Phil of Sci: Exam 2

What is mentioned in Kuhn's infamous X-rated Chapter?

When a new paradigm is adopted, the entire world changes.

What is Lakatos' "research programs"?

a set of shared assumptions, methods, and argumentative standards within a field of inquiry that competes with other sets of shared assumptions for dominance over a field

Aristotle and Popper thought that ______ was all that science needed

deduction

Kuhn thinks that scientific revolutions are inevitable, and are _____ to the scientific process

essential

What is abduction

given some range of phenomena, the best of all competing explanation of that phenomena is probably accurate

What is inductive generalization?

given some sample of cases, we conclude something about EVERY subsequent (possible) case

what is inductive projection?

given some sample of cases, we conclude something about the next subsequent case

The logical empiricists thought that both ____ and ___ were needed for science

induction, deduction

what are the three forms of induction?

inductive projection, inductive generalization, and abduction

What are the two forms of skepticism regarding induction?

interactive inductive skepticism, Humean inductive skepticism

How does Holism view testing?

it is impossible to test a single hypothesis isolation from any others; testing always involves testing an interconnected network of claims

What is primitivism?

it is okay to be circular with induction, since induction is actually the foundation of all justification

Feyerabend argued that science is best thought of as a form of ___

art

What is the definition of holism (in general):

the claim that you cannot understand a particular thing without understanding it's place in a larger whole

There are two components to every research program for Lakatos:

the hard-core, and the protective belt

what is hypothetico-deductivism?

the idea that a hypothesis is confirmed when it's logical consequences turn out to be true

What are the "protective belt" components of the research program?

the less-fundamental ideas that are used to apply the hard-core to actual phenomena

What are the semantic meanings of a paradigm?

the meanings of foundational terms, like "mass" and "energy" and "species" change on a holistic basis

what is revolutionary science according to Kuhn?

the period which springs from crisis science until a new paradigm appears. during this period all of the rules of normal science break down; what counts as good argument and justification is unclear

What is the procrastination problem for Kuhn?

the residence of paradigms is simply laying the inevitable, and science should not delay the inevitable.

What is the "hard core" component of the research progam

the set of assumptions and ideas that are essential to the program

What is the Pre-paradigm state?

the state of a "science" prior to the great achievement in which scientist are more or less flipping around aimlessly

What is Holist Determination?

- some phenomenon is observed +Theory 1 accounts for the phenomenon +Theory 2 also accounts for that phenomenon and is incompatible with Theory 1 Problem 1: The two theories are empirically equivalent

What is the basic underdetermination problem:

-there is a phenomenon, and you want to explain that phenomenon -You come up with a variety of competing (incompatible) explanations -You test your explanations to see which is correct, but find that all of the observations you make are consistent with all of the explanations

What us Kuhn's Characterization of Science and Scientific Processes?

1. Period of Pre-Paradigm: scientists flop aimlessly 2. A great achievement is made that inspires others, that exhibits a form that can be developed, refined, and elaborated as a general method of science 3. NORMAL SCIENCE begins: the field becomes obsessed with puzzle solving 4. ANOMALIES ARISE: some puzzles become problems and are resistant to solution 5. CRISIS SCIENCE arise: the anomalies accumulate until they hit a critical mass 6. REVOLUTION BEGINS: when a new paradigm is forged

What is the Contrastive Problem: Observation is Theory-Laden?

1. what we observe always depends on a theory of what it is we are observing 2. there is always alternative possible theories of what we are observing that compete with one another 3. Given 1 and 2, if the only way that we can decide between theories is observation, then we are stuck in a never-ending loop 4. The only way that we can decide between theories is observation 5. Therefore, we can never rationally decide between competing scientific theories

According to Kuhn, anomalies ______ considered refutation

Aren't

What is the regress problem to Kuhnian Revolutions?

If science really is a cyclical process of normal-to-revolutionary science without end, then there cannot be any "final" truth for science to discover

What is the solution to the issue raised about the problem of holistic testing?

Isolating what is suspected to be the issue, but new issues could arise while doing this

What is the pragmatic response to induction?

It would be prudentially inside to give up our trust in induction. Our decision to assent to induction is a practical decision, and if we were to avoid making inductive inference, then we would fail to reap the practice benefits of science.

What is the problem with holism testing?

One consequence is that if a test doesn't match a prediction, then something in that network of hypothesis is false, but we don't know which. The data is underdetermined.

What are the two solutions to the holist and contrastive problems (what allows us to place greater credence on one hypothesis over another):

Option 1: social-structure-of-science theorist suggested that scientists themselves are in the privileged position of making this decision (they are the authority) Option 2: holistic tempering relative to some set of theoretical virtues (when a test fails to live up to a prediction, one should aim to make the smallest changes possible to keep it as intact as possible for retesting)

____________, for Kuhn, aren't brought on by simply a better idea. There must be something seriously wrong with the "old ideas" guiding the paradigm.

Revolutions

Define Grue:

Something, x, is true if and only if x was witnessed before t and was green, or is witnessed after T and is blue

What is Kuhn's crisis science?

The period when the existing paradigm no longer inspires and guides scientists because those scientist lose faith in the fundamental assumptions and methods of the paradigm ---- there is no alternative paradigm to take it's place

T/F: A holist about meaning, claims that the meaning of a word is determined by its place in a larger system of meanings

True

T/F: According to Kuhn, his vision of science is a cycle of "normal science" to "revolutionary science", mediated by "crisis science". And repeat

True

T/F: Correlation does not imply causation

True

T/F: Kuhn's work is to said to have undermined the logical positivist/empiricist movement

True

T/F: The data acquired underdetermines the correct explanation in the Basic Underdetermination Problem

True

T/F: The holist underdetermination problem relies on the idea that hypotheses/theories cannot be tested in isolation

True

T/F: Your understanding of one word depends on your understanding of other worlds, according to Holism

True

T/F: certain knowledge is impossible to get from induction, we only get probabilistic knowledge

True

T/F: for the hypothetico-deductivist, to give evidence for a hypothesis doesn't require an argument; it simply requires that the consequences of a hypothesis indeed turn it to be true.

True

what is induction?

a form of an argument in which the premise, if true, makes the conclusion probably or likely to be the cause, but there is no logical guarantee - an ampliative form of inference

what is deduction?

a form of argument in which the premise, if true, logically guarantees the truth of the conclusion- a non-ampliative form of inference

What is non-demonstrative inference?

a form of inference is non-demonstrative fi and only if it is ampliative; the premise, even if true, does not necessitate the conclusion

What is demonstrative inference?

a form of inference that is demonstrative if and only if it is non-ampliative; the premise, if true, necessitates the conclusion

Feyerabend advocated for a complete _____ of any adherence to methods.

abandonment

The _____ and _____ activity is simply part of the scientific game during normal science, to see if a given solution to the puzzle works

conject, refute

Induction is not enough to give us _____

certainty

What are the inter-program changes, according to Lakatos?

changes are made to the protective belt, to accommodate predictive failures of the program during testing

What are intra-program changes, according to Lakatos?

changes that are made to the whole collection of research programs that are active in a scientific field at a time

According to Kuhn, there are two kinds of scientific-change within Kuhn's picture:

normal change guided by dogma, and revolutionary change guided by intuition and leaps of faith

For Kuhn, a ______ is MORE than a theory, that begin with specific achievement

paradigm

Kuhn replaces a concern for "scientific theories" with a concern of "scientific ______ "

paradigms

According to Kuhn, normal science is nothing more than a ____ ____ exercise

puzzle solving

Lakatos thought of paradigms as ______ ____ and there were many of these competing within a field at a time

research programs

According to Kuhn, as soon as an alternative paradigm is developed (through a great achievement), the field/science enters into a ______ period

revolutionary

What is the irrational program to Kuhn's revolution?

science ends up sounding remarkably irrational; and is hardly a good answer to our questions

What is the commercial paradigm problem for Kuhn?

some "achievements" create paradigms that aren't exactly considered science

People working in different paradigms:

speak different languages

What is the counterexample problem to Kuhnian revolutions?

there are some worries that Kuhn is overgeneralizing (or overstating) his view

What does it mean that revolutionary science is non-cumulative ?

there is no way to see if there has been any progress from earlier paradigms to later (potential) paradigms

What is the Underachieving Science problem for Kuhn?

there's no deep conceptional reason to think that a paradigm MUST be based on a great achievement

T/F: Feyerabend believed that scientists should employ any method which seems to have some hope of some success, but do not adhere to that methods of the success. Unless you must

true

T/F: Holism believes only a network of claims, working together, permit us to make interesting predictions

true

T/F: The holistic problem was articulated in terms of individual hypotheses, and how they can only be tested as a network of hypotheses, rather than one hypotheses at a time

true

T/F: without justification, we should remain skeptical about science

true

What is iterative Inductive skepticism?

we cannot know, for certainty, that something, X, is probably the case

What is humean inductive skepticism?

we have no reason to think that the future is going to resemble the past

What are the evidential meanings of a paradigm?

within each paradigm, that paradigm seems superior to the others, because argumentative standards are internal to the paradigm