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The Epistemology of Thought Experiments, Part 1 [THINKING ABOUT SCIENCE MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI Massimo Pigliucci is professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and coeditor (with Maarten Boudry) most recently of Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem. His essays can be found at rationallyspeaking.org. The Epistemology of Thought Experiments, Part 1 y colleague Maarten Boudry Let’s set aside for a moment the eth- doscience is too simple to account for and I just put together a col- ics of brutally killing an animal that can the actual complexities of the scientific Mlection of essays (Philosophy of feel plenty of pain just so that your cold process. But then he goes on to claim Pseudoscience, University of Chicago becomes less importune. Asma isn’t so that being “well versed” in logic doesn’t Press) on what philosophers call “the naive as to actually infer a causal con- guarantee you won’t believe in woo. His demarcation problem,” the issue of nection between drinking turtle blood example? Arthur Conan Doyle’s (Sher- what exactly separates sound science and improving cold symptoms. He lock Holmes’s creator) belief in the from bad science and pseudoscience. mentions the placebo effect but he says, curse of Tutankhamen. Asma seems It’s the kind of somewhat arcane issue “Who knows, maybe one of these days to have mistaken the logical powers of of interest to philosophers and the kind science will discover that turtle blood Doyle’s (fictional) creation for those of of people who read the SKEPTICAL does contain some chemical that has the novelist, and at any rate of course ac- INQUIRER, but it is notoriously diffi- an effect on the common cold virus.” quaintance with logic doesn’t guarantee cult to get the general public involved, Yes, maybe. But even so, it wouldn’t that one accepts only true beliefs. So despite the fact that pseudoscientific practices often have (negative) conse- quences on people’s welfare. Imagine my surprise, then, when I opened a recent issue of the New York As comedian Tim Minchin aptly put it, Times (September 28, 2013) and saw if “alternative” medicine works, an article by Stephen Asma (a philos- we simply call it medicine. opher, it turns out) focused on the de- marcation problem! This should have been good news (Hey! The most widely read paper in the world is talking about demarcation, and they asked a philoso- pher to do it!), except that the headline be a validation of Chinese “medicine,” what? Should we therefore throw out immediately gave me a bit of trepida- understood as a coherent body of prac- logic and critical thinking altogether? tion: “The Enigma of Chinese Medi- tices and theories about human health. But the real kicker arrives near the cine.” It would be just another example of a end of the article, where Asma com- And sure enough, my fears were un- folk remedy arrived at by random trial pares Chinese medicine’s concepts of fortunately confirmed. The piece be- and error that turns out to work for per- qi energy and body “meridians” with gins with a gory episode where Asma, fectly “Western” scientific reasons. As natural selection, genes, and the Higgs who is married to a Chinese woman, comedian Tim Minchin aptly put it, if boson. Well, you know, they all refer is at a Beijing restaurant and complains “alternative” medicine works, we simply to invisible entities, and they all carry of a cold. The proprietor of the restau- call it medicine. “explanatory power.” Seriously? Asma rant—prompted by Asma’s wife— The rest of Asma’s article is full of himself seems to balk at the enormity brings a live turtle to the table, slits its half good points and abysmal non se- of his own parallel, as he quickly adds throat, and offers the fresh blood to quiturs (which, for a philosopher, really that, admittedly, “the metaphysical Asma, who takes it (albeit uncomfort- ought to be a no-no!). For instance, he causal theory [on which Chinese med- ably), goes home, and “somehow” be- correctly points out that Karl Popper’s icine is based] is more controversial.” gins to feel better in the course of the idea of falsification as the demarcation Well, if by “more controversial” you following days. criterion between science and pseu- mean entirely made up without a scrap 26 Volume 38 Issue 2 | Skeptical Inquirer of evidence and in likely contradiction of thing is unfortunately not unheard the scientistic tendencies of some prac- of known physical laws, yes, I’d say of among even very prominent philoso- titioners of science, infusing a bit of that’s more controversial. phers: in the last few years philosopher humility and prompting more transpar- After telling his readers about his of mind Jerry Fodor has coauthored a ency in the whole enterprise. But Asma, adventures with turtle blood and feng book about Darwin being wrong, and Fodor, Nagel, and others aren’t doing shui, Asma continues: “While lying philosopher of mind (another one!) science—or philosophy, for that mat- on the acupuncturist’s table in China Thomas Nagel has published a vol- ter—any favors by indulging in mis- recently, I wondered if I was too skep- ume in which he questions the current guided criticism and the sort of “open tical or too gullible about qi.” I wonder methodological and metaphysical com- mindedness” that Carl Sagan warned whether the reader will be able to guess mitments of science itself (without re- against (your brain may fall out). The which way my own judgment on the ally offering a sensible alternative). demarcation problem is a serious one matter lies. It is good to have people from out- because science has extraordinary so- The crucial question, of course, side of science, but who are well ac- is why is an otherwise accomplished quainted with its inner workings, to cial cachet and commands huge sums writer and philosopher like Asma writ- keep an eye on the epistemic warrant of public financing, as well as because ing this sort of stuff (not to mention and underlying assumptions of scien- pseudoscience maims and even kills why it gets published in the New York tific theory and practice. That’s what people. But please let turtles live in Times). I will not speculate on possible philosophy of science (and also history peace, and get used to the fact that there psychological motives (as I mentioned and sociology of science) at its best is just isn’t a remedy for the common cold. above, his wife is Chinese), as I don’t supposed to do. It keeps the conver- Nor are there such things as qi energy ■ know the guy personally. But this sort sation going, and hopefully minimizes and meridians. There’s much more Skep ti cal In q uir er available on our website! Here’s just a sample of what you’ll find: “Burzynski Clinic: A Scientifical Year of Fail” Sharon Hill’s “Sounds Sciencey” column looks back at the most flawed sciencey story of 2013: Antineoplastons—touted as a miracle cancer cure with little to no proof. “CFI–Argentina 2013 Report” Veteran skeptic Alejandro Borgo discusses his recent course on “Beliefs, Pseudoscience and Critical Thinking” in Argentina. For more online columns, features, and special content, visit www.csicop.org. Skeptical Inquirer | March/April 2014 27.
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