Science and Pseudoscience
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A Coherentist Conception of Ad Hoc Hypotheses
A coherentist conception of ad hoc hypotheses Samuel Schindler [email protected] forthcoming in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Abstract What does it mean for a hypothesis to be ad hoc? One prominent account has it that ad hoc hypotheses have no independent empirical support. Others have viewed ad hoc judgements as subjective. Here I critically review both of these views and defend my own Coherentist Conception of Ad hocness by working out its conceptual and descriptive attractions. Keywords: ad hoc; confirmation; independent support; novel success; coherence 1 Introduction It is widely agreed—amongst scientists and philosophers alike—that a good hypothesis ought not to be ad hoc. Consequently, a theory that requires ad hoc hypotheses in order to overcome empirical tests ought to be less acceptable for a rational agent than a theory that does without (or with fewer) ad hoc amendments. But what precisely does it mean for a hypothesis to be ad hoc? This is what this paper is about. Concept clarification is one of the central tasks of philosophy. Usually, it involves an explicandum and an explicatum, viz. a pre-analytic concept that is to be explicated and a concept which explicates this concept, respectively (Carnap 1950). For example, the concept TEMPERATURE explicates our pre- analytic concepts of WARM and COLD, and allows us to be much more precise and clear in the way we communicate with each other. In the case of ad hocness, the pre-analytic concept is something along the lines of “was introduced for the sole purpose of ‘saving’ a theory which faces observational anomalies”. -
Facilitated Communication: a Cruel Farce
NOTES OF A FRINGE-WATCHER MARTIN GARDNER Facilitated Communication: A Cruel Farce y previous column was about males outnumber females four to one so upon a revolutionary new technique. the myth, so vigorously I shall use the pronoun "he" for any child Today he considers her his "dear friend" M promoted by Dr. Bruno with severe autism.) A therapist, usually a and mentor. Back at Syracuse, Biklen Bettelheim, that autism is caused by woman, is called the child's "facilitator." founded the Facilitated Communi "refrigerator mothers"—mothers with She asks the child a question, then grasps cation Institute, and quickly became the cold, unloving personalities. During the his hand, wrist, or elbow—usually the nation's top guru in promoting FC. past two decades other preposterous hand—while the child extends his index Thousands of therapists have been myths about autism have flourished. One finger and begins to type. The belief is trained in FC at his institute. is the widespread belief among agonized that the child has the ability to commu FC spread like wildfire across the parents that their child's autism is caused nicate intelligent thoughts by typing, but nation and abroad. Dozens of FC centers by early vaccinations. Because there is not lacks the muscular coordination needed were established around the U.S. where a shred of evidence for this, I shall not for finding the right keys. The facilitator parents, for a sizeable fee, could bring a waste space on it here. My topic is a assists him in locating the keys she is sure child with autism and have his normal much more pervasive, more cruel he intends to hit. -
A Quarter-Century of Recreational Mathematics
A Quarter-Century of Recreational Mathematics The author of Scientific American’s column “Mathematical Games” from 1956 to 1981 recounts 25 years of amusing puzzles and serious discoveries by Martin Gardner “Amusement is one of the kamp of the University of fields of applied math.” California at Berkeley. Arti- —William F. White, cles on recreational mathe- A Scrapbook of matics also appear with in- Elementary Mathematics creasing frequency in mathe- matical periodicals. The quarterly Journal of Recrea- tional Mathematics began y “Mathemati- publication in 1968. cal Games” col- The line between entertain- Mumn began in ing math and serious math is the December 1956 issue of a blurry one. Many profes- Scientific American with an sional mathematicians regard article on hexaflexagons. their work as a form of play, These curious structures, cre- in the same way professional ated by folding an ordinary golfers or basketball stars strip of paper into a hexagon might. In general, math is and then gluing the ends to- considered recreational if it gether, could be turned inside has a playful aspect that can out repeatedly, revealing one be understood and appreci- or more hidden faces. The Gamma Liaison ated by nonmathematicians. structures were invented in Recreational math includes 1939 by a group of Princeton elementary problems with University graduate students. DONNA BISE elegant, and at times surpris- Hexaflexagons are fun to MARTIN GARDNER continues to tackle mathematical puz- ing, solutions. It also encom- play with, but more impor- zles at his home in Hendersonville, N.C. The 83-year-old writ- passes mind-bending para- tant, they show the link be- er poses next to a Klein bottle, an object that has just one sur- doxes, ingenious games, be- face: the bottle’s inside and outside connect seamlessly. -
Interview with John Horton Conway
Interview with John Horton Conway Dierk Schleicher his is an edited version of an interview with John Horton Conway conducted in July 2011 at the first International Math- ematical Summer School for Students at Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany, Tand slightly extended afterwards. The interviewer, Dierk Schleicher, professor of mathematics at Jacobs University, served on the organizing com- mittee and the scientific committee for the summer school. The second summer school took place in August 2012 at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, and the next one is planned for July 2013, again at Jacobs University. Further information about the summer school is available at http://www.math.jacobs-university.de/ summerschool. John Horton Conway in August 2012 lecturing John H. Conway is one of the preeminent the- on FRACTRAN at Jacobs University Bremen. orists in the study of finite groups and one of the world’s foremost knot theorists. He has written or co-written more than ten books and more than one- received the Pólya Prize of the London Mathemati- hundred thirty journal articles on a wide variety cal Society and the Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize of mathematical subjects. He has done important in Mathematics of Northwestern University. work in number theory, game theory, coding the- Schleicher: John Conway, welcome to the Interna- ory, tiling, and the creation of new number systems, tional Mathematical Summer School for Students including the “surreal numbers”. He is also widely here at Jacobs University in Bremen. Why did you known as the inventor of the “Game of Life”, a com- accept the invitation to participate? puter simulation of simple cellular “life” governed Conway: I like teaching, and I like talking to young by simple rules that give rise to complex behavior. -
Martin Gardner and Scientific American
would handle all questions in the following month’s col- Martin Gardner and Scientific American: umn. (See Chapter 10 of Martin’s Time Travel and Other The Magazine, Columns, and the Legacy Mathematical Bewilderments for the story.) by Peter L. Renz Martin’s columns rewarded careful readers and skim- mers. Morris looked carefully at the material that was I worked with Martin Gardner as an editor and saw some down his alley. He skimmed the rest and it all looked of the action behind the scenes. How did those who looked fine to him. Thousandsp of readers did the 136 worked with him see him? What resources did he draw same. One “discovery” was that e exactly equals upon? How did he do what he did? Here is a start at 262; 537; 421; 640; 768; 744. The numbers match to one 30 the answers to these questions. part in 10 . Finding the discrepancy by calculation would have been difficult in 1975. At Scientific American. In 1974 I visited my colleagues at Scientific American before heading to Hastings-on- In 2007 I looked through all of Martin’s columns finding the illustrators so they could be credited in new edi- Hudson to meet Martin Gardner. Dennis Flanagan, ed- tions. This gave me a feeling for the columns: their itor of the magazine, told me that having columns like variety and their ideal length and accessibility. I was Martin’s freed him for the trickier parts of his job. Re- reminded of how Martin’s problems permeated the at- viewing Martin’s Colossal Book of Mathematics in Ameri- mosphere in the column’s heyday. -
Doctoraat FINAAL .Pdf
Here be dragons Here Exploring the hinterland of science Maarten Boudry Here be dragons Exploring the hinterland of science Maarten Boudry ISBN978-90-7083-018-2 Proefschrift voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van Doctor in de Wijsbegeerte Promotor: Prof. dr. Johan Braeckman Supervisor Prof. dr. Johan Braeckman Wijsbegeerte en moraalwetenschap Dean Prof. dr. Freddy Mortier Rector Prof. dr. Paul Van Cauwenberghe Nederlandse vertaling: Hic sunt dracones. Een filosofische verkenning van pseudowetenschap en randwetenschap Cover: The image on the front cover is an excerpt of a map by the Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius, originally published in Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570). ISBN: 978-90-7083-018-2 The author and the promoter give the authorisation to consult and to copy parts of this work for personal use only. Every other use is subject to the copyright laws. Permission to reproduce any material contained in this work should be obtained from the author. Faculty of Arts & Humanities Maarten Boudry Here be Dragons Exploring the Hinterland of Science Proefschrift voorgedragen tot het bekomen van de graad van Doctor in de Wijsbegeerte 2011 Acknowledgements This dissertation could not have been written without the invaluable help of a number of people (a philosopher cannot help but thinking of them as a set of individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions). Different parts of this work have greatly benefited from stimulating discussions with many colleagues and friends, among whom Barbara Forrest, John Teehan, Herman Philipse, Helen De Cruz, Taner Edis, Nicholas Humphrey, Geerdt Magiels, Bart Klink, Glenn Branch, Larry Moran, Jerry Coyne, Michael Ruse, Steve Zara, Amber Griffioen, Johan De Smedt, Lien Van Speybroeck, and Evan Fales. -
Ad Hoc Hypotheses and the Monsters Within
Chapter 18 Ad Hoc Hypotheses and the Monsters Within Ioannis Votsis Abstract Science is increasingly becoming automated. Tasks yet to be fully automated include the conjecturing, modifying, extending and testing of hypotheses. At present scientists have an array of methods to help them carry out those tasks. These range from the well-articulated, formal and unexceptional rules to the semi- articulated and variously understood rules-of-thumb and intuitive hunches. If we are to hand over at least some of the aforementioned tasks to machines, we need to clarify, refine and make formal, not to mention computable, even the more obscure of the methods scientists successfully employ in their inquiries. The focus of this essay is one such less-than-transparent methodological rule. I am here referring to the rule that ad hoc hypotheses ought to be spurned. This essay begins with a brief examination of some notable conceptions of ad hoc-ness in the philosophical literature. It is pointed out that there is a general problem afflicting most such conceptions, namely the intuitive judgments that are supposed to motivate them are not universally shared. Instead of getting bogged down in what ad hoc-ness exactly means, I shift the focus of the analysis to one undesirable feature often present in alleged cases of ad hoc-ness. I call this feature the ‘monstrousness’ of a hypothesis. A fully articulated formal account of this feature is presented by specifying what it is about the internal constitution of a hypothesis that makes it monstrous. Using this account, a monstrousness measure is then proposed and somewhat sketchily compared with the minimum description length approach. -
Four Examples of Pseudoscience
Four Examples of Pseudoscience Marcos Villavicencio Tenerife, Canarias, Spain E-mail address: [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6700-4872 January 2020 Abstract A relevant issue in the philosophy of science is the demarcation problem: how to distinguish science from nonscience, and, more specifically, science from pseudoscience. Sometimes, the demarcation problem is debated from a very general perspective, proposing demarcation criteria to separate science from pseudoscience, but without discussing any specific field in detail. This article aims to focus the demarcation problem on particular disciplines or theories. After considering a set of demarcation criteria, four pseudosciences are examined: psychoanalysis, speculative evolutionary psychology, universal grammar, and string theory. It is concluded that these theoretical frameworks do not meet the requirements to be considered genuinely scientific. Keywords Demarcation Problem · Pseudoscience · Psychoanalysis · Evolutionary psychology · Universal grammar · String theory 1 Introduction The demarcation problem is the issue of how to differentiate science from nonscience in general and pseudoscience in particular. Even though expressions such as “demarcation problem” or “pseudoscience” were still not used, some consider that an early interest for demarcation existed as far back as the time of ancient Greece, when Aristotle separated episteme (scientific knowledge) from mere doxa (opinion), holding that apodictic certainty is the basis of science (Laudan 1983, p. 112). Nowadays, the issue of demarcation continues being discussed. Certainly, demarcating science from pseudoscience is not a topic of exclusive philosophical interest. Scientists and members of skeptical organizations such as the Committee for Scientific Inquiry also deal with this crucial theme. The issue of how to recognize pseudoscience not only affects academia. -
The Fantastic Combinations of John Conway's New Solitaire Game "Life" - M
Mathematical Games - The fantastic combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game "life" - M. Gardner - 1970 Suche Home Einstellungen Anmelden Hilfe MATHEMATICAL GAMES The fantastic combinations of John Conway's new solitaire game "life" by Martin Gardner Scientific American 223 (October 1970): 120-123. Most of the work of John Horton Conway, a mathematician at Gonville and Caius College of the University of Cambridge, has been in pure mathematics. For instance, in 1967 he discovered a new group-- some call it "Conway's constellation"--that includes all but two of the then known sporadic groups. (They are called "sporadic" because they fail to fit any classification scheme.) Is is a breakthrough that has had exciting repercussions in both group theory and number theory. It ties in closely with an earlier discovery by John Conway of an extremely dense packing of unit spheres in a space of 24 dimensions where each sphere touches 196,560 others. As Conway has remarked, "There is a lot of room up there." In addition to such serious work Conway also enjoys recreational mathematics. Although he is highly productive in this field, he seldom publishes his discoveries. One exception was his paper on "Mrs. Perkin's Quilt," a dissection problem discussed in "Mathematical Games" for September, 1966. My topic for July, 1967, was sprouts, a topological pencil-and-paper game invented by Conway and M. S. Paterson. Conway has been mentioned here several other times. This month we consider Conway's latest brainchild, a fantastic solitaire pastime he calls "life". Because of its analogies with the rise, fall and alternations of a society of living organisms, it belongs to a growing class of what are called "simulation games"--games that resemble real-life processes. -
HUMANISM and SCIENCE by John Hoad
Humanism Today HUMANISM AND SCIENCE by John Hoad Philosophy may be defined as an exercise in getting conceptual leverage on reality. Humanism is a philosophy and I find it important first to ex- amine what we mean by Humanism before going on to use it for the leverage it brings on human life and its problems. This is particularly necessary because we are in a transition period when several differing definitions are given to Humanism. I speak from my own experience in coming within the last six years into an institutionalized setting for my Humanism. At first I was struck by how frequent and intense the "antidefinitions" were: that is, Humanism defined by what it is not or what it is against. Such Humanism is against God, against Bible, against any suggestion of any reality other than the one accessible to our senses. I even began to discern a certain obssession with the negative: what I call a "trans-meta-super-para- noia!" This may be defined as a tendency to bristle whenever one of those Latin or Greek prefixes gets used. I was particularly interested in how some Humanists related to Jesus-writing articles that proclaimed him one month as not historical, the next month as not original, the third month as irrelevant. I would think to myself, Well, I guess now that they have got that off their chest, they will move on. But no! off they would go again on the cross as a phallus or Jesus as a code name for a mushroom cult, or whatever. -
November 2004 Master of Recreational Mathematics — and Much More an Interview with Martin Gardner
FOCUS November 2004 Master of Recreational Mathematics — and Much More An Interview with Martin Gardner By Don Albers On October 21, Martin Gardner cel- he has produced more than 60 books, a few local magicians in Tulsa, Logan ebrated his ninetieth birthday. For 25 of most still in print; many have been Waite and Wabash Hughes, who worked his 90 years, Gardner wrote the monthly bestsellers. His Annotated Alice has sold for the Wabash Railroad. “Mathematical Games “ column for Sci- over a million copies, and the 15 volumes entific American. His columns have in- collecting his “Mathematical Games” DA: At what age did this occur? spired thousands of readers to learn columns have gone through several more about the mathematics that he printings. All 15 volumes have been digi- MG: I was a high school student at the loved to explore and explain. Among his tized and will soon be published by the time. I’ve never performed magic; it’s just column correspondents were several dis- MAA on a single CD entitled Martin been a hobby. The only time I got paid tinguished mathematicians and scien- Gardner’s Mathematical Games. for doing magic was when I was a stu- tists, including John Horton Conway, dent at The University of Chicago; I used Persi Diaconis, Ron Graham, Douglas In his ninetieth year, he has returned to to work at the Marshall Field’s depart- Hofstadter, Richard Guy, Don Knuth, Sol Oklahoma, where he was born. He is in ment store during the Christmas season Golomb, and Roger Penrose. good health and full of energy. -
Pre-Service Science Teachers' Discrimination Level Of
ORIGINAL ARTICLE Pre-service Science Teachers’ Discrimination Level of Science and Pseudoscience Murat Berat Uçar1* Elvan Sahin2 1Department of Mathematics and Science Education, M. R. Faculty of Education, Kilis 7 Aralik University, Kilis, Turkey, 2Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey *Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT This quantitative study aimed to examine Turkish pre-service science teachers’ beliefs regarding the demarcating between science and pseudoscience. Participants completed the Science and Pseudoscience Distinction Scale. Data collected from the 123 pre-service science teachers were examined based on the dimensions of the instrument, namely science as a process of inquiry (SCI), demarcating between science and pseudoscience, and pseudoscientific beliefs (PS). This study found that these pre-service science teachers generally did not hold strong beliefs on distinguishing science and pseudoscience. Their beliefs regarding SCI were not highly favorable. Moreover, this study revealed that they had some PS. Considering the role of gender and year in the program, the results of two-way MANOVA indicated that there was no statistically significant difference on the related belief constructs for these pre-service science teachers. Thus, the present study intended to shed light on pre-service science teachers’ mindsets about identifying accurate scientific information rather than pseudoscientific confusions that could aid preparing scientifically