is the view that a scientific theory is
correct iff the entities it posits really exist and really have the properties the theory assigns
them, and the phenomena the theory seeks to explain really do unfold the way they do
because of these entities behaving in the ways the theory describes. (For example, if you are a
scientific realist, you will think that the particle model of light is correct iff there really are particles which have
the properties the theory lays down, and light really does behave the way it does because of the interactions the
theory predicts between these particles and the environment.)
Anti-realism about scientific theories (scientific anti-realism)
is the view that the standards of
correctness for a scientific theory are exhausted by factors to do with the accuracy with which
it predicts the phenomena we can actually observe.
the truth of a statement
If the truth of a statement is understood as a correspondence between what the statement says
and what the world is like, scientific anti-realism involves denial that the correctness of a
scientific theory requires the truth of the theory’s constituent statements. But some scientific
anti-realists reject this view of truth.
correspondence theory of truth
is the view that a statement (or a sentence or a
belief) is true iff it corresponds to the facts.
Anti-realism with denial of the correspondence theory of truth
Someone taking this kind
of view maintains that the correctness of a scientific theory requires the truth of its constituent
statements, but denies that truth requires correspondence with some truth-making fact.
Alternatives to the correspondence theory of truth
The coherence theory: p is true (relative to background body of beliefs B) iff adding p to B raises B’s overall coherence (and/or subtracting p from B would reduce B’s overall coherence)
Verificationism: p is true (relative to our means of proof) iff p is provable by these means
Coherentist anti-realism
the correctness of a scientific theory requires the coherence of its
constituent statements
Verificationist anti-realism
the correctness of a scientific theory requires that all of its
constituent statements be proven
Anti-realism with acceptance of the correspondence theory of truth, but denial that the
correctness of a scientific theory requires the truth of its constituent statements.
The best-
known view of this kind is constructive empiricism (van Fraassen’s view). This is the view
that
a) statements of what is observed by us, or what would be observed by us if we were in the
right place at the right time, are correct iff they are true; and
b) a scientific theory is correct iff it generates right predictions as to which of these statements
are true in an appropriately economical way
Arguing for realism
The central traditional argument for scientific realism is the argument from the success of
science (the ‘no miracles’ argument):
1 Our best scientific theories are profoundly successful. They match past and current
observations; they accurately predict future observations; they enable us to make extremely
reliable and sophisticated causal interventions in the world.
2 By far the best explanation for this success is scientific realism.
So
3 Scientific realism should be accepted
inference to the best explanation
An inference to the best explanation (also called an abductive argument) is an argument of form
X; the best explanation for X is Y; therefore Y.
constructive empiricism
Definition A theory is ‘empirically adequate’ iff its predictions match past and potential
observations.
Views of the
correctness conditions
for scientific theories
Realism - the theory’s
constituent statements
must be true, and truth is
correspondence with the
facts
Anti-realism - the
theory’s consituent
statements need not
correspond with any
facts
With denial of the
correspondence theory
of truth
- coherentism
-verificationism
With acceptance of the
correspondence theory
of truth
Constructive
empiricism
Philosophical tools 1 – Inference to the best explanation
An inference to the best explanation (also called an abductive argument) is an argument of form
X; the best explanation for X is Y; therefore Y.
constructive empiricism
Definition A theory is ‘empirically adequate’ iff its predictions match past and potential
observations
