Basic Ideas in Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of Science

Section I

Basic Ideas in Philosophy of Science

Chapter 1: Philosophy of Science

1. What is Philosophy?

The word ‘philosophy’ comes from the Greek word ‘philosophia’, which literally means ‘love of wisdom’. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is a world view through which one looks at world, society, self and life in general. It provides a window in and through which one looks at everything else. It is the enquiry of wisdom which needs a natural enquiry and a moral enquiry. The main branches of Philosophy are Logic, Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Ethics.

2. What is Science?

Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by researchers making use of scientific methods, which emphasize the observation, explanation, and prediction of real world phenomena by experiment. In Subjective sense Science refers to the actual appearance of human intellect by which we arrive at conclusions, bring out theorems, explanations etc. In an Objective sense Science refers to the object of science as the subject of something. Science refers to the whole of Cognitive activities.

a. Etymological meaning of the term science

The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning ‘to know’ or knowledge. Science means ‘knowledge gained by study’ to a ‘particular branch of study’.

b. Different meaning of the Term science

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is "knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, especially as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world. "Science is a logically ordered system of true or at leastprobably true, and universal statement concerning the essences, foundations, causes and finality of object in a definite field of knowledge with reference to the investigations, arguments and demonstrations upon which the conclusion are based.

c. The Characteristics of Science

i. Science is a system which is coherent, logical and has interconnectedness.

ii. It has a definite field of knowledge, There is a clear demarcation

iii. It is expressed in Universal terms.

iv. Science is concern with essence, foundations, causes and finality

v. Conclusions of science are reliable, though tentative.

vi. It deals with Nature, with society, and has got rules and norms.

vii. It has a special technical language and methodology

viii. It is based on Observations and experiment

3. What is Philosophy of Science?

The Word Philosophy of Science was coined in 1840 by William Whewell. The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth. Philosophy of science studies the world view of scientific theories and elaborates the broader implication. It elucidates various concepts in science like observation, evidence, law, theory and explanation etc. It studies the prejudices and pre disposition of scientist and the very language of science.

v Aristotle was the first philosopher of Science.

Chapter 2: Relevance of Philosophy of Science

1. Relevance in Contemporary Science Today

a. Philosophy of Science is a basic force that shapes our character and actions in a way that affects our day-to-day experience.

b. It can examine the coherence of concepts, frameworks and existing practices within any individual discipline

c. Science can give answer to mystery of nature and about space and time.

2. Relevance in for a student of Philosophy

a. The most important value of philosophy of Science is that it utilizes reasoning as the method of rational enquiry.

b. It helps us to widen our "world-view".

c. It helps a person to have critical analysis

3. Relevance in for a person in a the Religious/ Priesthood training

a. It helps a person to deepen the faith in God

b. It helps a person to have better relationship with people

c. It helps a person to tackle problems efficiently.

Chapter 3: History of Science and Philosophy of Science

1. What is History

The word ‘History’ is derived from the Greek word ‘historia’, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation". It is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History is a record of event taken place in particular space and time. It is always written from the powerful, rich, dominant and even male respective. It is an instrument to guide us in understanding the past and revive the historical consciousness of the society.

v Heraclitus is the father of History

2. What is History of science?

The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world. History of Science is a branch of history which studies about the beginning growth and success of science. History of science gives us the information about the origin, growth, success, struggles and failures which Science or the state or religion encountered at a given time.

Relic: Any object that comes used in the past and become a source of information when a study or an experiment is performed on the object. Historians obtain information from two sources that is Primary sources (Newton’s Diary) and Secondary sources ( Newton’s report a century later.)

3. Why do we Need History of Science?

We need History of Science in order to

a. Realize the real picture of science

b. To realize the humble beginning of science

c. To make us learn a lot from our ancestors so that we will not be born ignorant

d. History of science provides case examples to be useful to philosophy

4. How are Philosophy of Science and History of Science Related

Lakatos said ‘History of Science is blind without philosophy of science and philosophy of science is empty without history of science”. The Philosophy of science and History of Science are both academic disciplines that encompass the philosophy of science and the history of science.Until the 18th and 19th centuries, there was no real distinction between scientist and philosopher, and many of the great scientist-philosophers of antiquity were also theologians.

Chapter 4: Scientific Methodolgy

1. What is Scientific Method

Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. A Scientific method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning.The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate (that is, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary) representation of the world. It is a method to attain a scientific end.

2. What is Not a Scientific Method?

a. A Rigid adherence to one’s beliefs without justification is not a scientific method but tenacity.

b. Believing in something because Authority has said so is not a Scientific method and whose authority is based on books, individual, institute and tradition

c. A method which is based on Intuition which is not scientific

3. Basic steps in Scientific Methodology

a. Stating a Problem: Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. Stating a Problem by asking right questions

b. Forming a Hypothesis: Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomena

c. Observation and experiment:Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.

d. Interpretation of Data:Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments. The data have to be interpreted.

e. Drawing conclusion.

4. ‘Mental Devices’ used in Scientific Method

The scientific method is the foundation of modern science. It is a process for making observations, recording data, and analyzing data. Scientific method uses Logic, Classification, Comparison, Models and Mathematics to arrive at a conclusion of a particular thing.

a. Logic: Scientific method uses inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning to try to arrive at an objective truth. Inductive reasoning is the examination of specific instances to develop a general hypothesis or theory, whereas deductive reasoning is the use of a theory to explain specific results.

b. Classification: The various data have to be classified for easy access and to give meaning.

c. Comparison and Analogy: It helps to understand the problem at hand in a better way.

d. Model: It is a miniature representation of the work to be done

e. Mathematics: It is the soul of science

5. Two Major Methods Used in Scientific Science: Inductivism&Hypotheism

Inductivism:

The word Inductivism is credited to Francis Bacon. David Hume said about Inductivism as “that general statements (theories) that have to be based on empirical observations, which are subsequently generalized into statements which can either be regarded as true or probably true. In Inductivism, scientific research proceeds from observations to theories. Scientists begin with experiments, finding out what happens in specific cases. They then use the results of these experiments to develop general theories about what happens in all cases.

Hypothesism

The word ‘Hypothesis’ is derived from Greek word ‘hypotithenai’, meaning "to put under" or "to suppose". Hypothesis is and observation which depends on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Hypotheism generates new, creative hypotheisis which is realistic. René Descartes is the father of Hypothesim.

Comparison between Inductivism and Hypotheism

Inductivism	Hypotheism
v Method of science is method of Induction.	v Method of science is method of Hypothesis
v Francis Bacon is father of Induction	v Rene Descartes is the father of Hypotheism
v It is rooted in Empiricism	v It is rooted in Rationalism
v Science must start from fundamental observation	v Science starts only when we go beyond observation
v It is Anti- Realism	v Realism