HPS100 UofT Final Exam Notes

TheoryAns - A set of propositions. An attempt to describe something Scientific MosaicAns - A set of all accepted theories. Scientific ChangeAns - Any change in the scientific Mosaic. We use the concept of scientific mosaic to define the concept of scientific change. What is Mosaic?Ans - They are some of the theories of our contemporary scientific mosaic. Natural ScienceAns - Biology, Chemistry, Physics. Social ScienceAns - History, Sociology, Psychology Formal ScienceAns - Math Analytic PropositionsAns - They are deductible from definitions, cannot contradict the result of experiments or observations, Necessarily hold in all possible worlds: the opposite is inconceivable E.x Formal sciences (mathematics, logic) Synthetic PropositionsAns - Not deductible from definitions, Can contradict the results of experiments or observations. Do not necessarily hold in all possible world: the opposite is conceivable E.x, natural selection, physics, biology, economics. Because the opposite can happen. They all come from empirical science, they are observations of the world. Why can we not have absolute knowledge?Ans - The Problem of Sensations, Induction, Theory-Ladenness FallibilismAns - No synthetic proposition can be infallible. Empirical knowledge cannot be absolutely certain InfallibilismAns - Synthetic propositions can be infallible. Empirical knowledge can be absolutely certain. AcceptanceAns - A theory is said to be accepted if it is taken as the best available description of its object UseAns - A theory is said to be used if it is taken as an adequate tool for practical application PursuitAns - A theory is said to be pursued if it is considered worthy of further development. MethodAns - A set of requirements (criteria, rules, standards, etc.) for employment in theory assessment (evaluation, appraisal, comparison, etc.) (your actual implicit, expectations of scientific community) - this is what scientists actually do e.g : accept theories that are more simples, accept those with confirmed novel predictions, accept those that solve more problems. MethodologiesAns - A set of explicitly formulated rules of theory assessment. (These are the rules openly prescribed by the community as the correct way of doing science.) - this is what scientists say they should be doing Research TechniqueAns - A set of procedures for theory construction (generation, innovation). Used to generate new ideas. Novel PredictionsAns - If a scientific theory makes an accurate prediction about something unknown (as opposed to a known regularity), then the theory must either be true, or the accurate 'novel' prediction was miraculously guessed Inductivist-empiricistAns - a theory is acceptable if it is based inductively on experience. Conventionalist-simplicisAns - a theory is acceptable if it explains the greatest number of phenomena in the simplest way. PragmatistAns - a theory is acceptable if it solves the greatest number of problems. Hypothetico-deductivistAns - a theory is acceptable if its predictions are confirmed in experiments and observations. Accepted OntologyAns - The accepted views on the types of entities and interaction that populates the world. Our attitude seems to depends on whether the theory attempts to modify the accepted ontology. Can there be a general theory of scientific change?Ans - Yes: Generalism, No: Particularism GeneralismAns - there can be a general theory of scientific change ParticularismAns - there can be no general theory of scientific change (what we believe now). There is no universal and fixed method of science. There is nothing universal in science: each historical episode is unique CompletryAns - the world as it appears in observation is a product of some more fundamental inner mechanism. There is more to the world than what meets the eye. A hypothesis is allowed to introduce unobservable entities (e.g microparticles, forces, superstrings etc,) As long as it predicts something novel, hitherto unobserved, and some of these novel predictions are confirmed. Post hoc ExplanationAns - explanations that are made after the fact. (anyone can be smart after the fact) e.g. I say it will either rain on monday, or it won't Scientific Change: The First LawAns - An element of the mosaic maintains its state in the mosaic unless replaced by some other elements. Scientific Change: The Second LawAns - In order to become accepted into the mosaic a theory is assessed by the method actually employed at the time. Scientific Change: The Third LawAns - A method becomes employed only when it is deductible from other employed methods and accepted theories of the time. This is true for all cases of method employment Scientific Change: The 0th Law of CompatibilityAns - At any moment of time, the elements of the scientific mosaic are compatible with each other. Method: Three ComponentsAns - Demarcation criteria, Acceptance criteria, Compatibility criteria Demarcation criteriaAns - criteria for determining whether a theory is scientific or unscientific Acceptance criteriaAns - criteria for determining whether a theory is acceptable or unacceptable Compatibility criteriaAns - criteria for determining whether two theories are compatible or incompatible. Scientific RealismAns - Our best scientific theories correctly describe the nature of the mind - independent world (instrumentalism) Scientific Anti - RealismAns - We do not know whether our theories correctly describe the nature of the mind - independent world. Selective Scientific RealismAns - Although strictly speaking all (even our best) theories are false, some aspects true. Entity RealismAns - Our knowledge about unobservable entities is true, although our theories concerning relations between these entities can be false. Structural RealismAns - Although our theories about the nature of unobservable entities can be false, our knowledge of the relations between them is true. Does science actually progress towards truthAns - Yes - Progress thesis, No - NO - progress thesis Progress thesisAns - science progresses towards truth, i.e. scientific theories provide increasingly correct descriptions of the external world, No miracle, The more we go thorugh time, the more accurate they get (overtime things get better and better) NO - progress thesisAns - We can't know whether science progress towards truth i.e. whether some descriptions are closer to truth than other. Pessimistic induction argument We don't know if we have it right now, because we never got it right in the past