Philosophy: Ontology, Epistemology, and Methodology

Ontology

• Addresses the question of whether a real world exists, and if reality is independent of our perspective.

Epistemology

• Explores how we can acquire knowledge about the world and whether objective knowledge is attainable.

Methodology

• Defines the process used to construct knowledge about reality.

Mind-World Dualism vs. Mind-World Monism

• Mind-world dualism posits that the mind is separate from and does not influence the real world.
• Mind-world monism suggests that the mind determines or constructs the outside world.

Four Main Positions or Methodologies

• Neopositivism combines dualism with the idea that knowledge comes from experience (phenomenalism).
• Critical realism merges dualism with the belief that knowledge can be known objectively (logical positivism).
• Analytics operates under monism, asserting that knowledge stems from experience.
• Reflexivity, also based on monism, suggests knowledge can be known objectively.

Positivism

• Posits a real world exists about which objective knowledge can be obtained.
• Asserts no difference exists between natural and social sciences.
• Employs deduction as its primary method.
• Aims to develop generalized rules of cause and effect for future predictions.
• Branches of positivism include naturalism, empiricism, methodological individualism, and rational choice.

Interpretivism

• Views meaning as assigned to the world and its events through human construction.
• Claims objective, general, law-like knowledge is not possible.
• Social sciences are distinct from natural sciences.
• Research relies on interpretation.
• Words acquire meaning through human assignment.

Critical Realism

• States a world exists independent of perception.
• Knowledge about the world can only be acquired through perception.

What Is Actually Science?

• No universally agreed-upon definition or criteria exists.
• Scholars use the term to legitimize work or discredit others' work.
• Social sciences are particularly contested in this regard.
• In International Relations (IR), there is agreement on the need for empirically grounded and coherent knowledge, with a universal desire to be "scientific."

The Demarcation Problem

• Focuses on the search for criteria to differentiate science from pseudo-science.
• Carl Sagan offered an unapologetic condemnation of "pseudoscience."
• Positivists emphasize verifiability as a major criterion.
• Interpretivists argue against a singular criterion.

The Cartesian Problem

• Stems from René Descartes' principle of doubting everything that can be doubted.
• Reflects a desire for absolute certainty, impossible to achieve without superhuman facilitation.
• Expresses the impossibility of being absolutely sure of the truth.
• Aligns with an empiricist viewpoint and the practice of theory testing.

Weber

• Differentiates between practical political positions and the scientific analysis of science, highlighting the importance of words.
• Aims to distinguish between facts and values, acknowledging the impossibility of value neutrality in social science, while still advocating for striving towards it.

Karl Popper's Falsification

• Suggests attempting to disprove a hypothesis rather than trying to prove it.
• Claims falsification distinguishes science from pseudo-science.
• Defines knowledge as a "system of statements" tested through observation and experiment.
• Science involves both statements permitted and prohibited by a theory.
• Notes that because every theory is contradicted by at least one experiment, strict falsification is impractical.

Jackson

• Advocates for science to be systematically done and result-oriented.
• Calls for a broader definition of science based on goals.
• Argues that politics is about convincing people you are right, thus science should focus on knowledge, not normative evaluation.

Kuhn's Paradigms

• States producing scientific knowledge is a social process.
• Says the world is theory-laden.
• Paradigm: A universally recognized framework that defines the object of scientific research and how scientists conduct it.
• New and old paradigms cannot coexist; an old paradigm must disappear when a new one emerges.

Kuhn's Paradigm Shifts

• Normal science operates within a paradigm.
• Anomalies arise, leading to a crisis within the paradigm.
• A scientific revolution occurs, introducing a new paradigm.
• A paradigm shift involves changing from the old paradigm to the new one.
• The new paradigm becomes the mainstream, marking the completion of the shift.

Lakatos' Scientific Research Programmes (SRPs)

• Science progresses through research programs—long-term, structured approaches that guide research.
• Each SRP has two main components: the "hard core" (unchangeable central ideas) and the "protective belt" (flexible, testable hypotheses).

Two Methodological Rules in SRPs

• Positive heuristic: Adjusting theories and auxiliary hypotheses when faced with anomalies.
• Negative heuristic: The hard core of the SRP cannot be falsified.

Heuristics

• Ideas become "common sense" through belief.
• Human brains create shortcuts to organize and solve problems, which can lead to misunderstandings and cognitive biases.
• Heuristic: A mental shortcut to simplify problems and avoid cognitive overload.
• Dichotomies: Two things perceived as complete opposites.
• Straw Man: Misrepresenting someone's argument to make it easier to attack.

Essentialism and Reification

• Essentialism: Belief that certain traits are intrinsic to specific categories.
• Reification: Critiques the idea that essential traits are natural when they are socially constructed.

Deduction vs. Induction

• The inductive approach begins with empirical observations, seeks patterns, and then theorizes about those patterns.
• The deductive approach begins with a theory, develops hypotheses, and then collects and analyzes data to test those hypotheses.

Social Facts (Durkheim)

• Institutions, norms, and values influence us through social relations and interactions.
• This influence makes us believe something is true and shapes our understanding of the world.

Types of Social Facts

• Collective: Ways of being that affect everyone (values).
• Coercive: Constant ways of being (society).
• Exterior to individuals: Inherited from social structure and passed on through language and structure.

Concepts

• Things that share common characteristics or general types of behavior.
• They are labels, shortcuts, and analytical tools.

Conceptual Traveling

• Applying old concepts to new cases.

Conceptual Stretching

• Distortion when a new case does not fit in the old concept.

Conceptual Adequacy

• An attempt to respond to a standard set of criteria felt in information and use of social science concepts.

Concept Formation (John Gerring)

• Includes the phenomena to be defined, properties, and a label.
• Criteria for a good concept: familiarity, resonance, parsimony, coherence, differentiation, depth, theoretical utility, and field utility.

Operationalization

• Turning an abstract idea into empirical indicators, broken down into smaller, verifiable elements.
• Example: Understanding social classes through income size.

Concept Formation

• The process of selecting the term by which some collection of things should be known.

Values and Facts

• Researcher's values influence the entire process.
• Value neutrality is impossible; values and facts cannot be separated.

Heisenberg Effect

• Someone changing their behavior because they know they are being monitored.

Scientific Standard

• Clarifying which statements are deduced or observed from facts, and which are normative statements.

Epistemic Communities

• People trained in the practice of science who establish standards for knowledge creation and evaluation.

Institutional Imperative

• Rewards and sanctions for adhering to a standard.

CUDOS

• Principles or norms for scientists: communism, universalism, disinterestedness, organized skepticism.

Fallacies in Reasoning

• Shifting the burden of proof.
• Loaded question.
• Straw man.
• Circular reasoning.
• False dilemma.

Academic Freedom

• Absence of intervention from external entities.
• True freedom is hard to achieve due to research's dependence on funding.

Critical Thinking

• Analyzing, evaluating, and critiquing information to enhance understanding of the world.

Evaluating Information

• Distinguishing knowledge claims from other types of statements.
• Justification supported by evidence.
• Acknowledging human limitations, alternating views, empirical data, paying attention to emotional influence and rational debate.

Using Reason and Logic

• Premises of an argument are logically linked to the claim or conclusion.