midterm Flashcards
(24 cards)
Clifford concludes that his fictional shipowner is blameworthy, but of what exactly? (Hint: the
answer is not the deaths of the passengers.)
He is guilty of believing in something without sufficient evidence
Does Clifford believe that the shipowner would be blameless if the ship had in fact been
seaworthy? Why, or why not?
Yes, there was no evidence that it was damaged – no evidence.
Why does Clifford conclude that even trivial beliefs – based on insufficient evidence – can be
Harmful?
It is danger to society
Does James believe that it is always permissible to believe on insufficient evidence? In what
circumstances is it permissible?
Needs to be living (both ideas are believable), forced (dont have an option of more evidence to come in, urgency), and momentous (some significance, needs to matter).
Some people believe particular religious claims without sufficient evidence. Is . Does James believe that it is always permissible to believe on insufficient evidence? In what
circumstances is it permissible?
the fact that people do believe on the basis of insufficient evidence a good argument, according to James, for why people should believe on the basis of insufficient evidence?
James is saying might be that the live option of living and disbelieving or there is a forced and momentous then you are justified in those beliefs.
Does James argue that scientists must believe hypotheses before they can start developing,
testing, and exploring those hypotheses? Is there an idea that perhaps seems similar and which
he does seem to endorse?
when an idea is promising scientists might pursue it with more vigor — science benefits when people advocate for their theories. Passion helps science. Unlikely that forced ideas, they are prob avoidable.
What is the problem of demarcation?
Problem of distinguishing science apart from other things in the world
What, according to Popper, characterizes a pseudoscientific theory?
Is unfalsifiable, (astrology make predictions about something and everyone will find a way to make it come true) not really telling you anything
What does it mean for a hypothesis to be falsifiable?
the hypothesis must be capable of being tested and proven wrong.
Can we test (and falsify) the claims of astrologers? Explain one effective way to do this. What important implication does this have for utilizing falsifiability as a demarcation criterion?
No, there is not effective way to do this.
What led to the discovery of the planet Neptune? What does this illustrate about the role of
falsifiability in science?
Discovered when Uranus was not orbiting in the way theory suggested. This leads to the theory becoming falsified. Sometimes you should stick to a theory when there is evidcne against it because it may be the best way to answer.
What did Semmelweis require medical students to do, prior to assisting pregnant women, that
helped reduce cases of childbed fever?
Wash their hands and their surgical instruments
Which historical figure is usually associated with first formulating the problem of induction?
David Hume
What is the problem of induction?
it questions our reasons for believing that the future will resemble the past
Why does Hume think that we can’t solve the problem of induction by appealing to laws of
nature, causal relations, or something similar?
Still invloves appealing to past experiences, assumption what happened in the past will happen in the future—we only appeal to causal relations (adam and eve charred stick) – dont learn anything by inspecting we only learn through experience
What does it mean to say that observations are theory-laden?
Expectations influence observations, science is not as objective as we hope because scientists are reporting on what they expect (based on observations) Laden (influenced by something(theroy))
What did Galileo describe, when he observed Saturn through his telescope? What did Huygens observe? And how is the example used to make trouble for empiricists?
Galileo-He reported observing a large sphere and two smaller spheres either side
Huygens- suggested Saturn was surrounded by a ring
What is experimenter’s bias? How does this illustrate a complication for naïve empiricist attitudes towards science?
Idea that experimenter knows what should happen so they are more likely to see what they expect then something different – undermines the data that they found – naive view – does understand that some ways to gather evidence might undermine theory – sophisticated view explains how evidence can be of greater value– varies from case to case
Why does Kuhn’s description of change within normal science not fit with standard empiricist attitudes towards scientific change?
Normal science does not challenge a general principle.
Why does Kuhn’s description of change within revolutionary science not fit with standard
empiricist attitudes towards scientific change?
Gestalt images (pics seen 2 different ways) significance of these is the world does not change, but the way we see it does. Happens in science as well. Religious conversion → sees things differently… revolution happens as fast as conversion
Why are rival paradigms incommensurable, according to Kuhn?
No common measure in paradigms bc practitioners in other paradigms are solving diff problems by asking diff questions – standards within paradigm shifts are different as (apples and oranges)
Why is pre-paradigm science unproductive, according to Kuhn?
Disorganized and no competition
How does a scientific paradigm differ from a scientific theory?
A paradigm is seeing how something is done and replicating – a roadmap for doing science – an example to emulate – what to use to gather observations – a theory is part of a paradigm
According to Kuhn, is there historical evidence of a universal and unchanging scientific method?
no
