Coherence, Truth, and the Development of Scientific Knowledge*
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Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Chemistry
Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Chemistry Jaap van Brakel Abstract: In this paper I assess the relation between philosophy of chemistry and (general) philosophy of science, focusing on those themes in the philoso- phy of chemistry that may bring about major revisions or extensions of cur- rent philosophy of science. Three themes can claim to make a unique contri- bution to philosophy of science: first, the variety of materials in the (natural and artificial) world; second, extending the world by making new stuff; and, third, specific features of the relations between chemistry and physics. Keywords : philosophy of science, philosophy of chemistry, interdiscourse relations, making stuff, variety of substances . 1. Introduction Chemistry is unique and distinguishes itself from all other sciences, with respect to three broad issues: • A (variety of) stuff perspective, requiring conceptual analysis of the notion of stuff or material (Sections 4 and 5). • A making stuff perspective: the transformation of stuff by chemical reaction or phase transition (Section 6). • The pivotal role of the relations between chemistry and physics in connection with the question how everything fits together (Section 7). All themes in the philosophy of chemistry can be classified in one of these three clusters or make contributions to general philosophy of science that, as yet , are not particularly different from similar contributions from other sci- ences (Section 3). I do not exclude the possibility of there being more than three clusters of philosophical issues unique to philosophy of chemistry, but I am not aware of any as yet. Moreover, highlighting the issues discussed in Sections 5-7 does not mean that issues reviewed in Section 3 are less im- portant in revising the philosophy of science. -
Life with Augustine
Life with Augustine ...a course in his spirit and guidance for daily living By Edmond A. Maher ii Life with Augustine © 2002 Augustinian Press Australia Sydney, Australia. Acknowledgements: The author wishes to acknowledge and thank the following people: ► the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, Australia, for support- ing this project, with special mention of Pat Fahey osa, Kevin Burman osa, Pat Codd osa and Peter Jones osa ► Laurence Mooney osa for assistance in editing ► Michael Morahan osa for formatting this 2nd Edition ► John Coles, Peter Gagan, Dr. Frank McGrath fms (Brisbane CEO), Benet Fonck ofm, Peter Keogh sfo for sharing their vast experience in adult education ► John Rotelle osa, for granting us permission to use his English translation of Tarcisius van Bavel’s work Augustine (full bibliography within) and for his scholarly advice Megan Atkins for her formatting suggestions in the 1st Edition, that have carried over into this the 2nd ► those generous people who have completed the 1st Edition and suggested valuable improvements, especially Kath Neehouse and friends at Villanova College, Brisbane Foreword 1 Dear Participant Saint Augustine of Hippo is a figure in our history who has appealed to the curiosity and imagination of many generations. He is well known for being both sinner and saint, for being a bishop yet also a fellow pilgrim on the journey to God. One of the most popular and attractive persons across many centuries, his influence on the church has continued to our current day. He is also renowned for his influ- ence in philosophy and psychology and even (in an indirect way) art, music and architecture. -
Episteme IS FOUNDATIONAL a PRIORI JUSTIFICATION INDISPENSABLE?
Episteme http://journals.cambridge.org/EPI Additional services for Episteme: Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here IS FOUNDATIONAL A PRIORI JUSTIFICATION INDISPENSABLE? Ted Poston Episteme / Volume 10 / Issue 03 / September 2013, pp 317 - 331 DOI: 10.1017/epi.2013.25, Published online: 07 August 2013 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1742360013000257 How to cite this article: Ted Poston (2013). IS FOUNDATIONAL A PRIORI JUSTIFICATION INDISPENSABLE?. Episteme, 10, pp 317-331 doi:10.1017/epi.2013.25 Request Permissions : Click here Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/EPI, IP address: 108.195.178.103 on 23 Aug 2013 Episteme, 10, 3 (2013) 317–331 © Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/epi.2013.25 is foundational a priori justification indispensable? ted poston1 [email protected] abstract Laurence BonJour’s (1985) coherence theory of empirical knowledge relies heavily on a traditional foundationalist theory of a priori knowledge. He argues that a foundationalist, rationalist theory of a priori justication is indispensable for a coherence theory. BonJour (1998) continues this theme, arguing that a traditional account of a priori justication is indispensable for the justication of putative a priori truths, the justication of any non-observational belief and the justication of reasoning itself. While BonJour’s indispensability arguments have received some critical discussion (Gendler 2001; Harman 2001; Beebe 2008), no one has inves- tigated the indispensability arguments from a coherentist perspective. This perspec- tive offers a fruitful take on BonJour’s arguments, because he does not appreciate the depth of the coherentist alternative to the traditional empiricist-rationalist debate. -
Philosophy of Chemistry: an Emerging Field with Implications for Chemistry Education
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 434 811 SE 062 822 AUTHOR Erduran, Sibel TITLE Philosophy of Chemistry: An Emerging Field with Implications for Chemistry Education. PUB DATE 1999-09-00 NOTE 10p.; Paper presented at the History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Conference (5th, Pavia, Italy, September, 1999). PUB TYPE Opinion Papers (120) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Chemistry; Educational Change; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; *Philosophy; Science Curriculum; *Science Education; *Science Education History; *Science History; Scientific Principles; Secondary Education; Teaching Methods ABSTRACT Traditional applications of history and philosophy of science in chemistry education have concentrated on the teaching and learning of "history of chemistry". This paper considers the recent emergence of "philosophy of chemistry" as a distinct field and explores the implications of philosophy of chemistry for chemistry education in the context of teaching and learning chemical models. This paper calls for preventing the mutually exclusive development of chemistry education and philosophy of chemistry, and argues that research in chemistry education should strive to learn from the mistakes that resulted when early developments in science education were made separate from advances in philosophy of science. Contains 54 references. (Author/WRM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** 1 PHILOSOPHY OF CHEMISTRY: AN EMERGING FIELD WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR CHEMISTRY EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS Office of Educational Research and improvement BEEN GRANTED BY RESOURCES INFORMATION SIBEL ERDURAN CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproducedas ceived from the person or organization KING'S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITYOF LONDON originating it. -
Is Truth an Epistemic Value?∗
Is Truth an Epistemic Value?∗ Mar´ıa J. Fr´apolli Departamento de Filosof´ıa Universidad de Granada (Espana)˜ [email protected] Introduction That truth is an epistemic value is a thesis that at least has the following two interpretations: Truth can be defined through, or identified with, some epistemic notion or other. This is the epistemic side Truth is something that science, or research, should pursue. Truth is some- thing valuable. This is the value side. Whereas interpretation (i) makes a false statement, interpretation (ii) ex- presses something that is true, although empty. But both interpretations have a grain of truth, and both are, in their own way, somewhat misleading. Their confusing offsprings have been epistemic and metaphysical theories of truth, respectively. The grain of truth in (i) is that the truth predicate is omnipresent when we deal with epistemic notions, and so that not even the most basic theses in epis- temology can be stated without using the truth predicate essentially. Besides, the endorsement role that the truth predicate performs in natural languages is applied in many cases to the items that have passed the kind of justificatory filters sanctioned by epistemology. The grain of truth in (ii) is that the best, and shortest, way of codifying the infinity of contents to whose knowledge science is aimed to is by the help of sentences that involve the truth predicate. The misleading aspect of (i) is that it suggests that truth should be identified with some item out of a set of epistemic situations: ideal justification, results of reliable processes, what the best scientific theories say, etc., and all this in order to seal the gap through which the sceptical menaces to slip in. -
Pragmatism, Phenomenalism, and Truth Talk ROBERT BRANDOM
MIDWEST STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY, XI1 Pragmatism, Phenomenalism, and Truth Talk ROBERT BRANDOM his essay offers a rational reconstruction of the career of a certain heroic ap- Tproach to truth-the approach whose leading idea is that the special linguistic roles of truth ascriptions are to be explained in terms of features of the ascribinns of truth, rather than of what is ascrided. The explanatory emphasis placed on the act of calling something true, as opposed to its descriptive content, qualifies theories displaying this sort of strategic commitment as ‘pragmatic’theories of truth, by con- trast to ‘semantic’ ones. The starting point is an articulation of a central insight of the classical pragmatist theories of truth espoused in different versions by James and Dewey. Developing this insight in response to various objections yields a sequence of positions ending in contemporary anaphoric semantics: prosentential theories of ‘true’ and pronominal theories of ‘refers’. These theories articulate an antirealist posi- tion about truth and reference, of the sort here called ‘phenomenalist’.Insofar as the- ories of this sort offer adequate accounts of the phenomena they address, they assert relatively narrow and clearly defined limits to the explanatory ambitions of theories couched in traditional semantic vocabularies. I The popular conception of the theory of truth of classical pragmatism is summed up in the slogan ‘The truth is what works.’ According to this view, the pragmatists were trying to give a theory of truth in the sense of offering necessary and sufficient condi- tions for possession of that property. Their innovation is then seen to consist in tak- ing the possession of this property by a belief to consist in a relation not simply to what is believed, but also to what is desired. -
Evaluating the Truth Campaign
Building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit Evaluating the truth® Campaign Donna Vallone, PhD, MPH Associate Vice President of Research & Evaluation, American Legacy Foundation truth® is a Brand • Positioned as a brand – Teen brands are a tool for self-expression – The tobacco industry has some of the most successful brands in the world –truth® will compete with tobacco brands Advertising Strategy • Expose the lies of the tobacco industry • Direct teens need to rebel at the tobacco industry • Never preach • Never condemn smokers • Relate to sensation-seeking teens Body Bags Campaign Expectations • Shift core beliefs and attitudes: – Cigarette companies lie – Cigarette companies deny cigarettes cause disease – Taking a stand against smoking is important to me – Not smoking is a way to express independence – Smoking makes people your age look cool or fit in • Influence intention to smoke • Reduce smoking prevalence Key Components of the truth® Evaluation • Legacy Media Tracking Survey (LMTS) – Used to associate self-reported campaign exposure with changes in targeted beliefs and intentions to smoke • Monitoring the Future (MTF) analysis – Used to associate GRPs with changes in youth smoking prevalence Impact of truth®- End of Year One (LMTS data) • Change in Awareness: 75% of all youth (age 12-17) in the U.S. could accurately describe at least one truth® ad. • Change in Beliefs: Targeted beliefs and attitudes changed markedly in the first year of the campaign. Impact of truth®- End of Year One (LMTS data) • Change in Intention to Smoke: Youth with confirmed awareness of truth® were 66% more likely to say they would not smoke in the coming year. -
Proof for the Existence of God Developed by Saint Augustine
Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1948 The "Psychological" Proof For the Existence of God Developed By Saint Augustine Patrick J. Kremer Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Kremer, Patrick J., "The "Psychological" Proof For the Existence of God Developed By Saint Augustine" (1948). Master's Theses. 250. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/250 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1948 Patrick J. Kremer THE 11 PSYCHOLOGI CAL" PROOF FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD DEVELOPED BY SAINT AUGUSTINE BY PATRICK J. KREMER, S.J. • A THESIS SUmiTTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQ.UIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE 01<' MASTER OF ARTS IN LOYOLA UNIVERSITY DEC:D.1BER 1948 VITA AUCTORIS Patrick J. Kremer, S.J., was born in Detroit, Michigan, June 25, 1919. He attended Visitation Grammar School, and in June, 1935, was graduated from Visitation High School, Detroit, Michigan. In September, 1935, he entered the University of Detroit, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June, 1939. He entered the Milford Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in September, 1939, and spent three years there. He studied at West Baden College Branch of Loyola University from 1942 to 1944, and has been enrolled in the Loyola University Graduate School since September, 1942. -
Three Kinds of Coherentism
THREE KINDS OF COHERENTISM Jaap Hage* [email protected] Abstract This paper aims to show what makes coherentism attractive in comparison to its main competitor, foundationalism. It also aims to show that constraint satisfaction is not the most attractive way to give content to the notion of coherence. In order to achieve these purposes, the paper distinguishes between epistemic, constructive and integrated coherentism. Epistemic coherentism treats coherence as a test for knowledge about a world which exists independently (ontological realism). Constructive coherentism uses coherence as a standard to determine what the facts are in a particular domain. This is a form of ontological idealism. Usually, both epistemic and constructive coherentism apply the coherence test to only part of the positions (beliefs etc.) which a person accepts. The definition of and standards for coherence, just as usually logic and standards for belief revision are kept outside the process of making a position set coherent. Integrated coherentism differs by including everything in the coherence creating process. A set of positions is integratedly coherent if and only if it satisfies the standards included in the set of positions itself. The paper argues that integrated coherentism best fits with the ideas underlying coherentism and that it is incompatible with coherence as constraint satisfaction in a strict sense. Keywords: integrated coherence, epistemic coherence, constructive coherence, defeasible coherence, narrow coherence, negative coherence, foundationalism, constraint satisfaction, meta-belief, pseudo-realism, truth connection, reflective equilibrium, position, justification, truth. 1 INTRODUCTION Coherentism has its basis in epistemology (Bonjour 1985; Lehrer 1992 and 2000; Thagard and Verbeurgt 1998; Thagard 2000; Kvanvig 2011) and ramifications into ontology (Rescher 1973; Young 2008), but has also become popular in ethical theory (Rawls 1972; Daniels 2011) and in jurisprudence (MacCormick 1978 and 2005; Dworkin 1978 and 1986; Peczenik 2008; Amaya 2007). -
Reasoning with Cause and Effect
REASONING WITH CAUSE AND EFFECT Judea Pearl University of California Los Angeles The subject of my lecture this evening is CAUSALITY. It is not an easy topic to speak about, but it is a fun topic to speak about. It is not easy because, like religion, sex and intelligence, causality was meant to be practiced, not analyzed. And it is fun, because, like religion, sex and intelligence, emotions run high, examples are plenty, there are plenty of interesting people to talk to, and above all, an exhilarating experience of watching our private thoughts magnified under the microscope of formal analysis. 1 David Hume (1711–1776) The modern study of causation begins with the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Hume has introduced to philosophy three revolutionary ideas that, today, are taken for granted by almost everybody, not only philosophers. 2 HUME’S LEGACY 1. Analytical vs. empirical claims 2. Causal claims are empirical 3. All empirical claims originate from experience. 1. He made a sharp distinction between analytical and empirical claims --- the former are product of thoughts, the latter matter of fact. 2. He classified causal claims as empirical, rather than analytical. 3. He identified the source of all empirical claims with human experience, namely sensory input. Putting (2) and (3) together have left philosophers baffled, for over two centuries, over two major riddles: 3 THE TWO RIDDLES OF CAUSATION z What empirical evidence legitimizes a cause-effect connection? z What inferences can be drawn from causal information? and how? What gives us in AI the audacity to hope that today, after 2 centuries of philosophical debate, we can say something useful on this topic, is the fact that, for us, the question of causation is not purely academic. -
Passmore, J. (1967). Logical Positivism. in P. Edwards (Ed.). the Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 5, 52- 57). New York: Macmillan
Passmore, J. (1967). Logical Positivism. In P. Edwards (Ed.). The Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Vol. 5, 52- 57). New York: Macmillan. LOGICAL POSITIVISM is the name given in 1931 by A. E. Blumberg and Herbert Feigl to a set of philosophical ideas put forward by the Vienna circle. Synonymous expressions include "consistent empiricism," "logical empiricism," "scientific empiricism," and "logical neo-positivism." The name logical positivism is often, but misleadingly, used more broadly to include the "analytical" or "ordinary language philosophies developed at Cambridge and Oxford. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The logical positivists thought of themselves as continuing a nineteenth-century Viennese empirical tradition, closely linked with British empiricism and culminating in the antimetaphysical, scientifically oriented teaching of Ernst Mach. In 1907 the mathematician Hans Hahn, the economist Otto Neurath, and the physicist Philipp Frank, all of whom were later to be prominent members of the Vienna circle, came together as an informal group to discuss the philosophy of science. They hoped to give an account of science which would do justice -as, they thought, Mach did not- to the central importance of mathematics, logic, and theoretical physics, without abandoning Mach's general doctrine that science is, fundamentally, the description of experience. As a solution to their problems, they looked to the "new positivism" of Poincare; in attempting to reconcile Mach and Poincare; they anticipated the main themes of logical positivism. In 1922, at the instigation of members of the "Vienna group," Moritz Schlick was invited to Vienna as professor, like Mach before him (1895-1901), in the philosophy of the inductive sciences. Schlick had been trained as a scientist under Max Planck and had won a name for himself as an interpreter of Einstein's theory of relativity. -
THE COHERENCE of EMPIRICISM 33 Experience: It Is Limited to Particular Objects in Close Spatio-Temporal Prox- Imity
THE COHERENCE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.ukOF EMPIRICISM brought to you by CORE provided by PhilPapers ALBERT CASULLO Abstract: Rationalists often argue that empiricism is incoherent and con- clude, on that basis, that some knowledge is a priori. I contend that such arguments against empiricism cannot be parlayed into an argument in support of the a priori since rationalism is open to the same arguments. I go on to offer an alternative strategy. The leading idea is that, instead of offering a priori arguments against empiricism, rationalists should marshal empirical support for their position. 1. Introduction The debate over a priori knowledge often proceeds in negative terms. For example, in the first half of the twentieth century, it was common to maintain that all a priori knowledge is analytic on the grounds that there is no plausible explanation of how we acquire synthetic a priori know- ledge. Whatever the merits of this argument against the synthetic a priori, many now recognize that it cannot be parlayed into an argument in support of the analytic a priori.1 For we have no better explanation of how we acquire such knowledge. In recent years empiricism has come under attack. Some argue that the view is incoherent and conclude, on that basis, that some knowledge is a priori.2 We need to recall here the lesson of history. Whatever the merits of such arguments against empiricism, they cannot be parlayed into an argument in support of the a priori unless the latter is not open to those arguments.