Chapter 5 :Epistemology
SCIENTIFIC TRUTH
For
logical, semantic and systemic claims there are methods to determine their
truth. It is with regard to
the empirical claims about the universe, events and properties of it that
is the main concern of the theories about Truth.
1. Instrumentalist View - Pragmatist Theory
The scientific theory makes predictions, the
predictions are verified and so it works
2.
The Realist View - Correspondence Theory
The scientific theory
provides true explanations
3.
The Conceptual Relativist - Coherence Theory
The scientific
theory is coherent within a given framework, what
coheres or fits in with a system of beliefs
-true theory is that which is accepted by the community of
working scientists with its own CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
-independent checks are not possible because all observations are
theory laden
So
in the end perhaps the truth concerning empirical claims is that claim which :
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corresponds to fact and |
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coheres with and
is consistent with other established truths and
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has useful consequences for those concerned. |
Perhaps what is the most useful consequence of a belief concerning an empirical claim is to correspond to reality (facts) and to cohere (be consistent) with what has already been accepted as true by the same means.
Philosophers shall continue to spend time arriving at a more certain foundation for claims of truth.
For now what do we have? What is knowledge?
To claim to know and to have that claim accepted by others as being correct is to satisfy the criteria that the claim be warranted. What supplies the warrant is that the claim be justified and true. how is that accomplished or established? Well that depends on the type of claim that it is:
Semantic claim: Supported by references to dictionaries or lexicons
Systemic claim: supported by the rules of the system in which the claim is being made
Logical claim: supported by and consistent with the rules of logic
Empirical claim:
supported by a process of verification that establishes that the
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corresponds to fact and |
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coheres with and
is consistent with other established truths and
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has useful consequences for those concerned. |
Science can deal with empirical claims that are TESTABLE, VERIFIABLE and REFUTABLE
This may be the best explanation that humans have for what and how they know what they claim to know. It is not totally satisfying to all critical inquirers but it is more well founded within human experience than the position that there is no knowledge at all or that there is no knowledge that is objective or that there is no knowledge that is certain. There are types or forms of knowledge and within each there are the means to establish the justification for making and accepting claims.
VIEW: Karl Popper, Science, & Pseudoscience: Crash Course Philosophy #8
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Scientific Method by Donald E. Simanek
What is scientific Method by Austin Cline
ON SCIENTIFIC METHOD by Percy W. Bridgman (From: Reflections of a Physicist, 1955)
Socratic Method and Scientific Method
Myth-of-scientific-method
Proceed to the next section.
Introduction to Philosophy by Philip A. Pecorino is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.