Term
| Elements of a philosophic argument |
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Definition
Thesis– statement of argument or of purpose
Premises– Justification for thesis, reasons
Criticisms or objections and responses to these
Proper grammar, proper form– valid argument
Conclusion, restatement of thesis |
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Definition
Assumes the future will resemble the past, or objects we have not yet examined will be
similar to those examined in the past– based on induction, fallacious |
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Term
| Wesley Salmon’s “crystal gazer” |
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Definition
Salmon’s Problem of Induction– A crystal gazer claims his method is the appropriate
method for making predictions. His crystal ball says his crystal ball will yield successful predictions. When arguing this ball has not been successful in the past he responds “since you have used your method to justify your method, why shouldn’t I use my method to justify my method?” and if you judge my method based on your own, “why should I use my method to evaluate your method?”-- He adds, by looking into the crystal ball, “ the scientific method is now in for a very bad run of luck.”
Shows the problem of circular arguments, you can prove anything inside a circular
argument. |
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Term
| Francis Bacon on induction |
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Definition
Inductive method– “the elimination of faulty rival explanations until only the true are left”
“The true way”-- elicits axioms from sense and particulars, rising in a gradual unbroken
ascent to arrive at last to the most general axioms” (PS 191 IXI) |
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Term
| Atomism (Democritus, etc.) |
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Definition
All that exists is atoms and void, both are never created nor destroyed
Everything made of atoms and determined by shape, size, number, locations and
arrangement of atoms. Behaviour of atoms is determined, sensation and perception due to atoms entering body and traveling to the brain |
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Term
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Definition
Kitzmiller (and other parents) fought the Dover school district’s policy of teaching intelligent design alongside evolution-- teachers had to state ID was an alternative explanation of origin to Darwin’s. Text– Of Pandas and People, same book as creationist text, name change and change from the term “creationism” to “intelligent design.”
Intelligent Design– certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause (specified complexity, irreducible complexity)
Ruling– Intelligent design is not science and cannot be separated from creationism, and should not be taught in science class |
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Term
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Definition
| The only two ideas we are born with according to Kant. These can be classified as innate ideas. |
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Term
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Definition
Only statements about empirical observations, and verifiable either logically or
empirically, are cognitively meaningful. All metaphysical statements are meaningless.
Attacked by popper, meaningful/ scientific only if falsifiable (not verifiable) |
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Term
| Hume’s “Problem of Induction” |
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Definition
Lacks rational justification, relies on uniformity of nature, which relies on induction–
fallacious, begs the question |
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Term
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Definition
| To try to end an argument with the beginning of the same argument. Ex: The Bible is true so you should not doubt the Word of God. The Word of God should not be doubted because the Bible is true. |
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Term
| Synthetic/analytic distinction |
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Definition
Analytic-- truth or falsity determined by definition "All triangles have 3 sides"
Synthetic– true based on relation to the world, or through rationalization “all triangles
have more than 2 sides” |
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Term
| Relation of ideas and matters of fact |
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Definition
Hume- relations of ideas– from abstract reasoning/ reflections of experiences
(ex. Quantity, quality, relation, modality)
Matters of fact– inference, from reasoning on c&e, not deductively certain but required in
order to have an experience (ex. identity over time, relations in time/ space) |
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Term
| A priori knowledge vs. a posteriori knowledge |
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Definition
A priori– known prior to experience, through reason alone
A posteriori– known from experience |
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Term
| Artificial selection/natural selection |
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Definition
Natural selection refers to the process that occurs in a species’s environment where beneficial traits to survival are passed on through reproduction, whereas non-beneficial traits are not passed on because the animal does not reproduce.
Artificial selection refers to the process where humans select desired traits to pass on through the animal’s reproduction, regardless of the trait’s affect on survivability. |
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Term
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Definition
Ptolemy– circular paths around which the planets traveled, while at the same time moving around a larger circular path (around earth– at this time geocentric). Solution to retrograde motion, but too complicated
Copernicus– imaginary circular paths, as seen from earth, around which the planets
appeared to travel, simpler, solved retrograde motion problem (planets only appear to
change direction) |
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Term
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Definition
Material cause– of what it is made
Formal cause– form in which the material is organized, function
Efficient cause– (or direct) – how was it made or by whom was it made
Final Cause– for what was it made, purpose |
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Term
| Falsifiable/Falsifiability |
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Definition
| Karl Popper– Hypothesis is falsifiable if there exists a logically possible observation statements that is inconsistent with it, that is, which, if established as true, would falsify the hypothesis. In order for any theory to be legitimately scientific it must be capable of being disproved by empirical observation |
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| Replaced the model of Ptolemy. Ptolemy’s model had Earth at the center of the universe. The Church accepted this because the Earth is described as the center of all things (universe) in the Bible. Copernican heliocentric model places the Sun at the center of the universe. This challenged what the Church accepted and taught. |
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Term
| Darwinian Revolution (1809)- |
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Definition
| Discovered evolution and natural selection. Created a new subject of biology. The Church did not agree with the theories of evolution because God is claimed to have created humankind. |
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Term
| Wesley Salmon’s “crystal gazer” |
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Definition
| _University of California, Long Beach web resources A crystal gazer claims that his method is the appropriate method for making predictions. When we question his claim he says, _Wait a moment |
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Term
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Definition
Species is a biological term for a population of similar individuals that in nature interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Species are reproductively isolated from one another. Goats and sheep do not interbreed in nature,so they are separate species.
Speciation is the phenomenon of a new species arising from an ancestral species. It involves change in the genetic makeup of a population, which also may bring about changes in form and structure.
During allopatric speciation, species arise when a small part of a population becomes isolated from its parent population.
A few individuals of a species on the mainland reach isolated island 1. Speciation follows genetic divergence in a new habitat.
Later in time, a few individuals of the new species colonize island 2. In this new habitat, speciation follows genetic divergence. |
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Term
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Definition
Bacon introduces his system of “true and perfect Induction,” which he proposes as the essential foundation of scientific method and a necessary tool for the proper interpretation of nature.
According to Bacon, his system differs not only from the deductive logic and mania for syllogisms of the Schoolmen, but also from the classic induction of Aristotle and other logicians. As Bacon explains it, classic induction proceeds “at once from . . . sense and particulars up to the most general propositions” and then works backward (via deduction) to arrive at intermediate propositions. Thus, for example, from a few observations one might conclude (via induction) that “all new cars are shiny.” One would then be entitled to proceed backward from this general axiom to deduce such middle-level axioms as “all new Lexuses are shiny,” “all new Jeeps are shiny,” etc. – axioms that presumably would not need to be verified empirically since their truth would be logically guaranteed as long as the original generalization (“all new cars are shiny”) is true.
As Bacon rightly points out, one problem with this procedure is that if the general axioms prove false, all the intermediate axioms may be false as well. All it takes is one contradictory instance (in this case one new car with a dull finish) and “the whole edifice tumbles.” For this reason Bacon prescribes a different path. His method is to proceed “regularly and gradually from one axiom to another, so that the most general are not reached till the last.” In other words, each axiom – i.e., each step up “the ladder of intellect” – is thoroughly tested by observation and experimentation before the next step is taken. In effect, each confirmed axiom becomes a foothold to a higher truth, with the most general axioms representing the last stage of the process. |
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Term
| René Descartes’ rules of inquiry (Logic) |
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Definition
| The first was never to accept anything as true if there is no evident knowledge of its truth; that is, carefully to avoid precipitate conclusions and preconceptions, and to include nothing more in my judgments than what presented itself to my mind so clearly and so distinctly that I had no occasion to doubt. The second, to divide each of the difficulties examined into as many parts as possible and as may be required in order to resolve them better. The third, to conduct thoughts in an orderly manner by beginning with the simplest and most easily known objects in order to ascend little by little, step by step, to knowledge of the most complex, and by supposing some order even among objects that have no natural order of precedence. |
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Term
| Ampliative/non-ampliative |
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Definition
| Ampliative: induction (from particular cases to generalizations) Projection (from past cases to new cases) Explanatory inference (inference from data to conclusions that explain the data) Non-Ampliative: deduction |
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Term
| Pre-Socratics (Thales, etc.) |
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Definition
| The pre-socratics were active before socrates. (had love of knowledge and wisdom.) Cosmology (origin of the universe) the explanation of origin, structure, and process. Some questions they might ask: (From where does everything come? From what is everything created? How do we explain plurality of nature?) |
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Term
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Definition
| Grue: Observed before or at T and green or observed after T and blue. Bleen: Observed before or at T and blue or observed after T and green. |
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Term
| Empiricism (in philosophy of science) |
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Definition
| Philosophical movement in the 18th cent. All knowledge comes from experience. Emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation. Empiricists: Francis Bacon, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, George Berkeley. |
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Term
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Definition
| A creationist concept that proposes that organisms do not change over time. It is not regarded as a scientific concept, as the evidence for evolution is overwhelmingly more abundant than any supposed support for fixity of species |
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Term
| Atomism (Democritus, etc.) |
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Definition
| Democritus on Atomism: first principle of the universe-> atoms & empty space. Democritus says, “Nothing can come into being from that which is not nor pass away into that which is not.” Atoms are unlimited (in size and number). They generate all composite things (even the four elements). They are solid, impassive, and unalterable. The sun, moon, and soul are made from atoms. Epicurus on Atomism: atomistic account of observables. Nothing comes into being from the non-existent; nothing perishes into non-existence. Being consists of bodies & space (atoms & void) . “For the existence of bodies is everywhere attested by sense itself, and is it upon sensation that reason must rely when it attempts to infer the unknown from the known.” |
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Term
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Definition
| Retrograde motion: a change in the planet’s motion, in which the planets seem to be moving in a backwards motion. The geocentric model, that the earth is at rest at the center of the universe. |
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Term
| Modus tollens (re Popper) |
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Definition
If the hypothesis is true then the prediction is true. (P2)
The prediction is not true. (P3)
Therefore, the hypothesis is not true. (modus tolens) |
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Term
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Definition
| A trial that took place in Dover County in Pennsylvania that outlawed the teaching of “Intelligent Design” from science classes because it questioned Darwin’s theory of evolution and was considered a pseudoscience. Intelligent design says that some things, such as the eye, are too complex to have derived from evolution. Implementing the existence of God. |
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Term
| Space-time/gravity (Einstein) |
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Definition
| Einstein states that gravity isn’t a force. He says that gravity acts the same way as a weight, representing a body of mass, placed on a stretchy canvas, representing space and time. The canvas bends as it gets closer to the mass. Einstein says that this doesn’t only effect celestial bodies, but everything in existence. The bodies of mass just aren’t massive enough for us to feel it. |
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Term
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Definition
| Darwin’s finches represent the theory of evolution. After collecting finches during his trip to the Galápagos Islands he realized that the finches varied from island to island. Darwin concluded the finches were all subspecies that evolved over time from an original mainland finch due to different resources available on each island. The beaks of the birds had been adapted to meet the food demands of each species |
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Term
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Definition
| Logical positivism says that a statement isn’t worth anything unless it is testable. A statement has value only if it is observable and is true. Logical positivist implement these rules to keep philosophical argument moving forward. (Please correct me if I’m wrong) |
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Term
| Hume’s “Problem of Induction” |
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Definition
| According to Hume, the problem with inductive reasoning is that it is using personal experience to explain the workings of the universe which leads to circular logic. If someone notes that the sun comes up each morning, they can inductively reason that the sun will come up tomorrow, even though there is no actual evidence that this will be the case; they are simply reasoning that something that has always happened will continue to happen the same way indefinitely. Circular logic, therefore, will eventually occur as the only justification to support this idea is its own occurrence. |
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Term
| Rationalism (in philosophy of science) |
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Definition
| Considers reason to be the basis of knowledge; operates as a sort of antithesis to empiricism. Rationalists believe that some things can only be understood using reason—any attempt to understand it another way would cause it to become contradictory. This applied to logic, mathematics, metaphysics, and ethics. Notable realists include Renè Descartes and Immanuel Kant |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of argument in which the premises support the conclusion simply because the conclusion supports the premises. These types of arguments are logically sound, but provide no evidence to support either the premises or the conclusion and, therefore, create a logical fallacy. An example would be “A is true since B is true and B is true since A is true.” |
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Term
| Synthetic/analytic distinction |
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Definition
| Analytic proposition is true by virtue of its meaning; synthetic proposition is true by how its meaning relates to the world. Analytic propositions are true by definition (mathematics is a prime example of this; 2+2=4 is always true); synthetic propositions can alter based on the definitions they contain |
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Term
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Definition
| Scientists cannot compare theories or cite empirical evidence due to conflicting concepts/frameworks or languages. This can greatly impact scientific study as it will prevent scientists working together to arrive at a solution. Incommensurability implies that a scientific change is in a sense directiveness: Later paradigms are not better than earlier ones just different. |
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Term
| Science vs. Pseudoscience |
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Definition
| Pseudoscience does not rely on actual evidence obtained via the scientific method; instead, it relies on confirmation bias, circular logic/arguments, and claims that are unfalsifiable. Areas of pseudoscience include astrology, tarot, alchemy, creationism, and the occult. Science is set apart from this by many factors (testable explanations/predictions, use of the scientific method, peer review, etc.), the most important of which is falsifiability—the idea that any claim made cannot be stated to be absolutely true; it can only be the strongest theory based on the evidence available. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rather than evolutionary change occurring gradually over an extended period of time; punctuated equilibrium suggests that sudden geological changes cause species to react more quickly, thus cladogenesis (species splitting into two distinct species) occurs more rapidly. |
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Term
| Relation of ideas and matters of fact (Hume) |
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Definition
| Relations of ideas are a priori (reasoning from self-evident propositions, does not need experience) and indestructible bonds created between ideas. Mathematical sciences, which are intuitively or demonstratively certain, concern only relations of ideas. Relations of ideas are based on mere thinking and are intuitively or demonstrably certain. Objects of investigation concern matters of fact. Matters of fact are learned a posteriori (proceeds from observations or experiences), and can be denied without fear of contradiction. Hume suggests that we know matters of fact about unobserved things through cause and effect |
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Term
| Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and the theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics |
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Definition
| Although he was not the first thinker to advocate organic evolution, he was the first to develop a truly coherent evolutionary theory. Lamarck is best remembered for his theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics, even though he greatly contributed to our understanding of the natural world. According to this theory, new traits arise in organisms because of their needs and are somehow passed on to their descendants. Example: Ancestral short-necked giraffes stretched their necks to reach leaves high on trees. Their offspring were born with longer necks. |
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Term
| Impression and idea (Hume) |
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Definition
| Impressions comprehend, according to Hume, "all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will." Impressions are original, lively thoughts such as, sensations, emotions, desires, volitions. Ideas are less-lively copies of impressions. Ideas are drawn from memory or the imagination which is why they are less lively and vivid. All (or nearly all) ideas are copies of impressions. The test for validity of a difficult to understand philosophical idea is to find the impression of which it is a copy. Ideas and impressions occurring in the mind are connected by general principles which include resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect. |
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Term
| Evolution as a “unifying theory” |
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Definition
| Evolution is considered the single greatest unifying theory in biology, because it offers a comprehensive explanation for the pattern of similarities and differences that exist in all living things. Ideas that had developed at the time that were unified (in terms of biology) where the principle of uniformitarianism, Earth’s great age, that many types of plants and animals had become extinct, and that change from one species to another had occurred. Evolution explains these otherwise encyclopedic collections of facts and unifies them in respect to biology. This allows evolution to provide a framework for discussion of life history. |
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Term
| Theory ladenness of science (hypotheses) |
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Definition
| In the philosophy of science, observations are said to be "theory‐laden" when they are affected by the theoretical presuppositions held by the investigator. Thomas Kuhn says that paradigms form fundamental, theoretical assumptions, accepted by the scientific community at any given time. These paradigms form theoretical presuppositions when collect data. This in turn causes data to be theory-dependent, objective truth is therefore impossible, since truth must correspond to facts but facts are dependent on theory. Kuhn says that perception is dependent on what we believe, and so scientific observation is always couched in theoretical terms |
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Term
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Definition
Epicurus was born around 341 B.C.E., seven years after Plato's death, and grew up in the Athenian colony of Samos, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. He was about 19 when Aristotle died, and he studied philosophy under followers of Democritus and Plato. Epicurus founded his first philosophical schools in Mytilene and Lampsacus, before moving to Athens around 306 B.C.E. There Epicurus founded the Garden, a combination of philosophical community and school. The residents of the Garden put Epicurus' teachings into practice. Epicurus died from kidney stones around 271 or 270 B.C.E.
Of Lucretius' life remarkably little is known: he was an accomplished poet; he lived during the first century BC; he was devoted to the teachings of Epicurus; and he apparently died before his magnum opus, De Rerum Natura, was completed. Almost everything else we know (or think we know) about this elusive figure is a matter of conjecture, rumor, legend, or gossip.
Epicurus believes that the basic constituents of the world are atoms (which are uncuttable, microscopic bits of matter) moving in the void (which is simply empty space). Ordinary objects are conglomerations of atoms. Furthermore, the properties of macroscopic bodies and all of the events we see occurring can be explained in terms of the collisions, reboundings, and entanglements of atoms. |
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Term
| Wesley Salmon on “The success of science solution” to Problem of Induction |
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Definition
| The problem that Wesley Salmon sees in “the success of science solution” to the problem of induction, (which says that it is irrational to think that scientific enquiry is unjustified, because science has worked in the past by making accurate predictions about the future) is it begs the question against skeptics of induction. The inference from “Science has worked in the past” to “Science will continue to work in the future” is itself an inductive inference, putting it in the category of inferences that are in question as to whether they are justified |
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Term
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Definition
| The Humean view on cause and effect was that all causes amounted to was constant conjunction between objects. We can not infer from an object that there is any necessity between said object and the object it is constantly conjoined with, since it is conceivable to have the cause without the effect and the effect without the cause. The notion of necessity between objects is not given by the objects themselves but by our impressions on those objects. |
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Term
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Definition
| The realism/anti-realism debate consists in a dispute about the existence and distinction between observables and unobservables and whether our scientific explanations give us insight into how the world actually is. Realists affirm that our scientific explanations and the entities that they invoke, be they observable or unobservable, describe how the world actually is, or at the very least give us closer and closer approximations to how the world really is. Anti-realists typically at least some of these claims, usually contending that objects posited by scientific explanations that are unobservable are useful fictions for scientific enquiry, but do not necessarily describe how the world really is. |
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Term
| “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” (Quine) |
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Definition
| The paper “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” is centered around Quine’s attack on the Logical Positivists. The two dogmas he attacks are the analytic/synthetic distinction and reductionism. In regards to the analytic/synthetic distinction, Quine contends that there is not analysis of analyticity that doesn’t end up either relying on notions that are in need of just as much clarification as analyticity itself (cognitive synonymy, for example) or that the notions used will not be sufficient for the positivists use of analyticity (coexstensive terms, for example). Reductionism is flawed in Quine’s view, because as a holist, no sentence is verified of falsified in isolation and that sentences are considered in relation to background assumptions about the truth-value of other sentences. |
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Term
| Kant’s “Copernican Revolution” |
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Definition
Kant in his Copernican Revolution, as he put it, it is the representation that makes the object possible rather than the object that makes the representation possible.
Rationalism is wrong: we are not born with innate ideas (equality, god, shortest distance is a straight line, future events will always have cause) we know things about the world only through perceptions .
Empiricism is wrong: sense data alone do not give us the knowledge of the world. We can know only if our minds are not blank slates or passive receptacles of neutral sense data.
Effect of Hume on Kant (I.e., “dogmatic slumbers”) |
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Term
| Misconceptions about evolutionary theory- |
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Definition
| Evolution proceeds strictly by chance. Nothing less than fully developed structures such as eyes are of any use. There are no transitional fossils (so called missing links). Humans evolved from monkeys (so monkeys no longer exist). |
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Term
| Wesley Salmon on “The complexity of science solution” to Problem of Induction |
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Definition
- Solution 1—the “success of science” solution: The reason we are justified in using inductive methods is that they work. Science, which utilizes such methods, has been massively successful in predicting the course of the future and providing us with an understanding of the natural world. To doubt its methodology is ridiculously irrational. The problem with solution 1: It appears to be another instance of the inductive justification of induction, which, as we have seen, is circular.
-Solution 2: the complexity of science solution: Scientific inference is vastly more complicated than the examples involving simple enumerative induction suggest. (The sun will rise tomorrow.)
Scientists understand the functioning of the solar system in terms of the laws of physics. Predictions about astronomical events are derived from these laws and statements of initial or standing conditions. |
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Term
| Paradigm (and paradigm shift) Paradigm |
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Definition
Set of fundamental ,Theoretical assumptions accepted by the scientific community at any given time .
“exemplars “ of problems solved by the theoretical assumptions.
An entire scientific outlook, a”scientific worldview”
Shared beliefs, values and assumptions. Unites the community . Allows “normal science” to take place |
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Term
| The Raven Paradox (Hempel) |
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Definition
| All ravens are black and anything that is not black is more proof that all ravens are black. (something that is not black is not a raven) Only thing confirming that ravens are not black is something that is black and is not a raven. |
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Term
| Goals of the “Intelligent Design” movement |
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Definition
| Intelligent design is essentially code for the religious belief in a supernatural creator. As a purported scientific alternative to evolutionary theory. Schools required teachers to acknowledge that Darwin's theory is just a theory and created tension between creationists and evolutionists saying that Creationists were pushing religion onto the students. The goals of the Intelligent design is to minimize the teaching of evolution or to gain equal amount of time in public schools. |
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Term
| A priori knowledge vs. a posteriori knowledge |
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Definition
| A Prioi knowledge is knowledge we know by definition and posteriori knowledge is knowledge we have to experience (ex. Experiments, observations, data collecting) |
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Term
| Artificial selection/natural selection |
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Definition
| Natural selection is something that occurs naturally through nature. Artifical selection occurs when human interactions occur. |
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Term
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Definition
| are the concept of planets orbiting around the earth, while at the same time making smaller orbits within the orbit. |
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Term
| “Web of Belief” (Quine, Lakatos, et. al.) |
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Definition
| Is the concept that all ideas are interrelated. There are no individual beliefs ; everything can be connected. |
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Term
| Primary and secondary qualities (Locke) |
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Definition
| The primary qualities of objects produce ideas in our minds that “resemble” the corresponding qualities in the objects that caused us to have those ideas. The secondary qualities of objects produce ideas in our minds that do not resemble the corresponding qualities in the objects that produced those ideas in our minds. |
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Term
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Definition
| Changing of the structure of a gene, resulting in a variant from that may be transmitted to subsequent generation, caused by the alteration of single base units in DNA. |
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Term
| Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn) |
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Definition
| Kuhns ideas transformed philosophy of Science. Issue between competing paradigms could not be resolved by simply appealing to the data or the facts for what a scientist counts as data or facts will depend on which paradigm she accepts. |
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Term
Isaac Newton
-On induction |
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Definition
| In experimental philosophy, propositions gathered from phenomena by induction should be considered either exactly or very nearly true now with standing any contrary hypothesis, until yet another phenomena make such propositions either more exact or liable to exceptions |
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Term
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Definition
Rule 1—No more causes of material things should be admitted than are both true and sufficient to explain their phenomena (Parsimony; Ockham’s Razor)
Rule 2—Therefore, the causes assigned to natural effects of the same kind must be, so far as possible, the same—(like effects from like causes)
Rule 3—The qualities of bodies that cannot be intended and remitted [i.e., qualities that cannot be increased or diminished] and that belong to all bodies on which experiments can be made should be taken as qualities of all bodies universally (the laws of physics apply everywhere)
Rule 4—In experimental philosophy, propositions gathered from phenomena by induction should be considered either exactly or very nearly true notwithstanding and contrary hypotheses, until yet other phenomena make such propositions more exact or liable to exceptions (Induction à “truth”) (Falsification) |
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Term
| -Space, time, elements of physics |
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Definition
Quantity of matter (density, volume)—(body, mass)
Quantity of motion (matter, velocity)—(momentum)
Inherent force of matter—persists in a state of resting or motion in a straight line (inertia)
Centripetal force—force by which a body tends toward a center (e.g., gravity)
Newton defended an absolute conception of space. Newton thought of space as a three dimensional container into which God placed the material universe at creation this implied that space existed before there were any material objects. His main reason for introducing the concept of absolute space was to distinguish between absolute and relative motion |
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Term
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Definition
First Law - à v=0, or, v=C [in a straight line]
An object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force
Second Law - F=ma (W=mg) Force of an object is the product of its mass and its acceleration
Force equals mass times acceleration
Third Law - Equal and opposite forces
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The laws of motion change the way we see the world and the way everyday things function in it i.e breaks on your car |
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Term
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Definition
| any two bodies is a function of their masses |
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Term
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Definition
| Is the argument that certain biological systems cannot evolve by successive small modifications to existing functional systems through natural selection |
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Term
| Goodman’s “New Problem of Induction” |
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Definition
| All emeralds are green. Goodmans paradox becomes one of distinguishing projectable predicates such as green and blue from non-projectable predicates such as grue and bleen. Goodman argues that Hume missed this problem it is similar to the raven paradox. |
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Term
| Verification vs. Falsification |
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Definition
Verification meant that empirical statements, or scientific statements, are those that it is possible be decided to be true or false by experience. You can fully decide that the statement is true because experience has shown the statement is true. Like experience can show that “this apple is red in color”, so too can experience show the statement that “all apples in the refrigerator are red in color”. The refrigerator is in a specific place, at a specific time, and logically possible to see if all the apples in the refrigeration are red in color. It can be opened and found that all the apples are red in color, or that all but one of the apples in the refrigerator are red in color, like one can be yellow. Thus, it is both logically possible to empirically verify the statement or empirically falsify the statement. It is logically possible to either show it is true or show it is false.
However, the statement that “all apples in refrigerators are red in color” is logically impossible to empirically verify. This is because this universal statement applies to all times and all places, while the previous universal statement applies to a specific time and specific place.Thus, this universal statement cannot be verified, but it can still be empirically falsified. You might not be able to check all the refrigerators that will, or have, existed in all places or all times, but those that you have observed have the empirical possibility of showing the statement to be false. You might not be able to check all refrigerators in all places and times, but finding a specific refrigerator that has a yellow apple, shows that all refrigerators, in all times and place, do not have all red apples in them. One case has been found to run counter to the universal claim. Thus, we learn that some refrigerators have only red apples in color and some refrigerators have yellow apples in color.
The point becomes that science can introduce whatever universal statement it wants, so long as it is logically possible to make one empirical observation to show it is false. We do not have to show that what it introduces is true by experience, just that it can make predictions that are logically possible to show false by experience. |
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Material cause -what it’s made of
Final cause -for what is it made / what is its purpose
Formal cause -what is its form
Efficient cause -who made it |
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| Provides a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time (i.e. spacetime). In 1919, an experiment was conducted that proved Einstein’s theory to be correct. Einstein predicted the position of a star, relative to the sun, during a solar eclipse. Einstein theorized that, due to the massive gravity of the sun, the star in question would appear to be in a slightly different place in the sky. During the eclipse, the position of the star was measured, and Einstein was proven correct; the immense gravity of the sun bent the light from the star in such a way as to reposition it in the sky. |
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Einstein’s famous equation for Mass-Energy equivalence. Equivalent energy (E) is equal to the mass of an object (m) times the speed of light (c) squared. The theory states that anything that has mass has an equal amount of energy, and anything with energy has an equal amount of mass. It is important because it tells us that mass and energy are related and we can determine (when we need to) the amount when mass is converted into energy
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| Used by logical empiricists/positivists to analyze the structure of scientific theories. These theories are identified by a series of propositions that are linguistic object such as axioms. |
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| Bacon’s Scientific Method |
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Definition
1. State the problem (define the question)
2. Gather information (read other sources and/or observe)
3. Form hypothesis (proposed solution)
4. Perform experiment and collect data
5. Record and analyze data
6. Draw conclusions from the data collected |
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| The “wedge” of Intelligent Design |
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| Put forth by Phillip Johnson, who stated Intelligent Design “…is the ‘entering wedge of truth, splitting the foundations of naturalism.’” Was meant to undermine and sway public opinion on evolution and undermine the public’s opinion on science in general. |
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| Science as social (Kuhn, Lakatos, Forrest, etc) |
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| Thomas Kuhn believed that acceptance or rejection of a paradigm is a social process as much as a logical process. For example, Kuhn believed that the Ptolemic model was “normal” science within a paradigm, while the Copernican revolution was a paradigm shift. Under Kuhn’s belief, social aspects such as political ideologies and professional interests can play a significant role in the shift. |
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| Charles Lyell’s Uniformitarian Geology |
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| Supported the Uniformitarian concept that geological structures are formed slowly and gradually over a long period of time. Used geological proof to show that the earth was well over 6,000 years old (as many hardline religious people believed). This work had a profound influence on Charles Darwin and his discovery of the mechanics of evolution (it was one of the books he took on the HMS Beagle). |
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| Falsifiable/Falsifiability (Karl Popper) |
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| Hypothesis is falsifiable if there exists a logically possible observation statements that is inconsistent with it, that is, which, if established as true, would falsify the hypothesis. In order for any theory to be legitimately scientific it must be capable of being disproved by empirical observation |
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| The heliocentric system was posited by Copernicus who proposed the sun was the center of the solar system, not the earth. Copernicus explained the earth moved in two different way Copernicus stated the earth rotated on its axis in one day and it revolved around the sun in one year. The main concern Copernicus had with Ptolemy’s epicycle hypothesis was the uneven motion of the epicycles. Copernicus completely rejected the idea of uneven motion by using the geocentric system with mathematics explaining planetary movements. The Copernican system explained the brightness of the planets and retrograde motion. Copernicus goes on to explain the planets vary in distance making them vary in brightness as well. Copernicus’ depiction of retrograde motion is explained with geometry which further explains the faster motion of the planets with smaller orbits. Therefore the main concept of the copernican model was the retrograde loops planets seen from the earth will occur naturally, due to the motions of the earth combined with the motions of the planets. It is revolutionary because the model shifted the belief of the earth being the center of the universe to the sun. Replaced the model of Ptolemy. Ptolemy’s model had Earth at the center of the universe. The Church accepted this because the Earth is described as the center of all things (universe) in the Bible. Copernican heliocentric model places the Sun at the center of the universe. This challenged what the Church accepted and taught. |
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| Revolution in scientific reasoning. A new understanding of the physical world. The concept of universal gravitation--that every particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them--is Newton's major contribution to science |
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| Discovered evolution and natural selection. Changed the subject of biology significantly. The Church did not approve of his findings. Evolution proposed a new answer to how we became human. Used natural law to explain why we are here and what makes us human. |
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| Discovered answers through physics of the natural world. Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity" predicted: The Sun's gravity acts like a lens and deflects light from distant stars, making them appear in new locations. |
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