Problem 5: science

Question 1

demarcation

Answer 1

boundaries between science and pseudoscience

Question 2

when is something a pseudoscience

Answer 2

-when it is not scientific
-the main proponents want to create the impression that it is scientific

Question 3

time bound-demarcation

Answer 3

-science can change over time
-science is heterogeneous
-science itself is not flawless
–> therefore demarcation is difficult

Question 4

plato jtb

Answer 4

for something to form knowledge it must be: true, be believed and justifiable

Question 5

3 processes in science

Answer 5

-deduction: general to specific
-induction: specific to general
-abduction: looking at conditions + outcome and concluding that there must be causation (neighbour bought yarn –> he must have a cat)

Question 6

analytic truth

Answer 6

true by definition (dog is a mammal)

Question 7

synthetic truth

Answer 7

true because of evidence

Question 8

truisms

Answer 8

true because it is very obviously true

Question 9

axioms

Answer 9

part of truism, truth that we do not have to check to know, 2+2 = 4

Question 10

determinism

Answer 10

all events in the universe have a predetermined cause

Question 11

scepticism

Answer 11

being sceptic of everything

Question 12

parsimony

Answer 12

when faced with two or more claims, the one with the fewest unconfirmed properties is seen as the most compelling

Question 13

falsifiability

Answer 13

to prove something, look for counter evidence, if something is falsifiable, it is not true

Question 14

truthiness

Answer 14

the degree to which a claim can ‘feel’ true without any good reason to believe it is true

Question 15

what method does science use to check the quality of the science

Answer 15

peer review, pseudoscience does not use this

Question 16

how does science vs pseudoscience handle claims

Answer 16

-science checks everything
-pseudoscience: if an important guru says something, then the claim can be accepted

Question 17

Merton’s 4 norms for science

Answer 17

CUDOS:
-communisms (social cooperation, science is for everyone and owned by everyone)
-universalism (everyone can do science and should be scrutinised equally)
-disinterestedness (no self-interest or other gains)
-organized scepticism (acceptance should be based on scientific requirements)

Question 18

counter norm by Bernard barber

Answer 18

emotional neutrality = it’s good to be passionate about science

Question 19

counter norm by Mitrov

Answer 19

organised dogmatism = scientist must believe in their work with confidence and doubt others

Question 20

what does milky say about merton’s standards

Answer 20

-they’re an idealisation of an earlier form of science that distorted the current understanding of science
-therefore, can the standards still be applied to new science