Chapter 1 Flashcards
Who is Francis Bacon
- 17th century english philosopher that advanced the idea that the truth of a proposition should be determined by the type of evidence used to support it.
ex: the claim to knowledge based on observation (sight, taste, hearing, or touch) is more likely to be valid than one based on intuition, revelation, or scriptural interpretation. - Francis bacon founded empiricism.
- Positivistic approach
What is empiricism?
The doctrine that all valid scientific knowledge must originate in experience and observation.
What are the five assumptions about the scientist and process of observation?
- Objectivity
- Observational consensus
- Replicability
- Induction
- Scientific progress
Define Objectivity
the scientist is an unbiased observer whose perception of reality is unaffected by personal characteristics
Define Observational Consensus
Reality exists independently of any one observer. There exists a real world out there independent of the language by which we describe it.
Define Replicability
- This stems from objectivity and observational consensus
- An objective observer who uses the same techniques as previous observers to describe a given phenomenon should achieve similar conclusions.
Define Induction
The investigator sets out to make all possible observations of phenomenon, and only after these observations are completed s/he derives generalizations about how the phenomenon works.
Define Scientific progress
The steady accumulation of objective observations and inductively-derived generalizations leading to a more reliable and accurate knowledge of the world.
Who is David Hume
-David Hume pointed out two logical fallacies with empiricist claims to knowledge. The first is the fallacy of selectivity and and the fallacy of objectivity.
-He claims it is impossible to understand the world inductively because there is simply too much sensory input for us to make sense of it. Rather, it is our pre-existing beliefs that help us make sense of the world by imposing orderly perceptual categories on everything that we see.
-Claims that theory plays a vital role in science.
EX:// TAT test (photo of women laying in bed naked and man standing up) what do you think happened? several individuals can interpret this differently. therefore, one cannot assume that an individuals beliefs or identities don’t play a part in our description of reality.
Who is Karl Popper?
- 20th century philosopher that claims that a scientific theory must be based on statements that can potentially be proven false by observation. Implying that a theory can never be proven true, but can only be proven false.
- All we can say is that until observations disprove a theory that it is “provisionally accepted”
- His model= logical positivism (revision of positivism) scientists essentially make observations with certain problems in mind (DEDUCTION) and these observations are selected by scientists according to a tentative solution (theory) that he or she has formulated for that problem. Such tentative solutions are formalized for a particular set of observations as hypotheses, which state what is to be expected empirically in a certain place or time.
- Popper claims to have solved the fallacy of objectivity that Hume had noted in the 18th century.
Who is Thomas Kuhn?
-A 20th century physicist and historian that believes scientific research is organized by paradigms due to repeated revolutions in which previous systems of knowledge were overturned, rather than augmented through gradual change. Kuhn notes that at any one time members of a specific scientific community will have essentially the same training share the same goals and refer to the same literature which results in professional socialization. Therefore, scientists within a certain discipline at any one time will tend to share a single paradigm.
Define Paradigm
- A set of dominant beliefs within a field that establishes standards of scientific investigation. It does so in 3 ways
1. defines a problem considered relevant for research (what is worthy of explanation)
2. it sets forth a tentative explanation of those problems
3. It establishes rules and standards for scientific procedure.
How does the transition from one paradigm to another occur?
Ex:// the evolutionism of the late nineteenth century diffusion at the beginning of the 20th century does not involve the progressive accumulation of knowledge. Rather, one system of scientific knowledge overthrows another.
- When discrepancies between observations and the paradigm accumulate to the point that they can no longer be ignored; nor can they be re-interpreted any longer to conform to the broader paradigm.
- it is possible to test and improve upon specific hypotheses, the fundamental assumptions of paradigms are rarely questioned. These assumptions are what define the boundaries of acceptable debate within the field.
What did linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf put forth?
-Linguistic relativity which suggests that different languages because of their differing conceptual vocabularies and grammatical rules predispose their speakers to view the world in fundamentally different ways.
Define epistemology
- The study of the nature and source of knowledge
- How we know what we know
