5.1 Science as a belief system

Question 1

Closed belief system means…

Answer 1

Religion this means perfect knowledge ‘scared’ knowledge, knowledge that is divine so knowledge cannot be challenged or changed. Religious knowledge that can never be proven false, Religious knowledge is the same at all times, at all places, in situation

Question 2

Open belief system…

Answer 2

science this means open to scrutiny, open to criticism, Karl Popper, Knowledge that can be re-tested SO knowledge can be challenged and changed, scientific knowledge that can always be proved false, scientific knowledge is only right when proven false

Question 3

Define belief system

Answer 3

The basis on which beliefs are based. These beliefs form our view of the world. For example, a religious belief sys is based on faith whereas scientific belief sys is based on evidence

Question 4

What kind of belief system is science?

Answer 4

Science can be described in 3 way
1- Empirical - the wrld can be measured giving stats outcome
2- Objective - there is no room for personal bias and preference
3- Falsification - through evidence science can be challenged and then can be changed

Question 5

criticism of science as a belief system

Answer 5

Falsification - science is difficult to challenge - it is not always a simple process to falsify scientific ideas. Scientists do not want to give up their ideas easily. Competing views are frequently ignored, marginalised, ridiculed

Objective - scientists do have personal biases and preferences these may be unconscious but they still exist. Even their choice of research topic shows a preference.

Question 6

According to Popper, the process of scientists critically scrutinizing the findings of other scientists is fundamental to the scientific method. He argued that…..

Answer 6

scientists should attempt to ‘falsify’ already existing hypotheses by designing experiments deliberately to disprove them. It is this process that ensures that scientific knowledge is valid: its ability to withstand the critical scrutiny of peers.

Question 7

aN oPEN BELIEF System ……….. can be ….. wrong-……

Answer 7

reason can be proven wrong falsification

Question 8

Evolving versus absolute knowledge systems

Answer 8

scientific knowledge is cumulative (increased)…. it evolves through a process of scientists learning about, criticizing, and improving upon the experimental work of previous scientists.

Religious belief systems, at least those based firmly on religious texts or an idea of absolute truth are not open to change or growth. Those who challenge such religious belief systems may well be subject to sanctions - blasphemy

Question 9

What kind of belief system is religion?

Answer 9

• Faith = a sys based on faith
• It can be proven to be true
• it cant be proven false

Question 10

criticism of religion belief system?

Answer 10

• case study: witchcraft
• Behaviour defined as Demonic possession has been shown in the past to be Epilepsy.
• However then this re-interpreted from a religious pov

Question 11

Supporting evidence for a closed belief system?

Answer 11

Evan Pritchard: The Azande and witchcraft

Azande do not believe in coincidence or chance so when shit happens they blame it on witches. Potion is given to a chicken and if it dies before the oracle asks the ‘benge’ to do its work, the tribe, simply put it it as benge being ‘bad; rather than seeing it as flawed logic

Question 12

Supporting evidence for an open belief system?

Answer 12

Merton argues science is an institution that need an ethos; a set of norms that makes scientists act in ways that serve to the goal of increasing scientific knowledge.

Communism –scientific knowledge should be shared with the community and not kept secret or private.

universalism –all scientists are regarded as equal so it should be their work that is challenged not them personally.

Disinterestedness –scientists should be committed to truth and publish their findings honestly. There should be no fraud or subjective bias.

Organised Scepticism–All knowledge within science should be challenged and scrutiny should be encouraged.

Question 13

Falsification..

Answer 13

means that for something to be scientific it must be possible that it could be proven false. If a theory stands up to falsification (tested repeated but is not proven wrong) it is a good theory.

Question 14

Karl Popper Example

Answer 14

one could believe all swants are white, until hypothesis tested and a black swan appears. = thus proving the hypothesis that all swans are to be false

Question 15

Karl Popper said scientists should use falsification

Answer 15

Disagreed with the positivist belief that theories could be proved to be true .
positivists scientific truth can never be proven to be ‘true’ as it follows a falsification principles

Question 16

Why does Kuhn challenged the idea that science is objecting? 3 points

Answer 16

Introduced the idea that scientists, at certain times in history, work in a paradign

1) A paradigm, according to Kuhn refers to the framework of accepted ideas in which scientists operate. It might inclue ideas of truth, validity and methodology
2) Kuhn argued that scientists will tend to work within the paradigm and so seek evidence which supports it. This will continue until anomalies are so strong as to trigger a paradigm shift or scientific revolution
3) When this happens, a new ‘normal science paradigm’ established and the process begins again.

Question 17

Paradigm?

Answer 17

A paradigm, according to Kuhn refers to the framework of accepted ideas in which scientists operate. It might inclue ideas of truth, validity and methodology

Question 18

Science can be viewed as a science belief system like religion

Answer 18

Polanyi - suggested that a belief system was made up of three factors. science can be viewed as fitting this model

1) A circularity of beliefs - each idea within the belief system is explained in relation to others. If one is challenged or fails it is defended by reference to another, to avoid changing the belief system
2) Supporting explanations are given for difficult situations - if any evidence is shown to contradict the belief there will be a reason to explain it (as with the anomalies in the experiments Lynch observed)
3) No alternative belief system can be tolerated - a sweeping rejection of religion could be seen as example.

Question 19

Michael E. Lynch - challenged tradition view of science

Answer 19

Argued science is far less objective than scientists claim.

1) 1985 published a study of interactions between scientists experiments on lab rats. concluded that scientists were more influenced by their existing theories than may have been expected

2_ when ‘anomalised’ occurred - i.e results they were not expecting - the scientists often put them down to errors in the images they were studying, rather than seeing them as evidence towards a new theory or hypothesis

Question 20

Lyotard

Answer 20

Postmodernist = science can be seen as another kind of metanarrative - it claims to have monopoly of truths and to explain how everything works. In this way, its just another ideology.

Question 21

Some - Marxist and feminist argue that scientific knowledge may be used to strengthen what?

Answer 21

Also, some Marxist and feminist argue that scientific knowledge may be used to strengthen capitalist and patriarchal ideologies.