Philosophy of Science
Week 1
Systems of thinking
-System 1: intuitive system, fast but unreliable thinking
-System 2: allocates attention to the effort for mental activities that demand it
Philosophical thinking= thinking about the world, universe and society.
Ontology= the study of existence and its basic
categories and relationships. What entities can be said
to exist or whether we can regroup them. A theory
about reality.
Epistemology= philosophical theory about knowledge.
One of the four main branches of philosophy. How we
can acquire knowledge about reality.
Philosophy of science= a field that deals with what
science is, how it works and the logic through which
we build scientific knowledge.
The laboratory experiment
Divide in two groups, one part of the group is subject to the treatment of the
condition, the other is a control group, measure the results before treatment, measure
the results after treatment, compare results of before and after treatment.
Randomization of groups is important.
Causality has a strong connection with determinism (the ontology that if we would
know all applicable laws of nature as well as the initial conditions, we can perfectly
predict what will happen in the future). We think about casualty as a counterfactual
understanding. Y is caused by X, Y occurs when X occurs and if X does not occur, Y
does not either.
Different types of explanations
1. Causal, focus on providing a cause explanation to the outcomes we observe.
2. Functional, it explains the existence of something in terms of its function.
3. Intentional, in explaining human behavior we often use intentional explanations,
involving certain states of mind.
We additionally hold strong philosophical intuitions about human intentions and
behavior:
-That we have free will (metaphysics)
-That we are uniquely endowed with reason
-That, under normal conditions, we are morally responsible for our acts and omissions
(ethics)
Social ontology= we create a reality to an extent that natural science does not, e.g.
legal personality and corporate criminal liability.
Ontological questions= are natural and social reality the same or are they different?
Are money, firms and markets as real as water is? What assumptions do we make
about social reality in our scientific theories?
, Epistemological questions= how can we acquire reliable knowledge about social
reality? Can theories in social science be based on facts alone? Can and should social
science explanations be causal?
Positive theory (descriptive)
-A theory about the world as it is.
-You adapt your theory according to the world.
-Makes explicit positive expectations towards the world.
Normative theory (prescriptive)
-What ought to be
-Has a world-to-theory fit
-Makes explicit normative expectations towards the world
Truth preservation= with a logically valid argument, true premises always lead to true
conclusions. If not all premises are true, we don’t know if the conclusion is true. The
validity of an argument does not depend on the truth of the premises or the
conclusion.
Logical argument= a process of creating a new statement from one or more existing
statements. An argument proceeds from a set of premises to a conclusion, by means
of logical implication, via a procedure called logical inference.
Denying the consequence (modus tollens), logically valid
Affirming the consequent (modus ponens), logically
invalid
Denying the antecedents, logically invalid
Week 2
Week 1
Systems of thinking
-System 1: intuitive system, fast but unreliable thinking
-System 2: allocates attention to the effort for mental activities that demand it
Philosophical thinking= thinking about the world, universe and society.
Ontology= the study of existence and its basic
categories and relationships. What entities can be said
to exist or whether we can regroup them. A theory
about reality.
Epistemology= philosophical theory about knowledge.
One of the four main branches of philosophy. How we
can acquire knowledge about reality.
Philosophy of science= a field that deals with what
science is, how it works and the logic through which
we build scientific knowledge.
The laboratory experiment
Divide in two groups, one part of the group is subject to the treatment of the
condition, the other is a control group, measure the results before treatment, measure
the results after treatment, compare results of before and after treatment.
Randomization of groups is important.
Causality has a strong connection with determinism (the ontology that if we would
know all applicable laws of nature as well as the initial conditions, we can perfectly
predict what will happen in the future). We think about casualty as a counterfactual
understanding. Y is caused by X, Y occurs when X occurs and if X does not occur, Y
does not either.
Different types of explanations
1. Causal, focus on providing a cause explanation to the outcomes we observe.
2. Functional, it explains the existence of something in terms of its function.
3. Intentional, in explaining human behavior we often use intentional explanations,
involving certain states of mind.
We additionally hold strong philosophical intuitions about human intentions and
behavior:
-That we have free will (metaphysics)
-That we are uniquely endowed with reason
-That, under normal conditions, we are morally responsible for our acts and omissions
(ethics)
Social ontology= we create a reality to an extent that natural science does not, e.g.
legal personality and corporate criminal liability.
Ontological questions= are natural and social reality the same or are they different?
Are money, firms and markets as real as water is? What assumptions do we make
about social reality in our scientific theories?
, Epistemological questions= how can we acquire reliable knowledge about social
reality? Can theories in social science be based on facts alone? Can and should social
science explanations be causal?
Positive theory (descriptive)
-A theory about the world as it is.
-You adapt your theory according to the world.
-Makes explicit positive expectations towards the world.
Normative theory (prescriptive)
-What ought to be
-Has a world-to-theory fit
-Makes explicit normative expectations towards the world
Truth preservation= with a logically valid argument, true premises always lead to true
conclusions. If not all premises are true, we don’t know if the conclusion is true. The
validity of an argument does not depend on the truth of the premises or the
conclusion.
Logical argument= a process of creating a new statement from one or more existing
statements. An argument proceeds from a set of premises to a conclusion, by means
of logical implication, via a procedure called logical inference.
Denying the consequence (modus tollens), logically valid
Affirming the consequent (modus ponens), logically
invalid
Denying the antecedents, logically invalid
Week 2
