Debate, Art and Science

Question 1

Plato is kown as a rationalist

According to him to understand the univers it is important ..

Answer 1

According to Plato to understand the univers it is more important to rely on reasons that than on the senses

Question 2

Aristotel scope for observation. Define the correspondence theory of truth

Answer 2

A statement is true when it corresponds with reality. Assume that there is a physical reality which has priority and which the human mind tries to understand.

Question 3

Describe the philosophical view of scepticism

Answer 3

Scepticism is a philosophical view that does not deny the existence of a physical reality but denies that humans can have reliable kowledge of it

Question 4

Summarise the rise of scientific approach (scientific revolution)

Answer 4

The rise of scientific approach can be summarised as a shift in balance from deductive reasoning to inductive reasoning

Question 5

Deductive reasoning

Answer 5

• Form of reasoning in which one starts from known statements and deduces new conclusions
• Conclusions are guaranteed to be true if the known statements are true and if the correct logical rules are followed

Question 6

Inductive reasoning

Answer 6

• Form of reasoning in which likely conclusions are drawn on the basis of a series of convergent observations
• Conclusion is not necessarily true -> certainly in the beginning conclusions are often guesses that turn out to be wrong and have to be replaced

Question 7

name 4 principles of science

Answer 7

1. Realism
2. Objectivity
3. Truth
4. Rationality

Question 8

Define logical positivism

Answer 8

Logical positivism is a philosophical movement in the first half of the 20th century claiming that philosophy should stop thinking about metaphysics and instead try to understand the essence of the scientific approach

Question 9

Name 2 types of truth according to logical positivism

Answer 9

empirical and logical truth
Empirical = observation
logical = reason

Question 10

define verificationism

Answer 10

Verificationism adherence to the principle that a proposition is meaningful only if it can be verified as true or false; with respect to science states that a proposition is scientific only if it can be verified through objective, value-free observation

Question 11

Explain Popper’s falsification alternative to logical positivism

Answer 11

Popper defined falsificationism as a view within the philosophy of science that statements are scientific only if they can be falsified empirically

Question 12

Explain Popper’s Hypothetico-deductive method

Answer 12

observation -> interpretation -> hypothesis -> test

Question 13

Define Kuhn’s theory

Explain the cycle

Answer 13

A discipline needs a general theory to become scientific (otherwise it is a pre-science)
-> theory forms a paradigm (musterbeispiel) against which observations are made, questions posed and answers interpreted
 Pre-science  normal science  crisis  revolution  new normal science  new crisis …

Question 14

Name 4 ways of gathering knowledge

Answer 14

1. Method of tenacity – people hold assumptions because they have been around for a long time
2. Method of authority – people form opinion by consulting “experts”
3. A priori method – people use their own reason and logic to reach conclusions
4. Scientific method

Question 15

Define Realism

And how it defines the truth of knowledge

Answer 15

view within philosophy that human knowledge tries to reveal real things in the world

truth of knowledge is determined by the correspondence of the knowledge with the real world

Question 16

Define Idealism

and how it defines the truth of knowledge

Answer 16

view within philosophy that human knowledge is a construction of the mind and does not necessarily correspond to an outside world

truth of knowledge depends on coherence with the rest of the knowledge in the social group

Question 17

Define pragmatism

and how it defines the truth of knowledge

Answer 17

view within philosophy that human knowledge is information about how to cope with the world

truth of knowledge depends on the success one has in engaging with the world on what works

Question 18

Define the problem of demarcation

Answer 18

it says that statements or systems of statements must be capable of conflicting with possible, or conceivable observations in order to be ranked as scientific