Scientific skepticism

Within the modern scientific world, the pursuit of knowledge entails the purposeful advancement of the field. The discovery and development of new information fuel such advancements. Similarly, disagreement also provides a basis for extended research. Carl Sagan suggests the heart of science is “an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes–an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas,…

Sociology can best be defined as the scientific study of social behavior by examining social relationships in organizations and culture. It may surprise many people to know sociology is considered a science, better to refer to as a different type of science. Usually, when people think of science: chemistry, biology, physics are most commonly assumed. Sociology is, indeed, a type of science but not a hard science such as botany but is considered to be a soft science. Soft sciences are not easier…

as an effect of climatic change all over the world. In addition, the waters have remained polluted intentionally through financial beneficiaries who gain straight from supporting and distributing skepticism concerning the climate science and the change to renewable fuel supplies. Climate science skepticism and stories concerning renewable are straight away contributed through the rumor information offered by people, organizations, and foundations that are financed through the fossil energy…

The natural inclination to understand phenomena in scientific ways is an innately human tendency (Haas, 2011). This desire to seek scientific explanations, particularly to explain empirical phenomena, is pervasive not only in scientific fields but also various disciplines. An exorbitant amount of research aims to investigate the impact that scientific phenomena have on social and cultural contexts, among others. Moreover, with continued scientific advancements, this desire is driven by…

always be upheld in order to ensure good scientific practices. These four principles are Universalism, Communism, Disinterestedness, and Organized Skepticism. Universalism is the idea that a scientist should reject all their individual differences in favor of having an understanding, all-considering, objective view on the world. Communism is the idea that all scientific knowledge and progress is shared, and that a scientist should strive to make scientific progress for the greater good and…

throughout time the same scientific data has been viewed differently by people in various global locations. These differences could very possibly be caused by each person having their own unique observation. Kuhn believes our world view to be all we have, it is how we view the world observe and experience the world but there is no way to discover how close our world view is to reality. Here, Kuhn suggest that each individual being experiences the world differently. His reasoning is as follows:…

order to be ranked as scientific, must be capable of conflicting with possible, or conceivable observations” (Popper 1962). In other words if a statement cannot be proven to be wrong then it does not belong to science. Science can never prove anything to be true because if it does it will be by definition not science .hence popper’s proposal draw a line between empirical science and the metaphysical or pseudo-science. Although falsification is a necessary element in the scientific process,…

Corporate involvement in scientific research have created a problematic dynamic between financial interests and the goals of sciences and its supposed norms. Robert Merton said that “the goal of science is to expand the range of our knowledge by empirical confirmation and logically consistent statements of regularities,” and made a point to identify certain norms that should not be breeched to ensure that science would not fall ill to the maladies that plague other institutions. These included:…

Peirce’s concept of critical common sensism and unwavering faith in the scientific method makes him stand out as a revolutionary philosopher. In this paper, the epistemological philosophies of Peirce, G. E. Moore, and Wittgenstein will be discussed in order to arrive at a more complete theory of knowledge. Peirce’s pragmatic theory of truth, though in need of some modification, best captures knowledge and conquers Cartesian skepticism. First, an important distinction must be made between…

Crystal Kim Professor Dan Lainer-Vos SOCI 210 / Fall 2015 10 October 2015 Midterm Assignment A) Concept Definition: Explain four of the following concepts (no more than one paragraph for each concept) (5 points each: 20 pts). Be sure to explain the concepts with reference to the relevant writers. 1. Falsification: Carl Popper is an empiricist and perfectionist, whose whole notion revolves on the principle of falsification, and which he defines as the “criteria of demarcation”. His position is…