Philosophy of Science

Question 1

Methodology:

Answer 1

the set of principles, procedures and rules for conducting a practice

Question 2

Two crucial aspects to science:

Answer 2

1. the generation of scientific theories
2. the testing of those theories

Question 3

3 founding figures of science

Answer 3

1. Francis bacon
2. Galileo Galilei
3. Rene Descartes

Question 4

What type of method did Bacon believe?

Answer 4

an inductive one

Question 5

What type of method did Aristotle believe?

Answer 5

a deductive one

Question 6

What is inference?

Answer 6

a type of logic or reasoning; it is a way of moving from one thought to another

Question 7

Deduction:

Answer 7

if the premises are true, the conclusion is necessarily true

Question 8

Induction:

Answer 8

if the premises are true, the conclusion is probably, but not necessarily, true

Question 9

What are the 4 idols?

Answer 9

1. Idols of the tribe
2. Idols of the cave
3. Idols of the market place
4. Idols of the theatre

Question 10

Idols of the Tribe:

Answer 10

errors generated by human nature

Question 11

Idols of the cave:

Answer 11

individual errors generated from our own personal education, preferences and desires

Question 12

Idols of the market place:

Answer 12

errors derived from our community, especially errors deriving from language

Question 13

Idols of the theatre:

Answer 13

errors that derive from received philosophical systems

Question 14

Scientific knowledge is empirical:

Answer 14

scientific knowledge must be gained through experience

Question 15

What did Bacon put at the heart of science?

Answer 15

observation an experimentation

Question 16

Bacons experimental(inductive) method:

Answer 16

1. It should be conducted by someone in the correct, objective, frame of mind
2. All measurements should (where possible) be made by instruments: objective, rather than subjective measurement
3. It should limit the variables being tested, so that the causes of any observed effects can be unambiguously inferred
4. Any effect should be repeatable under the same circumstances

Question 17

Primary qualities:

Answer 17

those that can be measured and mathematically modelled e.g. mass, length and movement

Question 18

Secondary Qualities:

Answer 18

qualities such as colour, taste, heat(not measured in numbers)

Question 19

Did Hume like induction?

Answer 19

nope

Question 20

Hume’s claim against induction:

Answer 20

Hume claims that we never actually witness the cause linking a cause with its effect, what we see are two separate events that are regularly conjoined (the connection is created by the mind, expectation)

Question 21

Realism(naive):

Answer 21

the inductive method reveals how things really are, in ever greater detail as science progresses

Question 22

Instrumentalism(anti-realism):

Answer 22

inductive knowledge is useful as it allows us to make more accurate/simple predictions

Question 23

Idealism(anti-realism:

Answer 23

the inductive method reveals how our minds process their thoughts

Question 24

What did the theory of relativity and quantum theory prove wrong?

Answer 24

the solid foundations of Newtonian physics

Question 25

Are there secure theories in science?

Answer 25

No

Question 26

Verificationism:

Answer 26

the idea that using a non-psychological language of logic for reporting scientific knowledge could be confirmed as certain through a finite number of steps

Question 27

What methodology did Karl Popper develop?

Answer 27

falsificationism

Question 28

Poppers problem with induction

Answer 28

sufficiency - a theory can never be proved by a finite number of confirming instances. We cannot infer from a finite number of observations that something is definitely the case

Question 29

Is falsification inductive or deductive?

Answer 29

deductive

Question 30

What is falsificatonism?

Answer 30

the theory that we should try to falsify something rather than verify it

Question 31

Model of falsification:

Answer 31

1. Conjecture(creation of a theory 2. Formulate a test to falsify theory 3. Refutation: falsifying result, discard theory OR 3. Non falsifying result: formulate new theory to falsify theory

Question 32

Problem of demarcation:

Answer 32

1. A theory is scientific only if we can formulate a test that could falsify the theory 2. If a theory is falsified then it must be abandoned, not altered in an ad-hoc manner to accommodate the results

Question 33

What is Pseudo-science

Answer 33

anything that pretends to be science but is not

Question 34

Example of Pseudo-science

Answer 34

Creationism - claim that the world is only 6000 years old as derived from the bible

Question 35

Thomas Kuhn popular phrase:

Answer 35

"paradigm shifts"

Question 36

What is a paradigm?

Answer 36

A paradigm is the institutions, background theory, techniques and methods available in a given situation and which support a dominant theory. It is more than just the theory itself

Question 37

Disciplinary Matrix:

Answer 37

Presuppositions, implicitly held by the scientific community: The specialist scientific education a scientist receives Shared (cultural) values between scientists, such as the general preference for mechanistic explanations, over purposive ones Implicit background assumptions Technical research training: use and manufacture of instruments

Question 38

Exemplars:

Answer 38

the successful experiments that training scientists repeat as part of their education

Question 39

What do exemplars suggest?

Answer 39

These exemplars suggest ways in which the paradigm can expand; what would count as new knowledge for the existing paradigm

Question 40

Normal Science:

Answer 40

Routine everyday science

Question 41

Kuhns thoughts on falsificationism:

Answer 41

Kuhn thinks we should abandon falsificationism

Question 42

What provokes a scientific revolution, and paradigm shift:

Answer 42

1) The number of anomalies must become excessive and increasingly hard to ignore, and the paradigm becomes unproductive 2) There must be another viable paradigm 3) There must be a group of people keen to work in the new paradigm

Question 43

Conventionalism:

Answer 43

a scientific theory/model gives us nothing more than an expression of the culture, or society, in which it was formed.

Question 44

Feyerabends problem with falsificationism:

Answer 44

it is often difficult to isolate what part of the theory is false when an experiment does not give the results predicted

Question 45

Critical rationalism:

Answer 45

scientific method has a rational structure, based on being open to criticism

Question 46

Does Feyerabend believe science in rational?

Answer 46

no

Question 47

Feyerabends own view of science:

Answer 47

while anarchism may be a bad political philosophy, it is a good philosophy of science

Question 48

Polemicist:

Answer 48

likes to shock readers

Question 49

Was Feyerabend a polemicist:

Answer 49

yes

Question 50

The positivist or inductivist view of Galileo:

Answer 50

He took the observable facts seriously, and he designed his theories to fit them

Question 51

Did Feyerabend argue that science is a threat to democracy?

Answer 51

yes

Question 52

Difference between narrative knowledge and scientific knowledge:

Answer 52

narrative knowledge - myths, legends, stories scientific knowledge - statements that have truth value

Question 53

metanarratives:

Answer 53

a ‘big story’ that explains the meaning of human life and history,and legitimates all activities

Question 54

enlightenment metanarrative:

Answer 54

the improvement of humankind through the progress of knowledge, with a ‘utopian’ goal

Question 55

Modernity:

Answer 55

the historical period defined by metanarrative legitimation

Question 56

Lyotard defines the postmodern as:

Answer 56

'incredulity toward metanarratives'

Question 57

Paralogy:

Answer 57

beyond or against existing ways of thinking