Lectures 2 and 3 Flashcards
What is the central thesis of the Vienna circle?
The central thesis was that science could lead the way out of misery through:
1. Verification: only claims/sentences that can be verified through empirical observations can have any meaning and be true/false
2. Science can offer certainty where metaphysics and religion failed
3. Provide an instrument to rationalize social ordering
What are metaphysics?
Metaphysics are concepts and knowledge that are beyond what we can verify or observe
Name the three different types of epistemology?
- Rationalism
- Empiricism
- Idealism
What is rationalism?
Rationalism states that observation is unreliable, and that therefore, thinking is the basis for all knowledge. We can have a priori knowledge
What is empiricism?
Empiricism states that knowledge can only come from observations.
What are the problems of rationalism?
We need to enter emprirical input ourselves, otherwise rationalism creates theories about nothing.
What are the problems with empiricism?
- We are limited by what we can observe
- Observations can be wrong or we are unable to observe (causality and theoretical concepts are hard to observe)
What is structuration?
The process in which knowledge is formed from sensory experience.
What is idealism?
Idealism states that all knowledge comes from experience and we need an ability to structure those experiences. Observations and sensory experiences and ideas are mixed. Idealism is in between rationalism and empiricism.
What is the problem of idealism?
The problem of idealism is that you do not know where ideas come from. Where ideas comes from is metaphysical?
What is logical positivism?
Logical positivism used the void left behind by idealism. In logical positivism, we observe and rely on logic to develop theories.
It combines observations and logic and gives room to the linguistic turn.
What is the linguistic turn?
Logic can structure observations in a non-metaphysical way. Talk about truth or falseness of statements. Knowledge becomes a priority in language.
Division of all possible statements?
All statements can be divided into 4 different categories, two use logic and two use observation:
1. Logical nonsense (square is round)
2. Logical truth/analytical statement (bachelor is unmarried)
3. Synthetic statement (only known to be true through observation)
4. Metaphysics (things that cannot be verified through observation)
Why is a logical truth also called an analytical statement?
Because we can verify the truth value of such a statement through logical analysis.
Why is a synthetic statement also called the empirical truth?
Because we can only know it to be true through observation.
Which types of the types of all possible statements are used in logical positivism?
Logical positivism only uses logical truth and synthetic statements.
What is logical reducibility?
This is a concept in logical positivism that states that for every statement in a system of knowledge, you should be abloe to go to individual synthetic statements and reality and observe the theoretical law. It should not be considered scientific knowledge if it cannot be observed.
Explain the process from observation to theoretical law.
- We observe a particular phenomena (a marmble rolls) (sensory experience)
- Use collective experience to form a synthetic statement (marbles roll)
- On the basis of a synthetic statement, a generalization can be made (round objects roll)
- You might be able to infer a general law (theory of dynamics)
what is the unity of science ideal?
It states that knowledge is studied on different levels:
1. Core=logic
2. Non-organic (physics)
3. Organic (biology)
4. State of mind (psychology)
5. Interaction (social sciences)
What is the problem of unity in science?
- Theoretical concepts cannot be reduced to observations alone.
- It doens’t meet the criteria of logical reducibility.
What is the intension concepts?
This is a conjunction of general properties that define a concept together
What is the extension of concepts?
This is a set of all the phenomena that a concept refers to.
What are the two problems of logical positivism?
- Some concepts cannot be reduced to observation alone
- Induction logic
How do we solve the first problem of logical positivism: unreducibility through observation alone?
We can do a pragmatic concession and allow theoretical concepts IF:
1. Concepts explain something about facts that is not apparent from observation alone (explanatory power)
2. The use of these concepts leads to the development of new hypotheses to be tested.
How can we solve problem 2 of logical positivism: Induction logic?
We can allow induction logic in building scientific knowledge IF:
1. There is a seperation between observational and theoretical language
2. There is a distinction between statements that are true and statements that are likely to be true
What are the three philosophical conclusions based on the view of Kuhn?
- Truth only exists withing paradigms
- There is no independent criterion to choose between paradigms
- Science is a human activity
