Week 18 Flashcards
What is the difference between science and pseudoscience?
Science is based on accumulation of knowledge
Scientific theories and ideas always open to being changed
Science doesn’t seek to answer every question completely
Science itself is neither good nor bad - ethically neutral
What 5 criteria make a theory scientific?
Empirical - consistent with observations
Predictive - predicts outcomes
Objective - free of bias
Falsifiable - not immune from being disproven
Peer reviewed - scrutinised by wide body of experts
Why are art and ethics not scientific?
Aesthetic statements are not falsifiable - e.g. the mona lisa is a beautiful painting
Moral assertions are not - e.g. killing is wrong
What is inference?
The process of reaching a conclusion
Justified by an argument
What three parts do most arguments have?
Premises (assumptions)
Intermediate steps (reasoning)
Conclusion
What are the two types of argument?
Deductive arguments - if valid they prove or refute a conclusion
Inductive arguments - if valid they strengthen or weaken a conclusion
What is deductive inference?
Where is it often used?
Proves or refutes a conclusion
If the premises are true, the conclusion is also true
Used in maths, logic and philosophy
Are the following arguments a) valid and b) sound?
“Premises: the sum of angles in every triangle is 180 degrees, and t is a triangle
Conclusion: the sum of angles in t is 180 degrees”
“Premises: all toasters are items made of gold, and all items made of gold are time travel devices
Conclusion: all toasters are time-travel devices”
- valid and sound
- valid but not sound
What is inductive inference?
Strengthens or weakens a conclusion
Relies on evidence - conclusions are reasonable but not guaranteed (can’t prove or refute a hypothesis)
“I’ve drank milk thousands of times without a problem; therefore I’m not lactose intolerant”
“I’ve crossed the street thousands of times without problem; therefore, I will not die today while crossing the street”
are examples of….
Inductive inference
What type of arguments does science typically rely on?
Inductive arguments - evidence but no proof
What is a fallacy?
A faulty form of inference
Confusing correlation with causation
Hasty generalisation
Selective observations
Are all examples of?
Fallacies
What is the hasty generalization fallacy?
Drawing conclusion about something from a too-small sample
e.g. “Everyone on my street hates the government, they certainly shat not win next election”
What is the appeal to authority fallacy?
Believing what an expert says about something when actually they’re not an expert, other experts disagree, theyre biased, or an anonymous expert is used
