History and Philosophy of Science (ASL 1514) – Video Notes

History and Philosophy of Science

  • Quote: “History of science without philosophy of science is blind, and philosophy of science without history of science is empty” — Norwood Russell Hanson
  • Dual role for informatics research:
    • History of Science provides data to evaluate theories and explain observed behavior.
    • Philosophy of Science provides general principles for how science should function; informs interactive systems in informatics.
    • Together, they support general informatics systems that benefit a broad range of scientific researchers.
  • Cultural context:
    • Society is saturated with scientific claims and tech outcomes.
    • Increasing scientific literacy is important for careers and understanding how science works.
    • Key questions: what is science, how are theories accepted or rejected, and what certainty do we have about scientific claims?

Case studies in History of Science (Ancient Medicine)

  • Imhotep (~2650 B.C.) renowned for medical knowledge; people traveled to seek cures.
  • Heart of Egyptian medicine: trial and error; successful remedies reused, failed ones learned from.
  • Moldy bread used on wounds; modern science links some bread molds to penicillin.
  • Poppy seeds used to relieve pain; contain morphine and codeine, recognized as analgesics today.

History

  • History: terms and meanings
    • Greek historia means inquiry; Latin historia means story or account.
    • Nikolaos Gysis: historia relates to past events and the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information.
  • Academic discipline:
    • Uses narrative to examine past events and determine root causes.
    • Key characteristics: 1) passion for research, 2) objectivity in documenting discoveries, 3) concern for preserving facts, 4) ability to interpret information.

Philosophy

  • Etymology: Philos‑ (love) + sophia (wisdom) ⇒ “love of wisdom.” This involves active, critical engagement, not mere adoration.
  • Core conception:
    • Philosophy is a voluntary commitment to articulate principles, evaluate claims, and seek values through active intellect.
  • Three major qualities: 3 major qualities
    • Personal commitment
    • Broad liberty
    • Critical mindedness

Science

  • Definition: a systematic body of knowledge about general truths, tested through the scientific method.
  • Etymology: Latin Scientia; related terms Episteme (Greek), Wissenschaft (German), Nauka (Russian).
  • Historical shift: natural philosophy evolved into science as emphasis shifted to the scientific method (Galileo, Bacon, Hobbes).
  • Scientific method (high level):
    • Critical observation → formation of hypotheses → experimentation to test hypotheses
    • Successful results become theories; well-supported theories become laws over time
    • Tools: physical apparatus and non-physical ideas in the researcher’s mind

History of Science (03)

  • The history of science is empirical: studies methodologies, practices, personal traits, and social pressures affecting science.
  • Kuhn quote: “historical study can yield a new sort of understanding of the structure and function of scientific research.”
  • Roles identified: scientific data, scientific knowledge, scientific communities in everyday discovery and revolutions.

Philosophy of Science (04)

  • Broadly investigates: concepts, activities, and interactions of scientists
    • Structure of explanations
    • Form of scientific methodology
    • Methodology of scientific justification
    • Context of discovery
    • Nature and progress of scientific knowledge
  • Demarcation, realism vs anti-realism, and the aims of science (prediction, control, or description of mind-independent reality).
  • Key issues include: what is a theory vs a law, the nature of scientific explanation, time and space, and questions about reductionism vs emergence.
  • Notable concept: falsifiability as a hallmark of science; assessment of when explanations count as scientific.

Philosophy of Science: epistemology and science

  • Epistemology: study of knowledge—its sources, truth conditions, and justification.
  • Philosophy of science critiques and clarifies scientific assumptions, methods, and claims; seeks to distinguish science from non-science.
  • Core questions include:
    • What is scientific about science?
    • How should we demarcate science from non-science?
    • What makes explanations good or successful?
    • What is the status of scientific theories: predictive tools vs true descriptions of reality?

Notable Philosophers (selected)

  • Aristotle (384-322 BC) – founder of science and philosophy of science in many domains.
  • Francis Bacon (1561-1626) – promoted inductive method from observation to patterns.
  • Rene Descartes (1596-1650) – promoted deduction from first principles; influence on later science.
  • Pierre Duhem (1861-1916) – defended empiricism; cautioned about unobservable entities.
  • Carl Hempel (1905-1997) – theory of scientific explanation and confirmation.
  • Karl Popper (1924-1994) – falsifiability as the hallmark of science (skeptical stance toward theories).
  • Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996) – normal science vs revolutionary science; paradigm shifts.
  • Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994) – “anything goes” critique of strict scientific method.
  • Evelyn Fox Keller (1936-) – feminist philosophy of science; genetics history.
  • Elliott Sober (1948-) – parsimony and evolutionary biology foundations.
  • Nancy Cartwright (1944-) – laws of physics in idealized contexts; causation and probability in modern science.

Quick review prompts (from worksheet ideas)

  • What is history? What is philosophy? What is science? What is the history of science? What is the philosophy of science?
  • What issues arise in the demarcation problem? What is falsifiability? Is direct observation reliable?