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What makes scientific knowledge different from other forms of knowledge
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The nature of scientific reasoning
Science is quite a phenomenon in itself. It cannot be studied wholly and drop down on papers. Various great scientists have made a great contribution in the field of science. But the main question that arises is the scientists studied each and every piece of the puzzle in detail or were they made a guess assumption about the topic? No one can give the perfect answer to this question. As a photographic plate is exposed to get an image, scientists expose themselves to work and they on the spur of the moment develop a new formula for atomic energy.
Scientific reasoning process is a solid foundation to the scientific method. A scientific reasoning or thesis is also a blend of creative imagination or guesses. A
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Science is a phenomenon but science merely operates on logic. There needs to be coincidence as well as luck in science. A car will not run merely by the energy produced by the oil, there needs to be fair amount of luck calculating on it. This essay explores the nature of scientific knowledge by asking what science is. It emphasizes the importance of a scientific way of thinking and shows how observation and testing add to the body of scientific knowledge. Focusing on astronomy and physics, the module highlights the work of scientists through history who have contributed to our understanding of the age of the universe as a means of conveying the nature of scientific knowledge. I entirely support the Jacob Bronowski idea on “The nature of scientific reasoning.” Scientific reasoning basically involves real world observation as its initial foundation as Newton did in the mother Garden, leaping through imagination to see beyond the range of normal eye as done by the Copernicus to find the Heliocentric model of solar system and law on planetary speed and motion. Similarly other procedure like finding order, shadowed likeness was also clearly explained giving examples.
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Science is a study that can be viewed and interpreted in various ways. Some believe science to be based on facts and specific results, while others believe it to be based on creativity and spontaneity. In his account of the 1918 flu epidemic, The Great Influenza, John M. Barry characterizes scientific research as work that requires creativity, spontaneity, and intelligence through his use of rhetorical devices such as allusions, metaphors, and rhetorical questions.
science has been studied for a very long time, and one of the most famous
Pseudo sciences resting on the priori method carefully stated their information and follow logical rules to arrive at acceptable conclusions. In this approach, the conclusions are derived by using logic through some a set of facts and/or declarations. The a priori method is more intellectual and respected approach compared with other methods such as tenacity and authority. Furthermore, is t has shown to be quite strong in the hands of that mathematicians and philosophers. Nevertheless, accurate scientific conclusions depend on both the reasoning and the exactness of the premises. This is where it comes the use of the scientific method; science meets reasoning and empiricism, using logical reasoning, but by means of a careful methodology, (Graziano & Raulin, 2010; Rosnow & Rosenthal,
This essay aims to discuss the problems of the common view of science which was presented by Alan Chalmers by Popperian's view and my personal opinions. Chalmers gives his opinion about what science is and the judgment will be made in this essay through the Popperian hypothetico-deductive and my arguments will be presented in this essay. Popperian is an important philosopher of science who developed hypothetico-deductive method, which is also known as falsificationism. In my opinion, I disagree Chlamer points of view of science and this will be present in essay later. I will restrict my arguments into three parts due to the word limitation. Three aspects will be discussed in this essay: justifying the view through the Popper's view, my agreement about the Popper's objections and additional personal opinions.
Scientific theory by definition seeks to explain observed phenomena by stating the causal reasons that led to the event. The central component of the theory must adhere to the principles of
Scientific theories are hypotheses that have withstood repeated testing by different people and whose results have been confirmed to remain constant, therefore there exists little chance that new tests will change the outcome (Lewis & Germain). It does not rely on metaphysical explanations, instead it uses induction and deduction. (Professor M. Rowe, personal communication, September, 2015) A hypothesis may be considered a theory only after it has gone through rigorous and extensive testing utilizing the scientific process, and can be consistently proven
Before Kuhn’s book was written, the commonly held position by scientists and philosophers of science, such as Mach and Otswald , about the structure of science; was that it involved linear progression as a result of an incremental accumulation of knowledge from the activities undertaken by members of the scientific community. They thought that as generations of scientists observed more and more, their understanding of a particular scientific fact would become better refined through an ever growing stockpile of facts, theories and methods. The aim of the historian of science would be to pin point the man and the moment in time a further discovery was made; whilst also describing the obstacles that inhibited scientific progression.
The book is not providing explanation on what scientists did or how they did it. However, it offer explanations on how scientists think and how they make conclusions. In addition to the many topics explored, it is worth noting that there are also interesting tales behind some big discoveries in science which are an added attraction to this book. The Author, Dr Samir Okasha, a professor of philosophy of science at the Bristol University states that his aim of writing this book was to pass the philosophy of science in a way that can be understood by everyone. He also sought to pass his ideals in a manner that is free from complicated Jargon, with real world examples to enable all readers understand and
The modern science view as well as the Scientific Revolution can be argued that it began with Copernicus’ heliocentric theory; his staunch questioning of the prior geocentric worldview led to the proposal of a new idea that the Earth is not in fact the center of the solar system, but simply revolving around the Sun. Although this is accepted as common sense today, the period in which Copernicus proposed this idea was ground-breaking, controversial, and frankly, world-changing. The Church had an immense amount of power, and was a force to be reckoned with; in the beginning of the Scientific Revolution, new scientific proposals and ideas were discouraged in many cases by the Church. A quote from Galileo’s Children does an excellent job summing up the conflict: “The struggle of Galileo against Church dogma concerning the nature of the cosmos epitomized the great, inevitable and continuing clash between religion and reason.” If evidence goes against scripture, the scientist is considered a heretic and is, like in Galileo’s case, forbidden to discuss the ideas any further. Galileo Galilei, who proposed solid evidence and theory supporting the heliocentric model, was forced to go back on his beliefs in front of several high officials, and distance himself from the Copernican model. This, luckily, allowed him to not be killed as a heretic, which was the next level of punishment for the crimes he was charged with, had he not went back on his beliefs. Incredible support was given through the young developing academies with a sense of community for scientists and academics; “Renaissance science academies represent a late manifestation of the humanist academy movement.” Since the Church was grounded traditionally evidence that went agains...
Prior to the 1990’s, the problem of scientific objectivity was a question many philosophers tried to grapple with. Initially, the Logical Positivist’s view of scientific objectivity was most popular. They held to the belief that science was overall objective because of the distinction between the “context of discovery” and “context of justification,” which still allowed for science to contain some subjective elements (Longino 172). Basically, Positivist’s allowed for subjective qualities, such as mental makeup of scientists and values scientist brought in to their scientific work, by stating that the initial formulation or “discovery” of hypothesis/theories included subjective qualities. However, these subjective characteristics were negated by the fact that when investigating theories scientists focused on comparing their hypothesis to observable consequences in an empirical and objective manor (“context of justification). Thus, this allowed the Positivist’s to “acknowledge the play of subjective factors in initial development of hypotheses and theories while guaranteeing that their acceptance [is] determined not by subjective preferences but by observed reality” (Longino 172). However, although this theory was popular for some period of time, a philosopher by the name of Helen Longino approached the problem of scientific objectivity in a different way. She believed that science was a social practice that involved the inevitable input of various subjective factors such as scientist’s values, beliefs, etc… when performing their work. However, she goes on to say that what made science objective was the process in which scientist performed their work. She essentially thought that if the process in which scientist gained knowledge wa...
Does science depend upon the findings and possession of other types of knowledge for its effective running or is it directly based on scientific reasoning?
People have always sought to better understand the world surrounding them through reasoning. People reason about things they wish to comprehend or things they want to question. Through reasoning, they come to a conclusion by formulating arguments supported by premises. People use arguments to convince others that their reasoning is correct. The premises may or may not effectively support the conclusion, thus this kind of faulty reasoning may be detected through correct reasoning and analyzation. There are two kinds of arguments: Inductive and Deductive arguments. Aristotle and other great thinkers believed induction and deduction were important in the explanation of the universe and scientific phenomena.
Amidst many similarities, the rift between ancient and modern science is enormous and has frequently left historians puzzled. Although it is clear to historians that the stagnant science of ancient times developed into the modern scientific pursuit in the 17th century, it is not clear what specifically caused this revolution of scientific thought.
A scientific theory is an explanation that is well- substantiated explanation in regards to some aspect of the natural world that is attained through scientific method and is tested numerous times and usually confirmed through vigorous observation and experimentation. The term theory can be seen as a collection of laws which allow you to show some kind of phenomenon. The strength of a scientific theory associated with the diversity of phenomena can explain its elegance and simplicity. However when new evidence is gathered a scientific theory can be changed or even rejected if it does not fit the new findings, in such cases a more accurate theory is formed. Scientific theories are used to gain further
There are many myths when talking about science. Myths are usually routined views or stories that help make sense of things. Misunderstandings of science are most likely due to educational programs. The article focuses on ten myths.