Demarcating Science I (Logical positivism and falsificationism))

Question 1

What is the criterion of verifiability and how did logical poositivists use it to seperate meaningful from meaningless statements?

Answer 1

Verificationism = A statement is meaningful only if it can be empirically verified or is true by definition

Question 2

What is the recieved view of science within logical positivism?

Answer 2

Scientific knowledge is based on empirical verification and inductive reasoning

Question 2

What is the problem of induction?

Answer 2

Each premise is a singular statement describing an observation, whereas the conclusion is a universal statement, which can never be conclusively shown to be true by means of inductive reasoning

Question 3

How does falsification overcome the problem of induction?

Answer 3

Emphasizing the testing and potential refutation of hypotheses through empirical evidence, rather than relying on repeated observations to confirm them.

Question 4

How did Popper use the criterion of “Falsifiability” to demarcate scientific from non-scientific statements?

Answer 4

Only claims that can, in principle, be proven false through observation or experiment are genuinely scientific

Question 5

What is the commonsense view of science?

Answer 5

“Science is derived from facts”

This view is related to two schools of thought:
- Empiricism: All knowledge derive from experience
- Logical positivism: Meaningful statements are those that can be verified through experience

Question 6

What is the Vienna circle?

Answer 6

A group of scientists interested in philosophy and philosophers interested in science.

Weekly meetings in the 1930s led by Moritz Schlick

“Verificationism” is a theory of meaning, and not a theory of science

Question 7

What is logical positivism?

Answer 7

• Scientific ideas are expressed in statements
• Scientific statements must be meaningful not meaningless nonsense
• A sentence is meaningful if it can be verifies
• The criterion of “Verifiability” demarcates meaninful from meaningless statements
• “Meaningful” does not mean “true” and “meaningless” does not mean “false”

Observation statements are verified by “experience” and theories and laws are supported by induction

Question 8

How to verify empirical sentences?

Answer 8

• Observation statements: directly verified through perceptual experiece
• When sentences contain theoretical terms, whoch cannot be firectly verified, it must be linked to possible observations

Question 9

What is deductive reasoning?

Answer 9

Used to derive the conclusion from theories and initial conditions (premises)

Question 10

What is inductive reasoning?

Answer 10

Forming general scientific laws or theories based on repeated observations or experimental results, but it faces the problem of induction—namely, that no amount of observed instances can conclusively prove a universal rule

Question 11

What is modus tollens / denying the consequent?

Answer 11

Form of deductive reasoning:

(1) if T, then O
(2) not O
(3) herefore, not T

Question 12

What is Fallibilism?

Answer 12

Accepting that “we may be wrong” in anything we believe

Question 13

What is falsifiability?

Answer 13

The criterion of demarcation (science / non-science) advanced by Popper

Question 14

What is falsifiability as syntactic property?

Answer 14

A statement is falsifiable if you can deductively derive statements that could be emperically tested

Question 15

What is falsifiability as a critical attitude?

Answer 15

A community adheres to falsification if their members actively try to improve their theories by deducing predictions and testing them

Question 16

What does it mean that a theory has been corroborated (supported, confirmed)?

Answer 16

If the predictions are verified (accepted as true), then the theory has been temporarily corroborated

Question 17

What does it mean that a theory has been falsified (rejected)?

Answer 17

If the predictions are rejected, then the theory has been falsified

Question 18

What is the example of power posing?

Answer 18

• Theory: Assuming a power pose can make you feel mor epowerful
• Prediction: Assuming a power pose for 1 min should have psychological and behavioral changes
• Observation (Results): High-power posers ecperienced increased feelings of power, Low-power posers experiences the opposite pattern
• Conslusion: The results confirmed our predictions, therefore the theory was corroborated, not rejected

Question 19

Early Popper vs. Late popper

Answer 19

Early (pre 1945): Simple and strict approach
- focused on falsifiability as the core criterion of science
- rejected induction

Late (post 1945): Flexible approach
- introduced the idea of the three worlds
- Scientific progress moves toward truth, even if we never fully reach it
- better theories survive while weaker ones are eliminated

Question 20

What were Popper’s idea of the three worlds?

Answer 20

1. Physical world
2. Mental world (thoughts, experiences)
3. Objective knowledge (theories, culture)

Question 21

What are observation statements?

Answer 21

Directly verified statements through perceptual experience

Question 22

What is inductive generalisation?

Answer 22

The process of inferring universal rules given only particular repeated observations - looking for the best explanation

Question 23

What did David Hume say about the porblem of induction?

Answer 23

Argued that the problem of induction lies in the fact that we cannot rationally justify inductive inferences—just because something has happened repeatedly in the past doesn’t guarantee it will happen in the future

Question 24

What is the Bayesian approach?

Answer 24

Aimed precisely at determining the probability of a hypothesis

Question 25

What are Poppers methodological rules?

Answer 25

Ad hoc = changes that reduce testability and protect a theory from being disproven (unscientific) Post hoc = modifying a theory after seeing the data without suggesting new tests

Question 26

What is science according to Popper?

Answer 26

Science consists of freely, creatively inventing theories, and there are no method of inferring a theory from "pure" observation Science is falsifiable, non-science is non-falsifiable

Question 27

What are two criticisms of Popper's approach?

Answer 27

In practice, no scientific theory is ever tested in isolation --> It's unclear what exactly is being falsified The Duhem-Quine problem: They pointed out that scientific test involve multiple assumptions, not just the main theory

Question 28

What is the Duhem's seperability thesis?

Answer 28

Scientific hypotheses cannot be tested in isolation because experiments always rely on a network of auxiliary assumptions

Question 29

What is verisimilitude?

Answer 29

The closeness of a scientific theory to the "truth" Popper argued that when given two theories that are apparently false we can still prefer one of them over the other

Question 30

What is knowledge according to Popper?

Answer 30

He made a distinction: Subjective knowledg: referring to the mental states of a person Objective knowledge: knowledge that exists independently of anybody knowing it

Question 31

What is dogmatic attitude?

Answer 31

Persistence in sticking with a theory, despite initial problems

Question 32

What is conjecture?

Answer 32

An unproven statement believed to be true

Question 33

What is the falsificationist attitude?

Answer 33

Theories should be framed so they can be rigorously tested and potentially proven false "all x are y" = falsifiable "some x are y" = not falsifiable

Question 34

Short about Karl Popper

Answer 34

Popper was a realist Popper rejected the Bayesian approach; focused on the logical relationship between theory and evidence (World 3), not personal beliefs Popper held that the search for truth is the strongest motive for scientific discovery Main Idea: Science progresses through falsification rather than verification. Key Concepts: - Scientific theories can never be definitively proven; they can only be falsified. - A good scientific theory must be falsifiable (i.e., it makes predictions that could be tested and potentially proven wrong). - Deductive reasoning is preferred over induction. - Critical rationalism: Theories should be subjected to rigorous testing, and those that withstand attempts to falsify them remain tentatively accepted. Against Logical Positivism: Popper criticizes their verificationism, arguing that no number of confirming observations can prove a theory.

Question 35

What is instrumentalism?

Answer 35

The view that scientific theories are useful tools for predicting and controlling phenomena, but not necessarily true representations of reality

Question 36

What is realism?

Answer 36

The belief that reality exists independently of our perceptions or beliefs