Philosophy of Science

Robert Coloso, Carlo Dominic Dela

Cruz, and Marisue Eusebio
Introduction
Philosophy of science
x history of science
x psychology or sociology of science
x cosmology or philosophy of nature

What is philosophy of science?
- examine concepts
- questions concepts

Philosophy of science
is critique of science.
Philosophy of science before Kuhn
The period before Kuhns work, The structure of
scientic revolutions, which was published in 1996.
Science was regarded as a rational pursuit,
governed by strict standards to obtain objectivity.
Views of science during this period were inuenced
by the Logical Positivists.
Logical Positivists
They were disturbed by the nonsense of some
statements and theories that were branded as true.
They were against the concept of the metaphysical
and called the notion meaningless
They believed that, if a statement is not veriable,it
is meaningless. (i.e. Angels exist, the unconscious
mind represses painful experiences)
Logical Positivists and Veriability
For a claim to be scientic and meaningful, it must be
veriable and observable.
Physicists deal with unobservable phenomena (electrons,
photons, etc.)
Some unobservable entities were meaningful if they can be
connected to the language used to talk about them
The statement, All meaningful sentences must be
veriable, is itself unveriable.
Karl Popper
Karl Popper
Disagreed with the notion that the unveriable was meaningless.
Metaphysical statements may be meaningful, but not scientic.
He proposed that the distinguishing factor between science and
nonscience was falsiability.
If a statement can be proven to be false via experimentation, it is
scientic.(i.e. Einsteins Theory of Relativity, Creationist Theory)
According to Popper, we can only try to falsify our hypotheses. The
contrary would result in a fallacy called afrming the consequent.
Imre Lakatos
Imre Lakatos
Criticized Poppers notion of falsiability.
An experiment might falsify a hypothesis. However, the experiment
might be awed or the theory needs to be modied.
For example, a penny falls from the top of a tall building and falls in
a straight line, however, it is theorized that the earth moves very fast
about its axis.
Lakatos proposed that every theory has a hard core and that aspects
of the theory may be modied without changing the true nature of
the theory. This saves the theory if the experiment fails.
The Received View of Science
The way science was perceived prior to Kuhns The Structure of
Scientic Revolutions
Summarized by James Ladyman in Understanding the philosophy
of science (2002)
Dr. James Ladyman. Department
of Philosophy - University of
Bristol, England

The Received View of Science
1. Cumulative. Science progresses as knowledge is passed on.
2. Unied. There is a single set of rules that unify scientic work
3. Circumstances of the theory do not affect the evidence of the theory
4. There are value-free conrmations and falsications present when
evaluating hypotheses
5. There is a sharp distinction between science and other belief systems
6. There is a sharp distinction between observational and theoretical
terms
7. Scientic terms have xed and precise meanings
Kuhns Critique of the Received View - The Paradigm Shift
A paradigm shift occurs when a
model of rules, denitions, and
beliefs, or a paradigm, is replaced
by a newer version
Typically occurs when new
theories cannot be explained by
the existing paradigm
A paradigm can be metaphorized
as a lens that we use to view the
world in a way that it makes sense
to us
Kuhns Critique of the Received View - The Paradigm Shift
Paradigm shifts can only described as replacements rather than
improvements
- Old paradigms are discarded in favor of the newly established paradigm
The old model cannot be translated to the new model
- Theories between old and new paradigms are incommensurable
While we know more than we do today because of centuries of science, it is
not completely accurate to say that science is cumulative because paradigm
shifts occur. The development of science is discontinuous in that not all
concepts are improved upon, rather they are abandoned and replaced.
Kuhns Critique of the Received View - The Paradigm Shift
Received view:
As a new paradigm is adapted, the
overwritten paradigm ceases to be
scientic, and is relegated as a myth
Kuhns Critique:
If old paradigms are regarded as
myths, then myths can be developed
and produced in the same way
science is
Therefore, the distinction between
science and other belief systems is
blurred, and paradigm shifts are not
made on purely rational bases.
Kuhns Critique of the Received View - TheValue-laden
Nature of Science
Scientists develop values depending on a number of factors
Field
Associated scientic community
Cultural inuence
Personal experience

Because of these values, the scientists performance in the eld may
change
The relevance and value of some theories may differ.
When working with theories, the grounds for falsication or conrmation
may change as certain evidence may be overlooked or over-emphasized
Kuhns Critique of the Received View - Theories and
Denitions
Theory denes what observations and
facts are #considered relevant.
Without theory as a guide,
observations cannot be properly
conducted
As paradigms change, perceptions also
change. As a result. some existing
denitions of terms may change
Therefore, terms do not have static
denitions
Kuhns SSR
two major advancements
- social constructivism
- feminist view

Social Constructivism
a term referring to an increasingly popular philosophical position
in which the objects of our knowledge are held to be either wholly or
partly construed by our coming to know them in the way them do.
the world changes as a result of scientic revolutions
psychological
- less controversial
- less interesting
actual
-more radical
the world holds a totality of facts and what counts as facts depend on
what the theory one holds, and the world that is referred to by these
theories changes as well.
Feminist Philosophies of Science
claims of science have been socially constructed by men
Sandra Harding
- pioneering feminist of science
- errors made in science have come about as a result of gender bias
-male neurosis

MEN
- individualistic
- less concerned

WOMEN
- intuitive
- less prone to abstractions

men are too psychologically damaged to be the
ones doing most science
Feminist Philosophies of Science
Helen Longino
- based analysis of science on a
feminist epistemology
- shows that errors in science
made over centuries can be
corrected by a feminist-inspired
critique of sciences.

Reference:
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/school-of-arts/
people/james-a-ladyman/about.html