Definitions Flashcards
positivism
assumption of the scientific method
empiricism
what we know is the result of our experience
induction
The process of deriving general principles from particular facts or instances.
deduction
The process of reasoning in which a conclusion follows necessarily from the stated premises; inference by reasoning from the general to the specific.
interpretivism (humanism)
truth is not absolute but decided by individual human
beings.
Science
an objective, logical, and systematic method of analysis of phenomena devised
to permit the accumulation of reliable knowledge.
The scientific method is based on what assumptions?
- reality is out there to be discovered
- direct observation is the way to discover it
- material explanations for observable phenomena are always sufficient and metaphysical explanations are never needed
- reliable means that it is true in multiple contexts or locations
What are the underlying principles of science
- there is a real and knowable universe
- the universe operates according to understandable laws
- the laws are immutable
- laws can be understood
metaphysics
explanation of phenomena by any nonmaterial force: mind, spirit, or deity;
rejected by science
• Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate
“Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be.”
dawn of humanity—some facts:
- earliest human ancestors—6+ m.y.a. (= million years ago)
- earliest human tools and associated artifacts—2.6 m.y.a.
- fossilized footprints>bipedal locomotion—3.75 m.y.a. at Laetoli, Tanzania
features of primates:
- grasping hands—high degree of manual dexterity
- flexible limbs
- highly developed sense of vision: stereoscopic color vision—depth perception
- enlarged brain of information processing from the sense of vision
features of taxonomic group called Hominoidea: apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas), humans
- shape of our teeth
- absence of a tail
- swinging arms (highly mobile)
- share a common ancestor: 5-10 m.y.a.
What does it mean to be human?
- grasping hands and an opposable thumb (strength, precision grip)
- lost the grasping, opposable toe of other apes
- small, flat teeth
- lack the large slashing canines of other primates
- pronounced nose, and face that sits under the cranium
- lack fur; have more sweat glands than hair follicles> cooling mechanism
- conspicuous penis (males) and breasts (females)
- face-to-face sex (generally) and more constantly than other primates
- prolonged period of infancy and childhood dependency: social learning
- make and use tools to alter our environment
- act according to reason, not instinct
- enhanced intelligence
- culture
- language> complex system of meaning and metaphor
geological time periods:
- Tertiary Period: Miocene Epoch (circa 23-5 m.y.a. (= million years ago)
- Tertiary Period: Pliocene Epoch (circa 5-2 m.y.a.)
- Quaternary Period: Pleistocene Epoch (circa 2 mya-10,000 B.P.)
- Quaternary Period: Holocene Epoch (circa 10,000 B.P.-present)
