3b Philosophy of Science

Week: 27/05

Learning Objectives

We will closely examine the perspectives of various thinkers on the question of what distinguishes science from non-science or pseudoscience, known as the demarcation problem. This will include a look on the historical ideas of philosophy of science (empiricism & positivism), and a detailed exploration of modern philosophers of science such as Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn (refer to the picture above).

Required Reading
  • Bem & Looren de Jong (2013), Chapter 3: Phil. of Science (1): Logical Positivism and its Failure
  • Piekkola (2017), Chapter 7.1 & 7.2: Philosophy of Science \(^\textbf{*}\)

\(^\textbf{*}\) Only the two subchapters on empiricism and positivism are relevant for us.

Tutorial Meeting

Question 1

Define the terms verifiability and falsifiability?

Question 2

Not every statements is verifiable and or refutable/falsifiable. Please indicate which statements are falsifiable and verifiable and, importantly, why do you think so?

Statement verifiable falsifiable
1 Ghosts exist. \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)
2 Military officers are more socially embedded in the army than soldiers. \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)
3 The immediate family is a social group. \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)
4 The birth rate in the Netherlands will first drop, and then increase again. \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)
5 Scorpios are often unable to work with their colleagues, and even have a tendency to be rude (astrology). \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)
6 The id is the most primitive part of our psyche, being led by the principle of lust (Freud). \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)
7 Our current fear of spiders is an adaptation that had an evolutionary advantage for our ancestors to survive (evolutionary psychology). \(\bigcirc\) \(\bigcirc\)

Question 3

Following logical positivism, how can you prove the correctness of a statement/theory?

Question 4

What is the positivists’ standard view of science?

Question 5

One of the most fundamental critique against the logical positivism is that there are no theory-neutral observations. Explain what that means and give an example.

Question 6

Beside that problem of theory-neutral observations, Popper had a very principle critique critique of positivism? Explain this critique.

Question 7

Look at these two statements of Karl Popper.

  • “A theory that explains everything is explains nothing.”
  • “The more a theory forbids, the more it says about the world.””

To which concepts in his philosophy that that refer to?

Question 8

Explain the stages in Thomas Kuhn’s Phase model of science.

Question 9

Explain the term incommensurable and how does it play a role in the philosophy of Thomas Kuhn?

Study Checklist

  • Demarcation Problem
  • Logical Positivism
    • The Standard View
    • Assumptions of Positivism (see lecture 3)
    • Problems of Positivism
    • especially (not independent) Observations
  • Karl Popper
    • Critique of Positivism
    • Falsificationism
    • critical vs. dogmatic Thinking
  • Thomas Kuhn
    • paradigms
    • incommensurability
    • Scientific revolution
    • Phase model of scientific development (see lecture 3)
  • Lakatos
    • Competition between research programmes
    • Empirical content
  • History of Philosophy of Science (Piekkola subchapter)
    • Empiricists: Lock & Hume
    • Positivism: Vienna Circle, Comte and Mach