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MNSES9100 Autumn 2010 – General Overview
Prof. Deborah Oughton
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, andUniversity of Oslo’s Ethics Programme
Three AreasPhilosophy of Science
What is science?
Research Ethics
EthicsHow should scientists behave?
Science and Society
Education, funding, law
Lecture Plan
Monday Introduction; Philosophy of Science
Tuesday Science, pseudo-science and ideology
Research Ethics, Essay writing; Wednesday
Science and Education; The Modern University Thursday
Research Ethics (cont.); Environmental EthicsFriday
Publication, Ethical guidelines Science, Uncertainty and risk
Essay Seminars
15- 25th NovemberEach student attends a morning or
Each student attends a morning or afternoon sessionOpportunity to get feedback on essay ideasSubmission 13th Dec
Attendance and exam
80% for lectures (register)
Essay seminar not strictly obligatory
Essay seminar not strictly obligatory (but getting approval for an outline is!)
Exam: 6-8 page essay (pass/fail)
Course Literature
Book: Chalmers: What is this thing called science?Articles: Links and pdf files
pdf files will be available on the website until 23rd Dec
Additional: plato.stanford.edu/contents. html
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What do Philosophers of Science do?
Ask:What defines scientific method?Why is scientific knowledge different from other forms of knowledge?
gCan we distinguish between science and philosophy, poetry, technology, religion…What is the difference between a scientific theory and a non-scientific theory?Can science help us believe in the truth of an external world?
Why bother with philosophy?”It might be thought that either philosophers or sociologists would
have been able to illuminate the nature of science and why it has been so successful. Also not only have they failed to do so but some have instead provided what they regard as good reasons for doubting whether science really does provide an
g y punderstanding of the way in which the world works…while providing no real threat to science they have become an increasingly vocal group, with an unfortunate influence on the study of science and its history…
”Fortunately for science these philosophical claims have no relevance to science and can be ignored…defining the nature of science is of only marginal interest, for it has no impact on their day to day activities”
Lewis Wolpert: The Unnatural Nature of Science (Faber and Faber: London. 1992
Reasons to learn about philosophy
Intellectual: educational, scholarly, informed opinionPractical/Social: society’s perception of science and scientists is influenced by what they
y ythink science is.Political: scientific analphabetism, education, funding
Lysenko and KhrushchevWikepedia
”Født sånn eller blitt sånn”
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A Brief History of the Philosophy of Science
16-17th CenturyFrancis Bacon: Experimentation, inductivism,”Science is knowledge; knowledge is power”.
Rene Descartes: human reasoning; ”I think therefore I am”
Vienna Circle (early 20th century)
Logical positivism, verificationismRudolph Carnap, Otto Neugarth, Moritz Schlick
History (cont.)Karl Popper (1943): The Logic of Scientific DiscoveryThomas Kuhn (1970): The Structure of Scientific R l ti
RevolutionsPaul Feyerabend (1975): Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge 1970s-21st century: increased focus on social and political institutions (Ian Hacking, Bruno Latour, Philip Kitchner, Shelia Jasanoff)
InductivismScientific knowledge is derived from observation statements by inductionObservation supplied a secure basis upon which scientific
Theories justified by induction– the ONLY basis for scientific knowledge: LOGICAL POSITIVISM
upon which scientific knowledge can be basedScience starts with observation
Laws/theories
Facts acquired through observation
Predictions and explanations
Induction Deduction
Logical PositivismVienna Circle: Planned to create an oasis of reason in a sea of irrationality. Saw philosophy as the ”hand-maiden of science”, working to clarify issues for natural science.
g yBertrand Russell: attempted to formalise the foundations of mathematics from a set of logical axioms (Principa Mathematica, 1910)Ludwig Wittgenstein: redefinition of truth from one of correspondence to objective fact to one of agreement between persons
Problems with Inductivism
Inductive arguments are not logicalObservation cannot be separated from theory
o t eo yScience doesn’t start with observation
Hypothetico-deductive method
Hypothesis
Logically deduced
consequences –to be tested by experimentalobservation
Experimentalobservations
Laws/theories
Facts acquired through observation
Predictions and explanations
Induction Deduction
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Abduction
Abduction – the selection of the best hypothesis to explain observations –and the reasoning to do this.
Theory/models
Facts acquired through observation
Hypotheses
William of Ockham
Responses to the Problem of Induction
Science cannot be rationally based (Hume’s answer)It works
It worksRetreat to probabilityReject inductivism
Demarcation of Science from other academic
disciplines
-Demarcation of natural sciences from other academic disciplines from other academic disciplines -Demarcation of science from technology, pure and applied science-Demarcation of science from mathematics
Literature: Ziman, Kitcher, Popper
Definitions (OED)
Science – systematic study through observation, experimentation, interpretation to the derivation of universal laws and theoriesNatural Sciences – the study of the nature of the material and physical universe (physics, chemistry, biology, geology,
t t )astronomy, etc.)Social Sciences – the study of society and the relationship of individual members within society (economics, history, political science, psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc.)Technology – the application of practical or mechanical sciences, usually to industry of commerce; the methods, theory and practice governing such applications
(Vitenskap – science or branch of knowledge)
Background - demarcationAristotle and Plato – no distinction between science and philosophy
Greeks to the Age of Enlightenment –mysticism, religion, ideology
Bacon and Descartes scientific
Bacon and Descartes – scientific methodology, logic, mathematics
Russell and Wittgenstein – demarcation between metaphysics and science; and between science and mathematics
Popper – demarcation between natural and social sciences
Science and MathematicsSimilarities: search for truth and proofScience relies on mathematicsDifferences:
Mathematics relies on logic rather than experiment and g pobservation Mathematics uses more sophisticated forms of proof: eg. Asserting a proposition by proving that its negation implies a contradiction
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Philosophy of MathematicsOrigins of mathematics in China, India, Arabia, Middle East, GreecePhilosophical questions concerned with the nature of mathematical truth. Are numbers mental constructs facets of an numbers mental constructs, facets of an idealised reality, rulesMathematics: Analytical statements: true by virtue of the meanings of wordsScience: Synthetic statements: true by virtue of the way things are
Al-Kwarizimi (ca 830) : Source of words algebra and word alogarithm
Milestones in the Philosophy of MathematicsRussell and Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica, 1910Gödels Incompleteness Theorum proved that there will always be unanswerable yquestions in mathematics. No logic system is capable of providing the firm foundations that Russel had hoped forChaos Theory: Lorenz (1960) observations of effect of small varitations in weather models: Non-linear systems
J. Gleick. Chaos (1987); Fermat’s Last Theorum, A. Doxiadis and C.H Papadatos: Logicomix; Uncle Petros
Science and Technology
Arguments for a differenceScientific thought has only one genesis (Greece-Europe)T h l d l d ll Technology developed all over the worldThe understanding of the world acquired through science is different than that obtained from technology
(Wolpert, 1992)
Thales (600-585 BC)
Counter-arguments
Requires a theory of what science isThe distinction between science and technology seems blurred in modern tec o ogy see s b u ed oderesearchThe pragmatist/instrumentalist claims that science is only science when it is of practical use
Similarities between science and other academic studies
Intellectual, reflectoryOwn technical languageInformative ”speaks to the mind”Informative speaks to the mindExplanatory power: once theories have been proposed it is possible to see confirming instances everywhere (inductively powerful)
Ziman
Karl PopperAim: To compare and contrast the following contemporary Twentieth century theories
yEinstein’s theory of relativityFreud’s theory of psychoanalysisAlder’s theory of psychologyMarx’s theory of economics
What made Einstein’s theory special?
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Popper – FalsificationObservation is guided by theoryTheories are intellectually constructed conjecturesTheories can be conclusively falsified in
Theories can be conclusively falsified in the light of suitable evidence, whereas they can never be established as true or even probably true whatever the evidenceScientific hypothesis need to be falsifiableScientific knowledge grows, there is progress in science
Falsifiability ?
Freud Marx Einstein
Falsifiable Hypotheses
Metals contract when heatedPlanets circle the sun in ellipsesLarge gravitational fields will bend
Large gravitational fields will bend lightDiseases are transmitted by germs
Non-falsifiable hypothesis
All ferric compounds contain ironYou might meet a tall handsome man this evening
Animals have evolved so as to best fulfil the function for what they were intendedHuman emotions are motivated by feelings of inferiority
Bold Conjectures and Experimental Hypothesis
”Best” hypothesis: bold, falsifiable, testable”Best” experimental scientists: really try to test their hypothesis (not to verify them)
See also Nelson Goodman on simplicity, strength andsafety of hypotheses
Hypothesis: ”All vowel cards have an even number on their back”
A B 2 3
Which two cards should one turn to test the theory?
A B 2 3
Goldacre, 2006
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Hypothesis: ”Bats use radar and not sight to navigate” Case study: Dancing bees
Karl von FirschHypothesis: after finding a source of
finding a source of nectar, bees returning to the hive use a complex ”dance” to communicate the location of the source to other bees
The ”waggle dance”
Wenner’s challenge
No proof that the other bees understand the dance?Many other ways for the bees to find
a y ot e ays o t e bees to dfood – including odour-search. No proof of cause and effect.
What kind of experiment would really test the hypothesis?
Wenner’s challenge
No proof that the other bees understand the dance?Many other ways for the bees to find
a y ot e ays o t e bees to dfood – including odour-search. No proof of cause and effect.
James L. Gould – ”blindfolded” the dancing bee
Problems with Falsification
Scientists don’t
reject their hypothesisAll observation
statements are fallible, including those purporting to reject a hypothesis
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Milikan’s Oil Drop Experiment (1916)
Auxiliary and ad hocHypothesis
Scientists try to save their theories in the light of falsifying evidenceHypotheses are usually built on a host of auxiliary hypothesis and subsidiary
auxiliary hypothesis and subsidiary assumptions
Popper’s replyDistinguish between interpretations of evidence that bring forth new, independently testable hypothesis and those resorting to ad hoc hypothesis
British Test Veterans –Darby et al., 1989
Hypothesis: veterans exposed to radiation during weapons tests should not show increased leukaemia incidence because the doses were too smallCompared medical records of 22300 exposed veterans and military controlsBy 1984, 20 of exposed group had died of leukaemia compared to 6 controlsApparent increased risk dismissed by the authors as bias since the control cohort had an significantly low rate of leukaemia incidence compared to the general population
Correct use of auxiliary hypotheses
Independently testableScience should be unifiedFecundity – opens up new areas of
h
research
Ad hoc hypothesis – no change in testabilityExample: The prediction of Neptune from Uranus’s movements
Mode of discovery and mode of justification
Difference between what scientists do as individuals (fallible) and what they do as a scientific community – critical rationalism
rationalismProgress can be measured by the significance of observations and confirmationsProblem: all observation statements are fallible, including those purporting to reject a hypothesis
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Popper’s response”The empirical basis of objective science has nothing
”absolute” about it. Science does not rest upon a bedrock. The bold structure of its theories rises, as it were above a swamp. It is like a building erected on piles The piles are driven down from above into the
piles. The piles are driven down from above into the swamp, but not down to any natural or ”given” base; and if we stop driving the piles deeper, it is not because we have reached firm ground. We simply stop when we are satisfied that the piles are firm enough to carry the structure, at least for the time being.”
K.R. Popper. The Logic of Scientific Discovery (London: Hutchinson, 1968)
Additional LiteratureThe Karl von Firsch dancing bees and James L. Gould’s “blindfold” experiments are described in Richard Dawkins, River out of Eden, Phoenix, 1995. A more critical assessment of the dance hypothesis, with reference to philosophy of science is given by
with reference to philosophy of science, is given by the original critic, Andrew Wenner, “The elusive honey bee dance “language” hypothesis, Journal of Insect Behaviour, 15: 859-878 (2002); and Wells and Wenner (1973) Do bees have a language, Nature, 241:171-174. The Gould experiments are described in Gould et.al., 1970, “Communication of direction by the honey bee”, Science, 169: 544-554. All easily available from the internett
Essay TopicsWhich do you think is the most rational
grounding for scientific facts: observation or theory?
Identify some key hypotheses from your own
Identify some key hypotheses from your own branch of science. How well do they meet Popper’s model?
Do some areas have an inherently harder job in demonstrating scientific validity as compared to physics?
Look at theory or history of science in other cultures
Group Discussions
Take a look at your own field of research and PhD project.
Identify what you think to be the major historical
y y jbreakthroughs, and (if possible) key hypotheses and theories.
Is your own PhD project based on testing og hypotheses
How well does your field of research and/or PhD project fit Popper’s model?
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