Introduction to Scientific Philosophy

• Scientific philosophy provides the assumptions, ideas, and procedures upon which science is founded.
• It explores the foundations, methods, and implications of science.
• It is concerned with defining science, scientific methods, what makes scientific knowledge unique, and the scope of scientific inquiry.

Core Questions in the Philosophy of Science

• What is science, and how does it differ from other forms of knowledge?
• What are the requirements for scientific knowledge, and how are scientific claims justified?
• Why do scientists continue to use models that are known to be imperfect?
• What are the limits of scientific investigation, and how is empirical data used to test hypotheses?
• How do social, political, and historical factors influence scientific research and the development of scientific knowledge?
• What is natural law, and are there non-physical disciplines like biology and psychology?
• Epistemology, empiricism, and ethics are among the philosophical traditions used in the philosophy of science to address these questions.
• It involves collaborations with scientists to refine ideas and methodologies.
• Scientific theories are judged by their predictive power and ability to withstand empirical testing.
• Cultural biases, social conventions, and historical circumstances impact scientific research.

Defining Science and Non-Science

• The demarcation problem is the challenge of distinguishing between scientific and non-scientific beliefs and practices.
• There aren't universal agreed upon criteria for classifying something as scientific.
• Karl Popper identified the demarcation problem as a major issue in the philosophy of science.
• Popper argued for falsifiability, where scientific ideas must be disprovable through empirical testing.
• Falsifiability allows for rigorous testing and refinement of scientific theories.
• Theories relying on untestable assumptions or unobservable events are considered pseudoscientific.
• Psychoanalysis, creation science, and historical materialism have faced scientific challenges:
• Psychoanalysis faces challenges due to subjective interpretations and untestable claims.
• Creation science has been rejected due to lack of factual evidence and religious commitment.
• Historical materialism has been criticized for its deterministic and reductionist approach.

Branches of Philosophy of Science

• Philosophy of science includes various sub-disciplines.

Epistemology:

• Epistemology studies the nature of knowledge and how it's acquired.
• It questions the nature of scientific knowledge, its acquisition methods, and standards for assessing scientific claims.

Empiricism:

• Empiricism emphasizes the importance of empirical evidence in developing knowledge.
• It focuses on observation and experimentation in scientific investigation.

Ethics

• Addresses ethical implications of scientific research and scientists’ societal duties.

Induction:

• Induction involves reasoning from specific observations to broader conclusions.
• It justifies inferences from specific observations to universal rules or hypotheses.
• Example: Observing many apples falling leads to the conclusion that all apples fall when dropped.

Deduction:

• Deduction tests scientific ideas by making specific predictions or hypotheses.
• Example: Assuming all living beings need oxygen leads to predicting that removing oxygen will cause death.

Parsimony/Occam’s Razor:

• Parsimony involves favoring the simplest explanation.
• Occam’s razor states that no more assumptions should be made than necessary.

Paradigm Shifts and Scientific Revolutions:

• Thomas Kuhn introduced paradigm shifts and scientific revolutions.
• Scientific development occurs in stages: normal science within a paradigm, and scientific revolution where a new paradigm replaces the old.
• Scientific revolutions involve changes in core assumptions, concepts, and methodologies.

Philosophy of Particular Sciences:

• This includes specialized areas focusing on specific scientific disciplines.

Biology Philosophy:

• Investigates the nature of life and living systems.
• Covers biological methodologies, concepts, and ethical concerns related to biological research.

Medicine Philosophy:

• Explores the theoretical foundations of medical knowledge and practice.
• Investigates the nature of health and illnesses, and the ethical implications of medical practice.

Psychology Philosophy:

• Studies the philosophical underpinnings of psychology, such as the nature of mind and consciousness.
• Investigates the connection between psychology and other disciplines like neuroscience.

Physics Philosophy:

• Focuses on the fundamentals of physics, such as space, time, matter, and energy.
• Examines how physical theories like relativity and quantum physics affect our knowledge of the universe.

Social Science Philosophy:

• Concerned with the nature of social phenomena and methods of social investigation.
• Explores the connection between social science and other fields like psychology and economics.