PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY OF SCIENCE 3

1
PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY OF SCIENCE(3)

• Vincent F. Hendricks
• Department of Philosophy and Science Studies
• Roskilde University
• vincent_at_ruc.dk
• Thursday, February 26 / 2004

2
PHILOSOPHY / Knowledge

• Consider initially the JTB definition of
  knowledge again
• S knows that p if and only if
• S believes p (the belief condition)
• p is true (the factual truth condition)
• S is justified in believing p
• Getting Gettierized is largely a
  justificational issue (both belief and truth are
  preserved, but justification is not)
• Many an attempt has been made to fix the JTB
  account to sustain Gettier attacks, i.e. such
  that knowledge for the wrong reasons are
  replaced by knowledge for the right reasons
• Many such attempts focus on the reliability of
  the belief acquisition methods
• What are belief acquisition methods? Our
  perceptual apparatus is one such method
• Whether our immediate senses are reliable is the
  main theme of chapter 3

3
PHILOSOPHY / Knowledge - Perception

• Why shouldnt the primary senses be reliable?
• Because we can doubt
• deceptions, p. 71 (Ex. The Cartesian Demon)
• dreams, p. 72 (Ex. The Cartesian Dream)
• illusions, p. 76 (Ex. The modes of appearance)
• hallucinations, p. 76 (Ex. The modes of quality)
• microscopes and telescopes, p. 77
• perceiving the immediately unperceivable, p. 78
  (Ex. Atoms and electrons)
• Doubt is the starting point of skepticism of
  which there are essentially to forms
• Epistemic skepticism How is knowledge possible
  since it is possible that we err?
• Metaphysical skepticism Does the world exist, or
  to what extent does the world exist

4
PHILOSOPHY / Knowledge - Perception

• Perception and Qualities of Material Things
  (Locke), p. 79
• primary qualities (qualities existing
  independently of perception)
• secondary qualities (qualities existing
  dependently of perception)
• Is perceptual knowledge of the world, or is
  perceptual knowledge (any knowledge for that
  matter) only of the minds content or ideas?
• Berkeleys Idealism, p. 80
• there is no independently existing matter
• in existence are only minds and ideas
• chair is another name for a orderly recurring
  pattern of sense-experiences
• veridicality is coherence among
  sense-experiences
• according to idealism, for all physical objects
  Esse est percipi (to be is to be perceived)
• Causation and sense-experience / divine causation

5
PHILOSOPHY / Knowledge - Perception

• Problems in idealistic paradise, p. 86
• esse without percipi
• the existence of other minds as esse est percipi
  only applies to physical objects
• for other minds the motto is (to be is to
  perceive)
• solipsism
• what is evidence?
• continuos existence and divine perception
• Phenomenalism, p. 89
• To be is to perceivable or the permanent
  possibility of sensation (Mill)
• sensing sense-data is indubitable but to perceive
  a real physical object is dubitable

6
PHILOSOPHY / Knowledge - Perception

• More skeptical attacks
• noticing and the appearance of matter, p. 92
• sense-experiences and epistemic attitudes (ex.
  certainty), p. 93
• the (Myth) of the Given
• classification
• proposition
• acquaintance)
• sense-data and sensing is intimately connected to
• conditions of observation
• the nature of the organism
• the purposes of observation

7
PHILOSOPHY / Scientific Knowledge - Prep

• The object of scientific knowledge laws of
  nature
• What are laws of nature
• Explanation and relevance
• What is a scientific theory
• The nature of scientific methods
• Assessment
• Discovery
• Inference to the Best Explanation
• Abduction
• Deduction vs. Induction
• Criteria of success
• Criteria of convergence