The Philosophy of Science

Before we begin,... What good is education?

Education is essential for advancing civilization.

Without education, humans are likely to behave as uncivilized brutes* with tendencies toward looting, murder and cannibalism.

Science is a philosophy that, while contributing toward the development of technological conveniences, also advances our social well-being. Our legal, economic, and political systems all are based on a solid scientific framework. Our civil liberties are made possible because of a scientific interpretation of the human community. Science is a way of knowing based on objectivity, logic, truthfulness and courage. Educators are in a constant struggle to bring students up so that we all might have richer, more secure and more meaningful lives. The table below represents samples of the science educator's mission.

Replacing	willful ignorance	with	informed sophistication
Replacing	piggish consumption	with	meaningful contribution
Replacing	hatred & paranoia	with	tolerance & contentment
Replacing	offensive competitiveness	with	friendly cooperation
Replacing	absolutism	with	pluralism
Replacing	barbaric torture	with	decency & respect
Replacing	authoritarian rule	with	equality under the law
Replacing	bewildering frustration	with	quiet achievement

Required Reading	Additional Reading (2-3 Quiz questions from these sources)
Supplemental Chapter (required) Click on the below link to get it (free). Philosophy of Science (96 kb) - Adobe Acrobat format. Text, images and captions on this page	Science and Religion: Lessons from History? The Shoulders of Giants What We Don't Know Does Hurt Us. How Scientific Illiteracy Hobbles Society

Enrichment Links

Alexandrian Library Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria  
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/GreekScience/Students/Ellen/Museum.html
http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/world/general/rel-jvm.htm
http://www.sis.gov.eg/alex-lib/html/front.htm

Mysticism and Skepticism Links http://www.randi.org/ http://www.randi.org/research/ http://www.skeptic.com/ http://www.mysticalblaze.com/

• "We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology." -- Carl Sagan
• "Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper." -- Francis Bacon, Apophthegms, 1624
• "Either the United States will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States." -- W. E. B. Du Bois, speech at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, 1906
• "Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." -- H. G. Wells, The Outline of History, 1920
• "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." -- Mark Twain

Student Learning Outcomes

Given a map of the world, the student will indicate the locations where important centers of scientific thinking emerged.

Given a mix of mystical, religious and traditional philosophies, the student will:

• enumerate specific qualities that distinguish science philosophy from other philosophies
• recognize when it is appropriate to use modern scientific philosophy and methodology and when it is not -- when confronted with mysteries and questions regarding different realms of experience

Given the state of modern civilization, the student will:

• specify and generalize the nature of its dependencies on modern science
• distinguish and differentiate between the enterprises of science, technology, commerce and government
• observe the application of scientific principles in the student's mundane, everyday activities

Given the history of science philosophy, the student will

• summarize its major milestones
• explain and judge the risks and hardships experienced by its advocates -- especially in terms of conflicts with traditional beliefs

Given scenarios involving claims made by hyothetical characters, the student will:

• analyze and critique the claim in terms of modern scientific philosophy and methodology
• Judge the motivations and sincerity of the claimant
• Predict more likely circumstances based on modern scientific philosophy and methodology

Study Questions (Supplemental chapter only) / Quiz Prep. (Consult Required Reading and lecture notes for answers.)

1. What is the point of the philosophy of science?
2. When we think about science, why do we think about the fields of biology, physics, and chemistry?
3. Why do some peoples of the world worship bears, and wolves, and the rain?
4. Scientific thinking helped in the emergence of what technical enterprise in ancient China and India?
5. Where was Mesopotamia? What rewarding technical enterprise emerged with the growth of scientific thought there?
6. What three intellectual milestones did the ancient Greeks achieve?
7. What is "natural philosophy"?
8. Although full of insight, why were the beliefs of most early natural philosophers usually incomplete, and sometimes dead wrong?
9. What was Heroclitus's fatal philosophical mistake?
10. What was the valuable insight made by Empedocles as he watched children playing with a clepsydra.
11. What were the key advances made by Empedocles?
12. Hippocrates gathered detailed observations of his patients. Why?
13. What were the key advances made by Hippocrates?
14. What were the key advances made by Aristotle?
15. How did Eratosthenes determine the size of the Earth?
16. Regarding the practice of science, what is the main lesson to be learned from the work of Eratosthenes?
17. The Middle Ages was a time when scientific exploration stopped in Europe. Why?
18. Why does personal intellectual development sometimes come with social risks?
19. How was the printing press important in supporting the Renaissance in Europe?
20. What were the three main elements of Sir Francis Bacon's approach to science?
21. What was the significance of Sir Francis Bacon's approach to science?
22. What is the difference between subjective realities and objective realities?
23. What is the significance of the "Box of empiricism" as it relates to science and all of our experience?
24. What happens when we try to use scientific rules (empiricism) to argue against spiritualism (and vice versa)? This brings up the "Box of empiricism" idea again.
25. How can our objective self coexist with our subjective self, or can they?
26. What are some of the classic supernatural phenomena that clash with the scientific way of knowing?
27. Why do we so quickly believe in mysterious powers such as mind-reading, and UFOs?
28. According to H. Reichenbach, it is not given to science to reach either truth or falsity. If not, then what can scientific statements attain?
29. According to Karl Popper, how does science deal with new proposals?
30. Ruth Hubbard puts the spin of reality on the way science deals with change. What is her message?
31. Jean Rostand argues that it is important for the scientist to forget things he is surest of. What is the meaning of this statement?
32. How does science deal with absolute truths?
33. What is meant by the statement that "science is a paradox of conservatism seeking revolution?"
34. What is the importance of the observation that nature happens in constant and repeating patterns (more or less)?
35. What is the role of creative thinking and speculation in science?
36. Science is constantly seeking new understandings. Do scientific ideas ever reach a point at which they are relatively secure?
37. What is the role of evidence in science? How do scientists regard ideas that are presented without evidence?
38. Review the 8 points about what science does.
39. Review the 4 points about what science does not do.

Synthesis (These are not official study questions. But you should try to answer them on your own.)
There is something odd about the situations described below. See if you can identify the problem(s).

1. A man knocks on your front door. You have never seen him before. In a very friendly voice he says, "Hi! I'm Jason Featherly. My mom is Glenda. She lives a couple of blocks over. You've probably seen her walking her black lab." Is this a con or not?
2. For the last year, you have gone to the same Starbucks every morning on your way to school. Today, a woman you have never seen before accidentally bumps into you and says, "I'm so sorry, <fill in your name here>." You reply, "How did you know my name?" She says, "I didn't until the moment I touched you." Are there other, more reasonable explanations?
3. A scientist and employee of a large pharmaceutical company in charge of clinical testing of a new medicine appears on Oprah one day. He claims that this new drug is the most advanced anti-cancer drug in 20 years. Scientist or sales guy?
4. A scientist at a major university calls a press conference to announce his ability to produce nuclear fusion at room temperature. Where is the peer review?
5. A commercial for sugary kids cereal, "Lucky Charms," claims that Lucky Charms cereal is "part of a nutritious breakfast." Yea, which part?
6. You receive a phone call one evening. A friendly voice informs you that you are a "winner." You have won a chance to enter a contest for a new car. Dum-de-dumb-dumb.
7. A travel brochure arrives in the mail offering you a fabulous and unbelievably cheap summertime vacation in southern Australia this June. Sounds too good to be true, don't it?
8. Your church pastor telephoned all members and asked you to come to church this Sunday ready to donate a minimum of $100 to a new orphanage project in Ecuador. The plane is on the tarmac and these donations are needed now to buy medicine and food. Monday will be too late. Nice men don't lie, do they?
9. Your child becomes unexplainably ill. A friend insists that you avoid doctors and instead try herbal remedies and meditation. Should you trust your child's health to trained medical doctors or storekeepers?

Map of Asia. The rewards of scientific thinking in ancient Asia clearly advanced the practice of medicine in this region.

Map of Mesopotamia, now modern Iraq. Agriculture emerged in this region about 10,000 years ago. Scientific observation led to an understanding of the life cycle of plants. Technological innovations followed, leading to crop production. The whole system evolved into a commercial enterprise based on food production. The production of agricultural wealth invited warlords to compete for its control.

Recent drawings portraying the original Alexandrian Library. The library lasted for several hundred years. During its prime, it was a cosmopolitan center for learning and scholarship. Following the decline of the Greek empire, and for several hundred years, the library fell under the influence of various ruling regimes. Lacking continuous political and financial support, the Alexandrian Library and all of its spectacular scientific achievements crumbled from decay, vandalism and intentional destruction.

Drawing of the geometry of Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes was a scientist associated with the Alexandrian Library. This drawing shows how he used sticks and shadows to estimate the circumference of the Earth with a high degree of accuracy.

New Alexandrian Library

Spanish Inquisition. Horrible times for individuals of Jewish and Muslim origin living in regions of Spain. In addition to the Spanish Inquisition, several other inquisitions brought terror to medieval Europe -- abuses of power in a time when absolute rule prevailed.

Abu Ghraib prison in 21st century Iraq. An example of absolute power unconstrained by empathy and reason.

Humans have a rich history of cruelty and torture brought about by extreme cultural intolerance. Here is a link to historical etchings that show humans torturing and murdering other humans. Their crimes -- disagreement with prevailing religious beliefs. Caution: The pictures and descriptions are sickening.

Renaissance Europe. The heliocentric (sun-centered) model of the heavens introduced by Renaissance scientist, Nicolaus  Copernicus. This model best fits the evidence of planetary movement in the sky. The model was perceived as unwelcome and unsettling by religious fundamentalists whose competing model (based entirely on ideology) placed Earth at the center of the Universe.

Sir Francis Bacon. Bacon challenged scientists to stop being advocates of their explanations. Advocacy conflicts with the business of scientific discovery because scientists are prone to pitch their pet ideas in spite of evidence to the contrary.

Modern civilization is irrevocably dependent upon scientific thinking. In general, our lives are very much enhanced and extended because of the application of science. True, many unfortunate aspects have accompanied modern civilization -- excessive materialism accompanied by the worship of celebrities, frequent destructive wars, nuclear bombs, gang violence, terrorism, environmental degradation, and loss of species. With the power to do good, comes the power to do bad. The challenge for each generation and for each individual is, "How do you choose to use the power that you have inherited?"