Ideology and Science

What impact does ideology and science have?

What is a ‘closed belief system’?

a dogmatic worldview that is resistant to change and does not allow for alternative perspectives or evidence e.g Christianity, Islam

What is an ‘open belief system’?

a belief system that allows for new ideas and evidence to be added, this allows the evolution of ideas e.g Darwinism, Science

Who supports the idea of ‘falsification’

Popper supports the idea of falsification, which says that theories should be testable and able to be proven false

Scientific knowledge is…

What are Merton’s ‘CUDOS’ norms?

What is the ‘C’ in Merton’s CUDOS

Communism - that scientific knowledge should be shared and published so knowledge can grow

What is the ‘U’ in Merton’s CUDOS

Universalism - that the truth of scientific knowledge should be judged by universal and objective criteria e.g testing

What is the ‘D' in Merton’s CUDOS

Disinterestedness - being emotionally detached from research and discovering for the sake of discovery, therefore allowing themselves to be proven wrong

What is the ‘OS’ in Merton’s CUDOS

Organised Skepticism - that no claim is sacred, all can be investigated, criticised and falsified

Which sociologist supports ‘open belief systems’?

Popper

Which sociologist suppoerts ‘closed belief systems’?

Horton

Which belief system believes that knowledge claims can be overturned?

Open belief systems

What are the three devices used by self-sustaining beliefs?

Circulatory

Subsidiary Explanations

Denial of legitimacy to rival beliefs

What is meant by ‘Circulatory’?

each idea is explained by another idea e.g “You disagree with us? That’s exactly what the enemy would say, which proves we’re right.”

What is meant by ‘Subisidary Explanations’?

there is always an excuse to justify the belief system e.g “Our prediction failed? Conditions weren’t right this time, it’ll work next time”

What is meant by ‘Denial of Legitimacy to rival beliefs’?

belief systems reject other views e.g “You can’t trust them, they’re part of the corrupt system.”

What is CSD? (Can’t See Doubt - memory trick)

C	Circulatory explanations	Turns criticism into proof	“You disagree with us? That’s exactly what the enemy would say — which proves we’re right.”
S	Subsidiary explanations	Adds excuses to patch up contradictions	“Our prediction failed? Conditions weren’t right this time.”
D	Denial of legitimacy	Dismisses rival ideas entirely	“You can’t trust them — they’re part of the corrupt system.”

Who proposed the idea of the three devices self-sustaining beliefs use?

Polanyi

Polanyi argues that all beliefs              fundamental challenges to their knowledge claim

What happened to Velivovsky?

He proposed a new, alternative theory and was rejected and his publisher was also boycotted.

What does what happened to Velivovsky tell us?

That anyone who challenges the fundamental scientific ideas are likely to be ridiculed

What does Kuhn argue about how scientific knowledge develops?

Kuhn argues that science develops through paradigm shifts, not steady progress.

What is a ‘paradigm shift’?

when the dominant way of thinking in science completely changes, not an individual shift in thinking, a mass shift

What is a ‘Paradigm’?