Philosophy of science II

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Philosophy of science II

• From positivists to Thomas Kuhn

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Key concepts in the philosophy of science

• Positivism
• Logical positivism
• Falsificationism
• Paradigms
• Anarchy
• Social constructions

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Positivism Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

• Facts
• Facts
• More facts
• Generalize from those facts
• induction

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Comtes evolutionary stages

• Law of three phases of civilisations evolution
• Theological
• Metaphysical
• Scientific
• The final positive stage

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Logical positivism

• Vienna circle 1920s- 1930s
• Moritz Schlick, Rudolf Carnap, Otto Neurath, A.
  J. Ayer
• Metaphysics ( not science)
• All propositions that are neither verifiable by
  empirical observation nor demonstrable as
  analytic.
• Ex. religious and ethical statements....
• Scientific method
• Induction and verifiability

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Alfred Ayer (1910-89) in his Language, Truth and
Logic first published in 1936.

• The first claim of logical positivists is that a
  statement can only be true only if either
• it is a self-evident analytic, deductive truth of
  the kind found in mathematics and formal logic
  (e.g. 224) or because
• the statement matches reality precisely. A
  consequence of this was that statements had to be
  verifiable to be meaningful.

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Vienna circle project

• Develop an exact and unbiased language for
  science.
• logic, mathematics.
• Demarcation problem
• make a clear distinction between science and
  metaphysics (not science)
• Reductionism
• Physics, the queen of science.

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Falsificationism

• Karl R. Popper 1902-1994
• Criticized inductivism and verifiability
• No number of cases of A being B can establish
  that all A being B. All such statements remain
  disprovable.

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Principle of falsifiabillity

• Scientific theory can never be accorded more than
  a provisional acceptance.
• A theory holds until it is disproved.
• Falsification, not verification is the
  appropriate object of the observational and
  experimental procedures of science.
• Falsifiability is a necessary part of a
  scientific theory.

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Poppers hypothetico-deductive method

• Enlargements of our temporary knowledge begins
  with the conversions of hunches or imaginative
  insights into hypotheses.
• Then, once the conditions for falsification have
  been established by the application of deductive
  logic, such hypotheses must be tested through
  sustained search for negative instances.

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Assignment

• Try to give an examples of theories which are
  falsifiable and not falsifiable.
• What would Popper say about a theory which is not
  falsifiable?
• Are popperianism or/and logical positivism
  descriptive or normative theories of science?
  Argue for your answer.
• What does this have to do with the problem of
  demarcation?

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Post-Popperian theories

• Both The logical positivists and popperians did
  not describe reality, they were creating norms
  about how they thought science should be
  practiced for the best ( most effective )
  results.
• Critics by
• Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, Paul Feyerabend

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Thomas S. Kuhn (192296)

• Structure of the scientific revolution (1962)
• Paradigm theory
• Prescience - normal science - crisis - revolution
  - new normal science - new crisis- revolution
• A theory based on study of history of science
• Attempts to describe how science develops in
  reality

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Kuhn's normal science

• Grand theory as a paradigm
• Praxis
• community of scientists
• social power-relations and structures in the
  scientific community
• methodological school, exemplars
• puzzling reality in terms of the grand theory by
  deduction
• increasing anomalies lead to crisis

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Paradigm shift

• In crisis there will be extraordinary science
  where there will be several competing theories
• One theory will win because it will get the
  greatest number of supporters in the scientific
  community
• Paradigm shift is an irrational process, such
  as accuracy, scope, simplicity, fruitfulness, and
  the like of each paradigm

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Kuhns wiew on scientific revolution

• Not (unexpected) new results from research,
  rather a new perspective or interpretation of
  data.

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Assignment

• Exemplify the following concepts
• Paradigm
• Normal-science
• Exemplars
• Anomalies
• Paradigm in crisis
• Extraordinary science
• Paradigm shift
• incommensurability

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Imre Lakatos

• Criticism and the methodology of scientific
  research programs (1968 )
• Reacts to Kuhns views and claims that
• there does exist an objective criteria where
  scientists can make a rational choice between two
  competing theories
• it is due to dishonesty that some scientists do
  not give up their position

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Lakatos scientific research programs

• Research programs are series of theories which
  can be viewed in two ways
• a. negative heuristic that states a untouchable
  hard core of hypothesis with a protective belt
  around it, protecting it from falsification
• b. positive heuristic declaring that the core can
  be altered slightly in order to fit progression

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Positive heuristic

• is the good one from Lakatos point of view
• The development from Copernicus to Newton is his
  good example
• Negative heuristic is the less good one
• Tyco Brahes geocentric theory is Lakatos example
  here

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The Lakatos view ?

• He revised the Popperian view after Kuhn
• If the Popperian view had been practiced through
  history none of the progressive theories would
  have survived
• He wanted to save the sciences from Kuhn's
  irrational grounds

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Anarchy

• Paul Feyerabend
• No single correct method in science
• Anything that works is fine
• epistemological anarchy

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Social construction of science

• laboratory life is disorganized
• Scientific logic vs. availability of equipment,
  funds, careers etc.