Test 1 (Chapters 1, 4, & 5) Flashcards
Direct observation of nature
Empirical observation
The two major components of science
- empirical observation
2. theory
The validity or invalidity of certain propositions can be best determined by applying the rules of logic
Rationalism
States that the source of all knowledge is sensory observation
Empiricism
The assumption that what is being studied can be understood in terms of causal laws
Determinism
Disagreed that scientific activity starts with empirical observation but instead starts with a problem and the problem determines what observations scientists will make
Karl Popper
Laws which specify how events are causally related
Causal Laws
Said the scientific method involved 3 stages: problems, theories (proposed solutions) , and criticisms.
Karl Popper
Distinguishes a scientific theory from a non scientific one. (A scientific theory must be refutable)
Principle of falsifiability (Karl Popper)
Said in order for a theory to be correct, it must make risky predictions? Vs Theories that are vague.
Karl Popper (1900s)
Explaining phenomena after they have already occurred? (Popper)
Post diction
Claimed science was not objective but instead highly subjective.
Thomas Kuhn (1900s)
The entire constellation of beliefs, values, techniques, and so on shared by the members of a given scientific community?
Paradigm (Kuhn)
Exploring the depths of a problem defined by an accepted paradigm and using methods suggested by the paradigm while exploring these problems
Normal science
Said a paradigm determines what constitutes a research problem and how the solution to that problem is sought
Thomas Kuhn
Persistent observations that a currently accepted paradigm cannot explain
Anomalies
The belief that human thought or behavior is freely chosen by the individual and there is therefore not caused by antecedent physical or mental events
Nondeterminsim
States that even though determination is true, attempting to measure the causes of something influences those causes, mailing it impossible to know them with certainty.
Indeterminism (Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle)
Those who believe that everything in the universe is material (physical), including those things that others refer to as mental
Materialists
Form of dualism that claims that the mind and body interact.
Interactionism
Form of dualism that claims that the mental stars emerge from physical brain states.
emergentism
Form of dualism in which the brain can cause mental events but mental events cannot cause behavior
Epiphenomenalism
4 major themes of the Renaissance Humanism
1) individualism
2) religion became personal (not imposed)
3) renewed interest in the past (disagreement with the “accepted truths”)
4) disagreed with past philosophies and ideas
Denoted (during the renaissance) an intense interest in human beings; as if we were discovering ourselves for the first time
Humanism
Belief in the power of the individual (as opposed to the church and state) to make a positive difference in the world
Individualism
Historians argue that his writings mark the beginning of the Renaissance
Francesco Petrarch
Began in 1517 when Luther nailed his ninety-five Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg.
Reformation
A religious revolution
Reformation
Principles of Newtonian science
1) God does not actively intervene in the world; therefore he is not an explanation (such as it was his will)
2) Natural laws exist and are universal
3) no inherent properties as explanations (bodies fall verses they do because of gravity)
4) Occam’s Razor
5) probabilities reflect scientist’s lack of knowledge not the real world (understanding is imperfect)
6) classification is not an explanation (it does that because it’s a cat)
Urged an inductive, practical science that was free from the misconceptions of the past and from any theoretical influences
Francis Bacon
Argued that the earth rotated around the sun and therefore earth was not the center of the solar system and the universe as the church had declared (heliocentric theory)
Nicolaus Copernicus
Showed several of Aristotle’s truths to be false and by using a telescope, expanded human knowledge of the solar system.
Galileo
Bacon’s term for personal biases that result from one’s personal characteristics or experiences
Idols of the cave
Bacon’s term for error that results when one accepts the traditional meanings of the words used to describe things
Idols of the marketplace
Bacon’s term for the inhibition of objective inquiry that results when one accepts dogma, tradition, or authority
Idols of the theatre
Bacon’s term for biases that result from human’s natural tendency to view the world selectively
Idols of the tribe
Viewed the universe as a complex machine that God had created, set in motion, then abandoned
Isaac Newton
The belief that only those objects or events that can be experienced directly should be the object of scientific inquiry
Positivism
Main spokesperson ago revolted against Aristotle and the church
Francis Bacon
Presented objective vs. subjective reality
Galileo
Proposed that observation directly and objectively is the only way ti discover truth
Francis Bacon
Based on facts & data; finding the truth through the senses
Empiricism
Based on theories & logic/reasoning
Rationalism
Founder of empiricism as a school of thought
Francis Bacon (1550)
Father of Rationalism
Descartes (1600)
Founder of positivism
Comte (1800)
The belief that all knowledge is derived from experience; especially sensory experience
Empiricism
Said all mental events consisted of sensations and ideas held together by association. Can always be reduced to simple ideas
James Mill (1800)
Proposed complex ideas could be distinctly different from simple ideas
John Stuart Mill (1800)
All you know is sensation/perception of the scientist
Mach (1800)
Suggested that things are publicly observable; operant definition
Compte (1800)
Ideas that are of perfection; cannot be derived from ones own experience. Ideas Placed in the mind by god.
Innate ideas
