Philosophy of Science Lecture Notes

A collection of vocabulary flashcards based on key concepts from the lecture notes on philosophy of science.

Strict Empiricism

Laws of nature are just generalizations from experience

What is the problem with strict empiricism?

Cannot distinguish real laws from accidental generalizations

What is this saying an example of: “All swans are white”?

An accidental generalization, only true by coincidence and in observed cases

What is this saying an example of: “All electrons have the same charge”?

Real law, reflects properties of nature

What is “ceteris paribus”?

Fundamental laws do not describe what bodies actually do, only what they would do under ideal conditions

What is the first step of Cartwright's argument?

Laws dont describe actual behavior

What is the second step of Cartwright's argument?

Laws are tools for explaining, not just reporting, behavior

What is the third step of Cartwright's argument?

Forces described by laws do not exist separately

What is the forth step of Cartwright's argument?

Laws are theoretical tools that describe potential behavior, not literal behavior we can always see.

What’s the problem with induction?

No number of confirming observations proves a generalization

What is the falsification principle?

Can deductively show a theory is false, and just because a theory survives a test does not make it the truth

What is the critique on Popper’s idea of falsifiability?

Ignores how we generate theories and relies on highly confirmed theories, not just falsification.

What is Antirealism?

Science aims for empirical adequacy (correct observations or tests); agnostic about unobservables (does not believe what we cannot see)

What is Realism?

Science aims for truth; justified belief in unobservables posited by best scientific explanations

Generality

Explains more phenomena

Simplicity

Minimal assumptions

Unificatory power

One explanation for many things

Fertility

leads to new discoveries

What is Descartes’ Method?

Explains what we see using tiny invisible particles

What is Retroduction?

Way of figuring out what causes something by looking at its effects. Observe effects and deduce concequences.

Moral certainty

Explanations can be wrong, but highly unlikely (EX, Rome exists even if you haven’t been there)

Induction

Verify observable regularities (observe a repeating pattern and confirm it happens consistently)

Abduction

Hypothesize causes, including unobservables, to explain the laws.(make an educated guess about the hidden cause of the pattern)

Deduction

Extract consequences and check against observations.

Example: In this senario, 1.Magnets attract

2.Hypothesize screw-shaped particles forming strings

3.Deduce observed attraction from mechanical forces

What is number 1?

Induction

Example: In this senario, 1.Magnets attract

2.Hypothesize screw-shaped particles forming strings

3.Deduce observed attraction from mechanical forces

What is number 2?

Abduction

Example: In this senario, 1.Magnets attract

2.Hypothesize screw-shaped particles forming strings

3.Deduce observed attraction from mechanical forces

What is number 3?

Deduction

Hume’s findings?

Laws = generalizations from experience; problem: cannot distinguish real laws.

Cartwright’s findings?

Laws describe dispositions, not actual behavior

Descartes findings?

Science = conjectures & falsifications, not confirmations.

Bacon findings

Induction; posited micro-processes for heat.

Newton findings

Applied unobservables in physics; claimed “no hypotheses.”

Whewell findings

Inventing hypotheses to colligate facts.

Peirce findings

Abduction = hypothesis of causes for known effects.

McMullin fundiings

Formalized retroduction: induction → abduction → deduction.

Van Fraassen findings

Circularity objection → skeptical of retroduction; antirealist.