Science and society - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 10
About This Presentation
Title:

Science and society

Description:

Science and society How do scientific theories (or philosophical theories about science) impact commonsense views, public policy, etc.? And vice versa? – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:236
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 11
Provided by: LynnHanki9
Category:
Tags: science | society

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Science and society


1
Science and society
  • How do scientific theories (or philosophical
    theories about science) impact commonsense views,
    public policy, etc.?
  • And vice versa?
  • The case of Genie
  • Science at the Bar determining what is science
    and what is not, and using philosophy of science
    to do so...

2
Should scientists be concerned with ethics?
  • Genie a natural experiment that could not, on
    ethical grounds, be undertaken any other way
    (forbidden experiment)
  • An important hypothesis can be tested
  • In what sense is the hypothesis important?
  • Yes, the experiment could advance knowledge.
  • Is there more that needs to be considered? Is it
    enough to say knowledge is good for its own
    sake and society shouldnt meddle?
  • Genie remains alive in a nursing home for the
    retarded, but does not speak or respond to
    people

3
Should scientists be concerned with ethics?
  • Genie a natural experiment
  • Susan Curtiss
  • Judith Butler
  • David Rigler
  • NIMH
  • Subsequent foster homes

4
Should scientists be concerned with ethics?
  • Genie a natural experiment that could not, on
    ethical grounds, be undertaken any other way
    (forbidden experiment)
  • Suppose she was able to learn language
  • Suppose there werent any doubts about her mental
    capacities and she wasnt able to learn language
  • Suppose the personalities, ambitions, jealousies,
    research protocols, rescue fantasies hadnt
    been what they were

5
Science at the bar
  • Larry Laudan v. Michael Ruse
  • Laudan
  • McLean vs. Arkansas was a hollow victory
  • Aka Ruses ruse
  • How the philosophy of science had a role in the
    case

6
Science at the bar
  • Judge Overton (and Ruse et al)
  • Creation Science is not science because it does
    not contain the essential features of science
  • It does not appeal to natural law
  • Its claims are not testable or falsifiable
  • Its proponents and claims are dogmatic rather
    than tentavie
  • Laudans alternative CS is testable and many of
    its claims are patently false.

7
Science at the bar
  • Laudan A far more serious problem is that the
    way science was portrayed in the case is a false
    stereotype
  • Many scientific claims also cannot be tested in
    isolation and the logic of falsification is
    severely limited by that (Hempel and Duhem)
  • Many scientific claims are not viewed by
    scientists of the day as open to negotiation
    there is a degree of dogmatism about core
    commitments among scientists (Kuhn and Duhem)
  • We dont insist that in order for something to
    have happened or to exist we must know what laws
    explain it (for example, we know evolution
    occurred and continues to but there are no laws
    in evolutionary theory) (van Fraassens account
    of explanation)

8
Science at the bar
  • Laudan A far more serious problem is that the
    way science was portrayed in the case is a false
    stereotype
  • Add to all these problems, the fact that
    (scientific, all) observations are theory laden.
  • Compromises, to some extent, the sensory
    experiences and/or experimental results that are
    supposed to confirm or falsify a given hypothesis

9
Science at the bar
  • In what respects was the portrait of science a
    false stereotype?
  • Not all sciences have laws in the sense presumed
    here
  • It is not clear that there really is any
    definition, or single criterion, or set of
    criteria, that succeed in defining science and
    demarcating it from other endeavors
  • In short, the pro-science defenders are
    defending a philosophy of science which is every
    bit as outmoded as the science of creationism

10
Pro Judice Ruse
  • To say that science appeals to law is not
    asserting that we know all the laws.
  • Does this answer the critique that not all
    sciences include laws?
  • The bottom line of all the various criteria
    offered
  • Science does not break with law it does not
    appeal to miracles.
  • If in terms of a singularity, what about The Big
    Bang? Not miraculous, but
  • Laudans response is insufficient because
  • The Constitution does not prohibit the teaching
    of weak or bad science. It prohibits the teaching
    of religion and that is what CS/ID is.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com