Neutrality can be defined as “the state of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, impartiality”. The idea of a neutral question and the obvious interpretation of a neutral question is that the questioner has no vested interest in the answer; it is essentially a detached, impersonal, open question. Neutrality can be analyzed within areas of knowledge such as natural sciences and human sciences and further explored for the contrast between these areas with the ethics systems and morality. Moral and ethical neutrality is a broad lens at which natural and human sciences can be examined as I feel it is the foundation of all forms of human behavior and judgment. When wondering if it is possible to reach a position of impartiality, …show more content…
One of the most prominent aspects of neutrality that exists within natural sciences is the idea of logical neutrality and it’s role in aspects of this field such as the scientific method. We can ask ourselves is it possible to pose a neutral question with regards to the scientific method as an aspect of natural sciences? Much of science in general but specifically natural sciences is based off of reason, when there is something to be discovered scientists must use reason to determine a way to reach that goal of discovery. Scientists design experiments and strive to obtain results confirming or disproving a hypothesis, but what are the factors that determine the validity of scientific …show more content…
Evolution News states in a post entitled “The Myth of Science 's Neutrality” that “the scientific method is not a machine that guarantees, "Input data; output knowledge." Science is always mediated by fallible humans with imperfect knowledge, prone to selfish interests.” ‘Bad science’ however as we have learned throughout the TOK course consists of sciences that when explored, rely on bias and agenda-driven purposes, certain natural sciences such as pathological science, and junk science are considered ‘bad’ purely based on their lack of neutrality. This contradicts the concept brought up earlier that it could be possible that some scientific research lacking neutrality isn’t unreliable or bad. For a science to be considered legitimate we can consider Karl Popper’s theory of falsifiability, which outlines neutrality as the product of a falsifiable process. Karl Popper’s theory of falsifiability, in brief, states that a theory cannot be considered valid without the ability to be disproven, therefore when considering neutrality in this equation it makes sense that it would be the outcome of such a neutral, open ended
Popperian hypothetico deductivists would find several problems with the view of science Alan Chalmers stated in ‘What is this thing Called Science?’ From “Scientific knowledge is proven knowledge” to “Scientific knowledge is reliable knowledge because it is objectively proven” popper would disagree to everything. With Chalmers falsificationism or hypothetico-deductivism view, his statement indicates that scientific induction is completely justifiable. However as it is now known, induction is not a reasonable way to prove or justify science.
neutral' outlook upon it; that is, a side must be chosen, for or against. It is
Philosophical context: To discuss this question I will use “Values and Objectivity” by Helen Longino along with actual studies involving scientific objectivity. In Longino’s work, she sets up the avenues for criticism of scientific work and explains why they are important.
When you look up the dictionary, the definition of 'Science' is "a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws" (Webster's dictionary). In order to make a truth, many scientists take the time to observe or test with scientific method. In nineteenth century, there are some incorrect truths even if it looks like truths logically arranged by scientific method because the scientists understood the priori that already assumed the outcome would be the same as their predictions. As I read Stephen Jay Gould's argument from "Women's Brains", he found some unequal conditions that supported scientific method for intelligence of man. Paul Broca tried to measure the inferiority of women with scientific certitudes that were invidious comparisons such as races, classes, and sexes.
Since the mid-20th century, a central debate in the philosophy of science is the role of epistemic values when evaluating its bearing in scientific reasoning and method. In 1953, Richard Rudner published an influential article whose principal argument and title were “The Scientist Qua Scientist Makes Value Judgments” (Rudner 1-6). Rudner proposed that non-epistemic values are characteristically required when making inductive assertions on the rationalization of scientific hypotheses. This paper aims to explore Rudner’s arguments and Isaac Levi’s critique on his claims. Through objections to Levi’s dispute for value free ideal and highlighting the importance of non-epistemic values within the tenets and model development and in science and engineering,
Science is supposed, to tell the truth, but because humans are the ones performing the experiments sometimes there are flaws. For instance, Andre Wakefield in
The Chalmers's view against the Popperian hypothetico-deductive. Popper mentioned that people shouldn't concentrate our hopes on an unacceptable principle of induction.Also, he claimed that without relying on induction we still can work out how science works and why it is rational.1 Hence, I would like to said Popper would disagree with Chalmer's opinion. Also, I think Popperian might say Chalmers is wrong because his falsifiable in Popperian sense. Chalmers might be falsified if scientific knowledge is observed not reliable due to some experiment and observation might contain mistakes and we do not find them now. Furthermore, the Popperian might argue that science can not be prove but can justify the better theories or laws.1 We can justify which scientific laws or theories are better ones as there is falsified is found, or not scientific. When they are found falsified or not scientific, we can seek for novel bold hypot...
Jaz Mitts Dr. Craig Smith HIS 103 3 March 2018 The Proclamation of Neutrality The proclamation of neutrality concisely covers the fact that there is a war happening between, in short, most of Europe and France, and that America was not going to side with either party in that war. It goes on to state that any citizen found helping or harming either side (probably referencing American ships supplying either side with ammunition) would be punished severely by the law . The document was written in 1793, less than 20 years after the country had earned its independence.
To be able to demarcate science from non-science is immensely important, for our society, and its individuals. Science is our main source of knowledge and as such has many applications in our daily lives, and we need to be able to distinguish scientific findings and information from the many ideas and unbacked theories which are presented to large parts of the population, appearing as if they are fact. This may include something as fickle as weight loss plans that use diction not easily understood by the public to make the product appear authorized, certified and scientifically sound, when really the product is not scientifically tested, or trials not done in a credible manner. Another, possibly more serious scenario is in education, particularly science, many supporters of creationism and other pseudo sciences incorporate these teachings in schools, teaching them as if they were approved scientific theories to impressionable children, some who grow up retaining those beliefs, they were wrongfully taught, as fact.
Generally, science is a hotly discussed and vehemently debated topic. It is difficult to achieve consensus in science, considering the fact that ideas are diverse about even science definition, leave alone the true interpretations and meaning of scientific experiments, philosophies and discoveries. However, these arguments, disagreements as well as continuous trials to find a better reasoning, logic and explanation are exactly what have always been driving science progress from art to art form. It is worth noting that, in Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction, the Author-Samir Okasha explore various way of looking at science via the prism of life by citing a variety of scientific experiments, and providing examples from history of science.
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...
The following essay will discuss falsification, as discussed by Karl Popper, as well has his account of the scientific method. The idea whether any scientific theory can truly be falsified will also be approached by looking at the problems presented by Popper’s theory of falsification, and the impact this has on the scientific method and science as a whole.
The issue shall discuss the various differences between science and other types of knowledge and discuss the argument whether the science can rely without the separate theories posted by non-scientific educational bodies. ...
Cole, K. C., and Sue Giddings. "Is There Such a Thing as Scientific Objectivity?" DISCOVER Sept. 1985: 76-78. Web.
Nature of science or NOS is a term that refers to the epistemic knowledge of science, the knowledge of constructs and values that are intrinsic to the subject. The constructs and values include historical groundwork to scientific discovery and social incorporation such as sociology, philosophy, and history of science (“Nature of Science”). Nature of science, in my opinion, should not be explicitly taught in high school science curriculum. The basis for my standing on the issue is representative of the lack of a fundamental standard understanding of what Nature of Science is, as well as the lack of effectiveness in explicitly teaching Nature of Science which I will expand on further in