Week 9-11 Flashcards
(32 cards)
Popper believes that science uses:
a) induction
b) deduction
Deduction (contrary to what many other scientists believed at the time)
What is Popper’s idea of falsification?
The idea that scientist never confirms anything, it simply rejects alternatives
According to Popper, for something to be scientific it must be _____
falsifiable
What is a crucial experiment?
a decisive experiment that determine which of competing theories is better, where one theory proves it is incorrect in its predictions.
What is verificationism?
The idea that a scientific theory is only meaningful if it can be verified (as opposed to falsification)
What was Duhem’s concern with the traditional view of theory verification?
The traditional view holds that we must “leave the theory out of the laboratory” when testing it, but Duhem states that this is not possible (in physics). When we test a theory, we implicitly make assumptions about the accuracy of a bunch of theories.
Theory Ladeness of Observation
The inability to separate theory from observation
Confirmation Holism
The view that science is a system that must be taken as a whole. It cannot function except when the parts that are most remote from it are called into play.
What are the two main points of Nancy Cartwright’s philosophy of science?
1) The laws of physics are not literally true. They only hold within specific, ideal conditions.
2) A false prediction only means that there is a problem with the system as a whole. It does not tell us where that problem is and so we are justified in keeping a theory if it proves to have false predictions so long as we make some other change.
What is an Unexperimental Hypothesis?
Theories in science that cannot be contradicted by experiment because they are only definitions
According to Duhem, how can we decide what scientific theories to keep and what conventions to use?
Use good sense
Underdetermination
When two theories both account for the same evidence
What are background assumptions?
Ideas that link states of affairs to hypotheses.
Epistemic Pluralism
There are multiple ways of knowing and describing the world.
Monoism
There is only one correct way of knowing and describing the world
What is incommensurability?
When two seemingly different theories don’t agree on common measures of things (ex. what counts as biological factors)
What does the Harm Principle state (Mill)?
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
What does the offense principle state?
The conduct of others may be curtailed if it causes offense to society.
What is Mill’s view on free speech?
We should be given an “open arena”, through the combat of ideas, truth will eventually emerge.
According to Mill, what should we do about those who say obnoxious things/act obnoxiously(as opposed to being “open minded”)?
We can
- ignore them/choose the company of others
- teach them
- warn others of them
According to Mill, we are only warranted of our beliefs when:
we allow for the conditions that could prove it wrong. We must be open to criticism of our beliefs.
Why does Kitcher disagree with Mill?
Kitcher disagrees with Mill’s idea that freedom of expression should be absolute, because in the long run these freedoms can CONFLICT with other freedoms we consider more important.
(must we continually discuss discarded ideas? e.g. flat earth)
“The Millian arena where conflicting ideas battle for approval as epistemic equals and where bystanders are never hurt is a splendid ideal, but it is naïve to think this actually exists.”
What is political asymmetry?
When evidence that confirms a belief leads to reversion(return) of that belief, but the negation of the belief would not lead to further eradication of it (the belief still persists).
What is epistemic asymmetry?
Thinking the probability of a belief to be true is higher than evidence suggests, and the probability of a belief to be false is lower than evidence suggests
