Philosophy of Science Flashcards
Methodology:
the set of principles, procedures and rules for conducting a practice
Two crucial aspects to science:
- the generation of scientific theories
- the testing of those theories
3 founding figures of science
- Francis bacon
- Galileo Galilei
- Rene Descartes
What type of method did Bacon believe?
an inductive one
What type of method did Aristotle believe?
a deductive one
What is inference?
a type of logic or reasoning; it is a way of moving from one thought to another
Deduction:
if the premises are true, the conclusion is necessarily true
Induction:
if the premises are true, the conclusion is probably, but not necessarily, true
What are the 4 idols?
- Idols of the tribe
- Idols of the cave
- Idols of the market place
- Idols of the theatre
Idols of the Tribe:
errors generated by human nature
Idols of the cave:
individual errors generated from our own personal education, preferences and desires
Idols of the market place:
errors derived from our community, especially errors deriving from language
Idols of the theatre:
errors that derive from received philosophical systems
Scientific knowledge is empirical:
scientific knowledge must be gained through experience
What did Bacon put at the heart of science?
observation an experimentation
Bacons experimental(inductive) method:
- It should be conducted by someone in the correct, objective, frame of mind
- All measurements should (where possible) be made by instruments: objective, rather than subjective measurement
- It should limit the variables being tested, so that the causes of any observed effects can be unambiguously inferred
- Any effect should be repeatable under the same circumstances
Primary qualities:
those that can be measured and mathematically modelled e.g. mass, length and movement
Secondary Qualities:
qualities such as colour, taste, heat(not measured in numbers)
Did Hume like induction?
nope
Hume’s claim against induction:
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)
Realism(naive):
the inductive method reveals how things really are, in ever greater detail as science progresses
Instrumentalism(anti-realism):
inductive knowledge is useful as it allows us to make more accurate/simple predictions
Idealism(anti-realism:
the inductive method reveals how our minds process their thoughts
What did the theory of relativity and quantum theory prove wrong?
the solid foundations of Newtonian physics
Are there secure theories in science?
No
Verificationism:
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
What methodology did Karl Popper develop?
falsificationism
Poppers problem with induction
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
Is falsification inductive or deductive?
deductive
What is falsificatonism?
the theory that we should try to falsify something rather than verify it
Model of falsification:
- Conjecture(creation of a theory
- Formulate a test to falsify theory
- Refutation: falsifying result, discard theory
OR - Non falsifying result: formulate new theory to falsify theory
Problem of demarcation:
- A theory is scientific only if we can formulate a test that could falsify the theory
- If a theory is falsified then it must be abandoned, not altered in an ad-hoc manner to accommodate the results
What is Pseudo-science
anything that pretends to be science but is not
Example of Pseudo-science
Creationism - claim that the world is only 6000 years old as derived from the bible
Thomas Kuhn popular phrase:
“paradigm shifts”
What is a paradigm?
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
Disciplinary Matrix:
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
Exemplars:
the successful experiments that training scientists repeat as part of their education
What do exemplars suggest?
These exemplars suggest ways in which the paradigm can expand; what would count as new knowledge for the existing paradigm
Normal Science:
Routine everyday science
Kuhns thoughts on falsificationism:
Kuhn thinks we should abandon falsificationism
What provokes a scientific revolution, and paradigm shift:
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
Conventionalism:
a scientific theory/model gives us nothing more than an expression of the culture, or society, in which it was formed.
Feyerabends problem with falsificationism:
it is often difficult to isolate what part of the theory is false when an experiment does not give the results predicted
Critical rationalism:
scientific method has a rational structure, based on being open to criticism
Does Feyerabend believe science in rational?
no
Feyerabends own view of science:
while anarchism may be a bad political philosophy, it is a good philosophy of science
Polemicist:
likes to shock readers
Was Feyerabend a polemicist:
yes
The positivist or inductivist view of Galileo:
He took the observable facts seriously, and he designed his theories to fit them
Did Feyerabend argue that science is a threat to democracy?
yes
Difference between narrative knowledge and scientific knowledge:
narrative knowledge - myths, legends, stories
scientific knowledge - statements that have truth value
metanarratives:
a ‘big story’ that explains the meaning of human life and history,and legitimates all activities
enlightenment metanarrative:
the improvement of humankind through the progress of knowledge, with a ‘utopian’ goal
Modernity:
the historical period defined by metanarrative legitimation
Lyotard defines the postmodern as:
‘incredulity toward metanarratives’
Paralogy:
beyond or against existing ways of thinking
