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Summary Philosophy of Science and Methodology - Exam Notes
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This is a summary of all content for the exam in the course of Philosophy of Science and Methodology at the UvA.
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Lecture Notes:Lecture 1
➢ Scientism
○ "Our mind is a perfect mirror of reality"
○ Knowledge and truth about nature and humans are only found by and in science
○ "The scientific method is the only method to obtain facts and the truth"
➢ Skepticism
○ "Our mind is a crooked mirror" - we know nothing and we never will
○ Critical thinking about science, its methods and boundaries
■ Pluralistic conception of rationality and knowledge
■ There is more than one truth; truth is experience, uncertainty and
knowledge is an oppressive power
○ Individual and emotional expression are key
○ Knowledge and truth are social constructions that need to be 'deconstructed'
■ Nihilism/relativism
➢ Philosophical Skepticism
○ Critical thinking about science within the boundaries of philosophy
○ A relativistic, radical interpretation of philosophical skepticism has become like a
raging fire in society
■ 'Alternative facts'
■ 'Fact free politics'
■ 'Fake news'
● According to Com. Science - misinformation
➢ The Enlightenment
○ Emphasized reason and individualism instead of tradition
○ The Scientific Revolution
■ XVI century
■ New methods of doing research
■ New philosophy of knowledge and of the world
○ The Political Enlightenment
■ XVII and XVIII centuries
■ Age of reason
○ Industrial Revolution
■ XIX century
○ Great Acceleration
■ Globalization
■ Communication and media
■ Specialization of knowledge
■ Very powerful strategy for collective learning
■ Enormous progress (morally and materially)
■ Anthropocene = recent humanity
■ We are in the new current geological age
, ● Human activity is now the dominant influence on climate and the
environment
■ Central role for reason, science and technology as the driving force of
development
■ Also brings risks, challenges, downsides and responsibilities
Lecture 2
➢ Exploring humans
○ Humans are exploring beings: curiosity defines human consciousness
○ Observations provide us with evidence for explanations
○ Two basic exploration styles
○ Naive inquiry
■ Non-formalized, non-systematic and non controlled form of collecting and
summarizing information into naive theories
● Common sense
○ What we do in daily life
● Pre-modern thinking
○ Religious thinking, belief in a given truth
● Non-sophisticated ways of knowing the truth
○ Fixed knowledge - dogmatic knowledge
● Hypothesis is mistaken for theory
● Methods of thinking
○ Tenacity: what is commonly known as truth
○ Authority: highly regarded person speaks the truth
○ Reasonable man: reason and logical consistency is key
○ Scientific inquiry (the Scientific Method)
■ 'Highly formalized, systematic and controlled inquiry'
● 'Observations and reasoning are prone to error'
● 'Science shifts the locus of truth from single individuals to groups,
by establishing a set of mutually agreed upon rules for
establishing truth'
● Analytical-empirical approach
■ Associations
● Critical shift when compared to naive inquiry
● Internal beliefs should be supported by external evidence
● Methodological rigour
➢ Throwback Lecture 1
○ Facts are problematic today
○ There is a spectrum of philosophical positions in regards to science, that ranges
from Scientism to Scepticism
■ They are connected to modern and postmodern thinking
○ Humans are exploring creatures and have to ways of knowing and researching -
naive and scientific inquiry
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