...A selection of questions to be discussed: * Scientists: are they discovering or are they making it up? * Do the facts dictate our theories? * Is there any secure basis for our future expectations? -- or is it just a matter of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best? * Does science explain -- does it help us to understand anything? or does it merely describe? ------- * Is everything relative, or is there always something absolute behind what is relative? ------- * How do or should scientific revolutions affect our view of science? * Scientific theory choice: is it objective? Or does it depend on cultural, historical, or subjective factors? * If historical factors do play a role, can science still be a search for truth? Texts: 1. T. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions 2. C. G. Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science 3. Course Packet #1: Lecture Outline (Includes examples, diagrams, and background material as well as the weekly schedule of readings) 4. Course Packet #2 : additional readings, needed in addition to the textbooks 5. Books on Reserve in Firestone (A list is included with this syllabus) Course Packets are available at Print-It, 15 Witherspoon St. [Go back to top of this course syllabus] COURSE REQUIREMENTS: NOTE 1: Revising your work in response to comments will be central to the requirements. The first and second assignments each consist of two parts: an initial version and...
Words: 1105 - Pages: 5
...ON PHILIOPHY OF TEACHING SCIENCE By: Mr. Irjo M. Goopio Introduction: What makes a scientist different from a philosopher? A Scientist observes what happens. He manipulates variables whenever possible in order to observe what happens under controlled circumstances. He is able to discover and explain the laws of nature which lead them to formulate theories. A Philosopher does none of the above-mentioned activities. Instead he asks himself questions like: “what is the law of nature?” “What is a scientific theory?” He explains the role of deduction in science. Philosophy is unlike science, pure verbal, analytical, and reflective. Then how can a scientist be a philosopher? Discussion: * What is philosophy? * Remote from the usual human interest and quite beyond normal comprehension. * Extremely complex intellectual activity. * A form of Inquiry – a process of analysis, criticism, interpretation and speculation. (Singer – 1990) * The search for the ultimate, conducted by reason, in order to satisfy man’s curiosity about himself and the universe. * Why study philosophy? * Makes a man think – think about the basic foundations of: * His beliefs * Outlook in life * His knowledge * It is from our human needs and immediate concerns * What is philosophy of science? * Set forth principles more basic and comprehensive than the conclusions of individual sciences. * Proved a positive...
Words: 1804 - Pages: 8
...1. The problem of the interaction between philosophy and science is well known. Some philosophers say that philosophy is a science while others say that it is not a science. So, philosophy differs from science as well as from religion by its methodology of cognition and also by world outlook, while science and religion consider that knowledge has only one beginning therefore there is only one true knowledge and only one true methodology of cognition. I think that scientific methodology is in many ways close to the religious one. Science supposes that there is only one proper basis of knowledge, it is experiment and rational analysis of nature, just as religion considers that there is only one source of knowledge, God (or other Absolute). Therefore there is only one methodology of searching for science (scientific theories and experiments) and only one way of cognition for religion (revelation and spiritual dialogue with God). By contrast, philosophy agrees that there are many ways of cognition, just as there are many forms of knowledge and many beginnings of that knowledge. Wisdom in my mind is the form of personal knowledge. That is why there is neither a scientific philosophy, nor a religious philosophy, but there is philosophy of science and philosophy of religion, which describe the phenomena of scientific and religious thinking. Philosophy is always personal experience and cogitation and there is no universal wisdom, which would be the same for all the people, just as there...
Words: 906 - Pages: 4
...Assignment 2 The Philosophy of Science Hanken School of Economics Quantitative Research Methods M.C. 8.11.2010 Table of contents 1 The Philosophy of Science 1 1.1 The Philosophy of Marketing Theory: Historical and Future Directions – Mark Tadajewski 1 1.2 “Paradigms Lost”: On Theory and Method in Research in Marketing – Rohit Deshpande 4 1.3 Empirical Business Ethics Research and Paradigm Analysis – V. Brand 6 2 Summary on key learning notes 9 Bibliography 12 The Philosophy of Science The discussion of marketing as a science and the different paradigms related to it were unfamiliar to me before I read these articles included in the assignment. I had earlier gotten familiar with the discussion of economic sociology and the discussion and the debate between economics as a science (especially the neo-classic economic approach) and the subject it researches, i.e. the economic markets where these economic practices take place. It is thus also logical to become familiar with the evolution of marketing practices, as this to many degrees resembles and also equates to the evolution of economic sciences and other sciences alike. The articles are assessed in the order that I read them, since it is hopefully also possible for the reader to follow a logical construct in the development and adoption of the insight that the articles provide on marketing research. Even though this does not pose a logical progression of the articles time-wise, I still...
Words: 4412 - Pages: 18
...PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Religious tradition • Religious traditions make it their task to impart a definite doctrine, and to preserve it, pure and unchanged. • It is the task of a school to hand on the tradition, the doctrine of its founder, its first master, to the next generation in its inviolate form. Religious tradition • A school of this kind never admits a new idea. • New ideas are heresies, and lead to schisms. • But the heretic claims, as a rule, that his is the true doctrine of the founder. • All changes of doctrine, if any, are surreptitious changes. Religious tradition • School founded by Pythagoras had the character of religious order, with a characteristic way of life and a secret doctrine. • A member of that school was drowned at sea because he revealed certain secret doctrines. Critical Tradition • School of Thales (Ionians) allowed or encouraged critical discussion between various schools and within one and the same school. • Thales seems to have been able to tolerate criticism and what is more, he seems to have created the tradition that we ought to tolerate criticism. Critical Tradition • This tradition leads to the realization that our attempts to see and find the truth are not final, but open to improvement. Criticism and critical discussion are our only means of getting nearer to the truth. Critical Tradition • Philosophy may be defined as a search for truth that involves following arguments and evidence, without recourse to authority...
Words: 1805 - Pages: 8
...HUM1000 Philosophy and Science HUM1000 May 29, 2016 HUM1000 The philosophy of science is the area that deals with what science is, such as morals and the laws of the land that develop how one should live and ethics. An intrinsic good is not a means to something else, as cash can be a means to valuable pleasure. Instrumental good is something considered as a beneficial to some other good, an instrumental good leads to something else that is worthy. Science is a logical approach to studying the natural world. It is a determination of what is most likely to be accurate at the current time with the evidence at our view to determine the facts. The philosophy of science is the area that deals with what science is, how it and other things work, and the logic through which we develop scientific knowledge. Enlightenment philosophers have had a deep influence on the develop of society, they basically have given the structure to government today. European masterminds, for example, John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are a portion of the European political scholars who have changed the course of history. John Locke was a 1600s English scholar that delivered thoughts which turned into the way to the Enlightenment. He trusted that individuals have a characteristic right to life, freedom, and property. These rights had a place with all people from the season of birth. Locke contended that rulers have an obligation to ensure its subjects...
Words: 1330 - Pages: 6
...link: descartes DESCARTES (1596-1650) AND THE CARTESIAN DOGMA OF A MECHANICAL UNIVERSE theme: Descartes is usually regarded as the founder of modern philosophy. His belief in the certainty of knowledge or 'truth' - the 'Cartesian belief' - was the basis for his method of analytic reasoning - the 'Cartesian method' - which he claimed was a function of the 'soul' - 'Cartesian doctrine'. He viewed the universe as a machine designed by divine reason or 'God' - the 'Cartesian dogma'. Descartes' perception of 'human nature'... The "essence of human nature lies in thought, and all the things we conceive clearly and distinctly are true". In this way Descartes demonstrated the value of error and proved his doctrine - the 'Cartesian doctrine' - that human reason was a valid means of searching for certain knowledge or 'truth'. "Most ancient civilizations knew what we have forgotten: that knowledge is a fearful thing. To know the name of something is to hold power over it. In ancient myths and legends, eating from the tree of knowledge meant banishment from one garden or another. In the modern world, this Janus-like quality of knowledge has been forgotten. Descartes, for example, reached the conclusion that 'the more I sought to inform myself, the more I realized how ignorant I was.' Instead of taking this as a proper conclusion of a good education, Descartes thought ignorance was a solvable problem and set forth to find certain truth through a process of radical skepticism." (Miller...
Words: 3190 - Pages: 13
...Philosophy of science is within the domain of philosophy. It is the filed that research the academic questioning in whether philoshpy has the room for improvement on how philosophy itself can affect the science. Philosophy of science can be divided into two main sectlions as the following; that is, social science and natural science. According to Karl Popper, science must meet the conditions to be defined as the science. These conditions are falsifiability, testability and refutability. His such as thought is also known as 'the problem of demarcation'. He proposed that a theory of science can be founded on the basis of its falsifiability since logical positivists faced the problem with inductive isssues. For example, if there is a claim that all raven is black, then the observation which is one of the scientific methodology must be proved that all raven over the world is black. If so, the claim can be accepted as the truth. However, this is not possible that the purportents can observe all raven in the world. This is why inductive method has the limitations on itself. Thus, Popper thought that real science should be falsifiable not examinable for all observations. This is the principle of falsifiability. For instance, if there is at least one raven which is white due to albino-mutant, then the claim is regraded as a false. So, there is the room for the improvement on the claim, that is, science or scientific theory. From this point of view, Popper regraded Marxism and astronology...
Words: 276 - Pages: 2
...consequences thereof. Products and services that are referred to in this book may be either trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher and author/s make no claim to these trademarks. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library _______________________________________________________________________ ISBN: 978-1-86152-881-0 First edition published by Academic Press Limited 1992 Typeset by Dexter Haven Associates Ltd, London Printed by TJ Digital, Padstow UK Copyright 2009 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Licensed to: iChapters User . . . . . 1 The philosophy of financial research Research is a process of intellectual...
Words: 13049 - Pages: 53
...Phenomenology: A research tool in nursing practice Phenomenology: A research tool in nursing practice Description of the problem Nursing as a discipline and branch of science has grown tremendously over the years. The use of research, scientific inquires, evidence-based practice, and scientific validations have contributed immensely to this growth. Several disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Arts, and Philosophy have played major factors in the growth of nursing as a science. Science as a discipline is never static and continues its growth through the use of quantitative and qualitative research inquires. Phenomenology is a branch of philosophy that aims to utilize methodology in nursing research (Tuohy, Cooney, Dowling, Murphy, & Sixsmith, 2013). This paper will focus on the role of phenomenology as a research tool in nursing practice and the similarities between phenomenology and the views of logical positivists. Background and significance Edmond Husserl is recognized as the pioneer of Phenomenology, having introduced this movement at the beginning of the 20th century (Tuohy et al., 2013). Phenomenology as a branch of philosophy focuses on the importance of exploring the realities of life and living, it is a method of recounting occurrences as it appears to the person experiencing the occurrence (Tuohy et al., 2013). Phenomenology is described as a movement because unlike other philosophical views; it...
Words: 2211 - Pages: 9
...phenomenon and institution of science suffer from a curious limitation. It is as if all those who analyse the subject were overawed by the grandeur of modern science, and their studies were in the nature of tributes laid at the feet of this great saviour. All analysis starts from the assumption that modern science is a set of value-free theories that uniquely explain reality. After the scientists in the early 20th century started overhauling their theories in a big way, it was granted that the value-free theories of science that explain reality may do so only partially at a given time, but as science progresses, its theories explain more and more of reality and the process converges towards the ‘ultimate’, ‘unique’ law that explains everything. Committed to this idealist picture of a unique value free science, the philosophy of science is reduced to a set of attempts at finding the epistemological criterion, internal to science, that allows the scientist, unencumbered by any extraneous considerations, to choose the true theory out of a competing set; the sociology of science is reduced to writing down the set of social norms, self-imposed by the scientific community, which ensure that the technical criterion that guarantees the selection of the ‘true’ theory is strictly adhered to and the historiography of science is reduced to writing a catalogue of the achievements of modern science, discovering the contributions made by more ancient sciences to the modern science and , more...
Words: 4795 - Pages: 20
...In many ways, physics stems from ancient Greek philosophy. From Thales' first attempt to characterize matter, to Democritus' deduction that matter ought to reduce to an invariant state, the Ptolemaic astronomy of a crystalline firmament, and Aristotle's book Physics (an early book on physics, which attempted to analyze and define motion from a philosophical point of view), various Greek philosophers advanced their own theories of nature. Physics was known as natural philosophy until the late 18th century. By the 19th century physics was realized as a discipline distinct from philosophy and the other sciences. Physics, as with the rest of science, relies on philosophy of science to give an adequate description of the scientific method.[13] The scientific method employs a priori reasoning as well as a posteriori reasoning and the use of Bayesian inference to measure the validity of a given theory.[14] The development of physics has answered many questions of early philosophers, but has also raised new questions. Study of the philosophical issues surrounding physics, the philosophy of physics, involves issues such as the nature of space and time, determinism, and metaphysical outlooks such as empiricism, naturalism and realism.[15] Many physicists have written about the philosophical implications of their work, for instance Laplace, who championed causal determinism,[16] and Erwin Schrödinger, who wrote on quantum mechanics.[17] The mathematical physicist Roger Penrose has been...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...our everyday life inspires sociological theories. Marx Weber (1897) exerts that, “sociology is a science which attempts the interpretive understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects." Prior to careful analysis of various views sociologist hold on sociology as a scientific discipline I would have deemed sociology as a science. However, subsequent to immense reading open-mindedly, I beg to differ that sociology is a science. According to Hindes (2015), a science is “a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws.” A scientific study constitutes objectivity, observation, testability, accurate and reliable predictions and measurements as well as generalisation. With this being said, it is argued by many sociologist that sociology is a science since it harnesses scientific methods in its study of society. According to Auguste Comte and Durkheim, sociology is a science because it adopts and applies the scientific method”, as cited by Mondal (2015) in Sociology as a branch of science. Sociology as a science requires the study of the social phenomena of society with the possession of the characteristics of science. However, it is evident that much Sociological research continues to struggle to meet criteria needed to be considered a science. As human beings, who absorb biases and prejudices from...
Words: 459 - Pages: 2
...was someone who made the first functioning car (Karl Benz), someone who discovered electricity(Benjamin Franklin), and someone who invented the sport of american football(Walter Camp). If Sociology had a founder, it would be considered Auguste Comte. “Comte’s decision to develop successively a philosophy of mathematics, a philosophy of physics, a philosophy of chemistry and a philosophy of biology, makes him the first philosopher of science in the modern sense, and his constant attention to the social dimension of science resonates in many respects with current points of view.”(Bourdeau). The question is, what is Sociology? “Sociology is the study of societies and the social worlds that individuals inhabit within”(TheSociologyProject). Auguste Comte was born in Montpellier on January 20, 1798. Comte was a very intelligent man. “Having displayed his brilliance in school, he was ranked fourth on the admissions list of the Ecole Poltechnique in Paris in 1814.”(Bourdeau). Throughout his life, he wrote a good amount of texts. “Comte’s most important works are (1) the Course on Positive Philosophy (1830-1842, six volumes, translated and condensed by Harriet Martineau as The Positive Philosophy of Auguste Comte); (2) the System of Positive Polity, or Treatise on Sociology, Instituting the Religion of Humanity, (1851-1854, four volumes); and (3) the Early Writings (1820-1829), here one can see the influence of Saint-Simon, for whom Comte served as secretary from 1817 to 1824.”(Bourdeau)...
Words: 983 - Pages: 4
...British Society for the Philosophy of Science The Nature of Philosophical Problems and Their Roots in Science Author(s): K. R. Popper Source: The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Vol. 3, No. 10 (Aug., 1952), pp. 124-156 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Society for the Philosophy of Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/685553 . Accessed: 13/09/2013 04:37 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Oxford University Press and The British Society for the Philosophy of Science are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 58.27.243.214 on Fri, 13 Sep 2013 04:37:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE NATURE OF PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR ROOTS IN SCIENCE * K. R. POPPER I IT was after some hesitation that I decided to take as my point of departurethe present position of English philosophy. For I believe that...
Words: 13723 - Pages: 55
