Extra flashcards

Question 1

How do you understand science?

Answer 1

Scientists want to draw conclusions from data. It is important to understand when something to legitimate or not to draw a certain conclusion.

Question 2

Premises and conclusion

Answer 2

Premises = what we presuppose
Conclusion = what we conclude from the premises

Question 3

Valid argument

Answer 3

When the conclusion follows from the premises.

Question 4

Invalid argument

Answer 4

An argument that is not valid.

Premise 1: can be true
Premise 2: can be true
Conclusion: doesn’t follow the premises.

Question 5

Deductive argument

Answer 5

The truth of the premises absolutely guarantees the truth of the conclusion.

Question 6

Inductive argument

Answer 6

The truth of the premises gives good reason for the conclusion, but does not absolutely guarantee the truth of the conclusion.

Question 7

Representative data

Answer 7

Data that represents the subject matter as a whole, not just the special parts.

Question 8

Three types of reasoning error

Answer 8

1. Confirmation bias
2. Correlation and causation
3. Probabilities

Question 9

Confirmation bias

Answer 9

We are biased towards confirmation, that we have a tendency to ignore evidence that conflicts with our beliefs and the other way around.

Question 10

Correlation and causation

Answer 10

Two things occur together.
1. Correlation between smoking and lung cancer.
2. Studying hard and getting a good grade.

Question 11

Probabilities

Answer 11

Example with the train.

Question 12

Popper

Answer 12

Always critical. That scientists are always trying to prove their own theories false. This is also how you can recognise a pseudo scientist.

Question 13

Falsification

Answer 13

Observation that shows that a theory is false.

Question 14

Falsified

Answer 14

State of a theory that has been shown to be false.

Question 15

Falsificationism

Answer 15

Popper’s claim that scientists are only interested in falsifying their own theories (wrong).

Question 16

Kuhn

Answer 16

He did not agree with Popper’s idea that scientists should mostly be critical all the time.

Question 17

Kuhn’s phases of science

Answer 17

1. Pre-paradigmatic science: science starts here, happens once
2. Normal science: once here, you can never go back to the first phase. Always return to this and we are here most of the time. The rule.
3. Crises: from here, science can move back to normal science or to scientific revolution.
4. Scientific revolution: once here, go back to normal science.

Question 18

Paradigm

Answer 18

Theories, concepts and methods which a scientific discipline takes for granted and that direct research in that discipline.

Question 19

Normal science

Answer 19

Defined by the existence of a paradigm (confidence).

Question 20

Pre-paradigmatic phase

Answer 20

The phase before there is a paradigm, the methods still have to be thought up by the scientists, not science as we know it, unproductive.

Question 21

Anomaly

Answer 21

Problem within the paradigm that scientists are unable to solve right now.

Popper would think of an anomaly as a falsification and rejects it.

Question 22

Kuhn on anomalies

Answer 22

He claims that science always has anomalies, and its existence is not a problem as long as they are confident it will be resolved.

Question 23

Crisis

Answer 23

Scientists start doubting their own paradigm (unconfident).

Question 24

What are the two ways to solve the crises?

Answer 24

1. The anomalies are solved, return to normal science.
2. A new parading emerges to solve anomalies. If the scientists embrace it and abandon the old ways, then we have a scientific revolution.

Question 25

Scientific revolution

Answer 25

Paradigm shift. Phase where one paradigm is abandoned and another is accepted.

Question 26

Good science

Answer 26

The paradigm is taken as a standard and used.

Question 27

Bad science

Answer 27

Going against the paradigm.

Question 28

Incommensurability

Answer 28

Lack of comparability using a neutral standard (not together measurable); two things cannot be compared using a standard that is appropriate to both.

Question 29

Foucault

Answer 29

Like Kuhn, Foucault believes that ruptures occur when certain background assumptions are changed. These assumptions are called epistemes.

Question 30

Episteme

Answer 30

The set of unconscious rules that govern all serious scientific discourse in a certain society. Determines what thought we take seriously.

Question 31

Difference between a paradigm and episteme

Answer 31

1. Paradigm is conscious, episteme unconscious. 2. Paradigm is specific to a single science (a paradigm in linguistics, another one in art history). An episteme exists in all the sciences. 3. Paradigms don’t have to be long-lived, so they are shorter. Epistemes change very rarely.

Question 32

Two kinds of power:

Answer 32

1. Repressive power (traditional) Someone else forces you to do their bidding. Our lives are shaped by this power. Forces us to do what we don’t want to do. Focused on/in specific institutions: bosses, judges, police, politicians. 2. Normalising power Makes us want to do what we have to do anyway. Turns us into people who automatically by their own will do what society wishes. People who can’t imagine stealing because education taught that it was wrong. We don’t have to be jailed because we won’t steal anyway. It is everywhere: family, school, hospital, commercial TV break. Science.

Question 33

Foucault on power =

Answer 33

* Power is not wielded by a few individuals over the many, but instead everyone is subjected to power. * Science cannot be separated from power.

Question 34

Hempel

Answer 34

Logical positivist, believed that all sciences work in the same way. He looked at explanations in physics, constructed a model that is known as… * Deductive-nomological model: Hempel thinks that historians explain in the same way that scientists do. He takes the natural sciences as the prototype: explanation by the use of laws (deductive-monological model). * Why does the apple fall? You can explain it with the laws of Newton.

Question 35

G. W. F. Hegel

Answer 35

Agreed with the Romantic idea that nobody can escape from their own time to take a position outside of history. The way that we are/think is shaped by our history and our culture. * Hegel believes that history is a story of progress.

Question 36

18th century

Answer 36

The Age of Enlightenment (or the Age of Reason) * Enlightenment: to become enlightened is to become a mature person. Maturity = thinking for yourself. * Goal: encourage people to think for themselves.

Question 37

Hempel’s law

Answer 37

Whenever the cause A happens, the effect B will happen afterwards.

Question 38

Hegel’s law

Answer 38

Every stage of history is a logical development of the previous stage.

Question 39

19th century

Answer 39

Romantic period (or the Age of History (1800-1850) * Studying history became the most important intellectual activity. They did not believe that reason was the same for everyone. * Invented ‘culture’ = thought of as being something good. You can only understand yourself if you know where you come from and the origins of your culture.

Question 40

History of politics

Answer 40

1. Lawlessness without states Everyone can do what they want provided they are strong/smart enough to get away with it. It looks like freedom but is also unfreedom; it has contradictions. 2. Strict hierarchical states States with one or few persons at the top and a strict hierarchy that structure society. 3. Democracy/rechtsstaat We are currently here; state in a way everyone’s powers are strictly limited by the law and people have a say in what those laws are.

Question 41

Contradictions (Hegel)

Answer 41

Contradictions push history forward; if we solve the contradictions of one stage, we go to the next stage, which is its opposite. But the opposite of a contradiction is still a contradiction. * Synthesis: the contradiction between the thesis and the antithesis is resolved. * Antithesis: the opposite of the contradiction.

Question 42

Synthesis and antithesis

Answer 42

Synthesis: the contradiction between the thesis and the antithesis is resolved. Antithesis: the opposite of the contradiction.

Question 43

Karl Marx

Answer 43

Inventor of communism, his philosophy starts from Hegel. Invented dialectal-materialism.

Question 44

Dialectics

Answer 44

Development following the pattern of thesis > antithesis > synthesis

Question 45

Class

Answer 45

A group in society that plays a specific role in the production and ownership of material goods (nobles, serves; classes have different interests).

Question 46

What moves history forward according to Marx?

Answer 46

The struggle between the classes. The tension between the classes can lead to a revolution.

Question 47

Communism

Answer 47

A society without classes. * Communism is the end of history. The historical process will stop. Things will still happen but society is stable. * For Marx, everything is moving towards communism. For Hegel, everything is moving towards less contradiction and better concepts.