for applied philosophical questions about the study of science, the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and the scientific method
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2answers
69 views
Is human consciousness encoded in DNA?
Human DNA contains roughly 3 Billion base-pairs. That is 1.5 Gigabytes of data. This can easily fit onto a small usb memory stick.
Can something as complex as a human consciousness be derivable from ...
0
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0answers
39 views
What is the actual process of realization?
What is the actual process of realization? What are the factors that must coexist at the same time in order to set the brain's state of realizing something?
I found that In probability and ...
0
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1answer
31 views
Attribution of quote “The apparent duck becomes an obvious rabbit”?
The quote
The apparent duck becomes an obvious rabbit
refers to a paradigm shift. I've only seen one paper including it, and the author uses it as if it is common. Is it used elsewhere, or with ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
How is the idea of an explosion represented in a purely Aristotelian physics?
Given the need to explain an explosion of a flour mill, assuming a purely Aristotelian paradigm, what concepts could be used to explain the mill's destruction?
This question is to help more ...
1
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2answers
62 views
Is the anthropic principle in physics falsifiable?
The Anthropic Principle states that the fundamental physics of the universe must allow the possibility of conscious life in the universe - as that is an observable fact.
It's often qualified as ...
1
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2answers
60 views
How exactly does antireductionism undermine the scientific method?
I was reading a wikipedia article on Antireductionism. What I cannot understand is how exactly does antireductionism undermine the "scientific method" to a certain degree?
4
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4answers
205 views
Can we dispense with ontology in physics?
Is it possible to have a satisfactory physics which is content to describe everything in terms of operational (functional) properties? Could it therefore be the case that ontology is a useless concept ...
4
votes
1answer
81 views
A Popper question about corroboration
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_induction#Karl_Popper
The rational motivation for choosing a well-corroborated theory is
that it is simply easier to falsify: Well-corroborated means ...
7
votes
3answers
158 views
Is meditation valid to study consciousness scientifically?
In the study of consciousness, neuroscience observes mental phenomena through physical correlations, using techniques such as fMRI, PET and EEG. These are considered valid and reproductible, and can ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
How does one explain (apparent) nonexistence?
There is quite a bit of fun in building a little web of questions and answers throughout StackExchange. (Let's call it an exercise in interdisciplinarity.)
"Molecular biologist Robin Holliday has ...
5
votes
3answers
197 views
What are the most basic assumptions one has to make in order to conduct science?
I often wondered: What are the most basic assumptions I have to make before I can even start thinking about life, universe and the rest?
So far I have boiled them down to three:
There is a world, a ...
2
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2answers
118 views
What does Einstein's quote “If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts” mean?
What did Einstein really mean by saying:
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.
4
votes
4answers
227 views
Does Albert Einstein's interpretation of Ockham's razor violate it?
An often-quoted version of Ockham's razor (that can not be verified as being posited by Einstein himself) says "Everything should be kept as simple as possible, but no simpler."
Doesn't it violate ...
2
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2answers
106 views
Does everything which can be figured out through observation disqualify as philosophy?
Does a scientific question which we have not yet had the resources or time to answer scientifically classify as philosophically relevant? Or does everything which can be figured out through ...
4
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0answers
29 views
Suggested intro level readings for Realism vs. Anti-Realism in Philosophy of Science?
So I'll likely be teaching an undergraduate class on Realism vs. Anti-Realism in the Philosophy of Science next fall. I figured I'd fish for some suggestions on accessible and engaging literature in ...
5
votes
2answers
112 views
Was Karl Popper a “dedicated opponent of all forms of scepticism”? If so, why, or how?
While reading the Wikipedia article on Karl Popper, I was surprised to find that one of the article's sources, in its lede paragraph, claims that Karl Popper was a "dedicated opponent of all forms of ...
2
votes
2answers
70 views
How susceptible is the scientific community to politics and other intrusion?
As someone who has just obtained his BSc. in Software Engineering, I'd like to think that I have seen a fair bit of both the good and bad in human tendencies. One of the bad tendencies is to be ...
2
votes
3answers
122 views
Is materialism actually material?
physicalism allows for forces such as gravity which on the face of it are not material as say the cup of tea I have to hand. So materialism literally taken seems to be wrong.
But looking at this more ...
4
votes
3answers
207 views
Is discreteness an emergent property?
The Riemann zeta function is a continuous function which encodes the properties of the primes; string theory, a proposed theory of particles, considers continuous objects; through QM discreetness of ...
5
votes
2answers
99 views
How would you describe the relationship of science and philosophy of science?
How would you describe the relationship of science and philosophy of science? Is it a worldview that sets a tone to scientific jargon? I mean that statements of eg. physics are under submission of the ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
Can sheaf-theory help interpret Quantum Mechanics?
The Copenhagen interpretation posits a boundary in the World between the observer and the non-observer (that is the rest of the World). There is knowledge (Observables measured) associated with each ...
3
votes
1answer
72 views
Has there been any success in using modal logic to interpret Quantum Mechanics?
Quantum Mechanics rather famously has problems in interpretation - straightforward realism doesn't appear to work. Is there any work with modal logic that throws light on this question?
The SEP has ...
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4answers
207 views
What can suffice as a scientific proof for God? to what domain can such a proof belong to?
"Scientific" theories require proof, and there are certain guidelines and standards for the proofs to be acceptable to the "scientific" community in that domain (Algebra, Computer Science, etc.). ...
5
votes
4answers
162 views
Is scientism a self defeating epistemology?
Some who have argued against the validity of scientism have argued that the view that only science can uncover truth is not a scientific discovery but rather a epistemology. Hence it has been claimed ...
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0answers
40 views
Is there any evidence that any philosophers in Antiquity viewed space itself as a something?
In Lucretious poem De Natura, he has
They [atoms] move through the void
In contemporary usage a vacuum is the the removal of all matter from space, it stems from Latin adjective vacuus for empty ...
4
votes
1answer
68 views
Was Kants formulation of mathematics as synthetic a priori a forerunner to the Russellian campaign to reduce mathematics to logic?
Kant showed that mathematics was synthetic a priori. For example the laws of arithmetic or of euclidean geometry, and noted that this had escaped the notice of previous thinkers, they had assumed them ...
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votes
2answers
100 views
existence of objects under the microscope
Can there be any difference between the existence of things we sense directly and things we
sense using instruments like microscope?
Along the same lines , is it possible that some objects around ...
4
votes
1answer
68 views
Is there a philosophical antecedent to the physical idea of waves in media?
In Physics there are two large themes in conceptualising the world - atoms & waves.
I'm familiar with the work of the greek atomists, is there a philosophical precursor to waves? From what I've ...
1
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0answers
86 views
Are social sciences currently 'real' sciences? [closed]
Examples for natural sciences: physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology
Social sciences: psychology, sociology, criminology, psychiatry
Natural science has very good mathematical laws and algorithms ...
0
votes
1answer
122 views
Anti-realistic and relativistic perspectives on science
Examples for natural sciences: physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology
Social sciences: psychology, sociology, criminology, psychiatry
Scientists construct knowledge in order to better understand ...
9
votes
3answers
311 views
What would a quantum interpretation without ontology be like?
Luboš Motl keeps insisting quantum mechanics invalidates ontology, and has made ontology obsolete, just like phlogiston. What would metaphysics without ontology look like, where words like "existence" ...
0
votes
1answer
80 views
Philosophically what does it mean to be committed to the existence of electrons? [closed]
In our immediate perception electrons are not seen and their existence must be inferred.
Are we in the same position as say the ancient greeks were when they were speculating that the Earth was a ...
10
votes
1answer
93 views
Does going from a singular to existential statement make it non-scientific for Popper?
In "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" (section 15) Popper argues that
an 'isolated' (a term he introduced in the English translation, which seems to be used in a very vague way) purely existential ...
0
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1answer
69 views
Implication rules problem
P -> Q is equivalent to ~P v Q, so why isn't P -> ~Q equivalent to ~P v ~Q?
I can't figure out why the rule for P -> Q does not apply to P -> ~Q.
2
votes
2answers
92 views
Vedas knowledge about the world?
It is known that ancient indian Vedas contain enormous amount of knowledge about the world in different fields: philosophy, physics, medicine, etc...
Does somebody know how these books are called, ...
6
votes
0answers
84 views
Pragmatism vs. Conventionalism
What are the key differences between (classical) pragmatism and conventionalism? I'm reasonably familiar with the first, and have just become aware of the second via a reference to Henri Poincaré's La ...
2
votes
2answers
93 views
Why does evidence increase the probability of a particular hypothesis being 'correct'?
As we accumulate more evidence to support a given hypothesis we have increasing confidence that the hypothesis is 'correct'.
How do we justify this?
6
votes
2answers
266 views
What is the difference between dogma and an axiom?
My understanding of axioms is that they are self evident truths that require no proof, which in my mind is similar to a dogmatic belief in the sense that dogma is a set of beliefs or doctrines that ...
2
votes
3answers
154 views
What is multiplicity for Deleuze?
The SEP explains in its introduction to Deleuze that
"Deleuze conceived of philosophy as the production of concepts, and he characterized himself as a “pure metaphysician.” In his magnum opus ...
4
votes
3answers
143 views
Does physicalism *prove* that the universe is self-subsistent?
I've often heard/read people (Hawking, Dawkins etc) making out that Physics or Physicalism proves that there is no God, or no need for one.
Yet it seems to me that it's an assumption that is ...
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2answers
157 views
Relation of Gödel's incompleteness theorems and Karl Popper falsification
Falsifiability is considered a positive (and often essential) quality
of a hypothesis because it means that the hypothesis is testable by
empirical experiment and thus conforms to the standards ...
3
votes
2answers
198 views
Inductive reasoning and justification
Most people agree that knowing something one acquired from inductive reasoning is knowledge, that is justified true belief. For example we observed for years, that Sun rises from the East, we still ...
7
votes
4answers
385 views
Is the idea of dividing the universe into particles anything more than a convenience?
In theory, we speak of a particle as having properties.
In reality, the measurement of any property is just an interaction between the target to be measured, and the measuring apparatus, where the ...
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votes
2answers
106 views
Are We Living in a Simulated Universe? [closed]
Isn't Quantization of Energy (or action) in Quantum Mechanics prove that our world is a Great Computer Simulation!?
Are We Living in a Simulated Universe?
just imagine the whole world is a great ...
0
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0answers
29 views
What is a modern particle in philosophical terms?
A classical particle is in spacetime and has a continuous motion within it. Properties such as electrical charge and mass inhere within it. This description in its qualitative essentials is no ...
2
votes
4answers
267 views
What is the real world, mathematically?
Part and parcel of Plato's Platonic Realism is his theory of Forms or Ideas, which refer to his belief that the material world as it seems to us is not the real world, but only a shadow or a poor copy ...
3
votes
2answers
115 views
Will fundamental physics become an art? (That is driven solely by aesthetics)
Famously Einstein said if he had to choose between a beautiful theory and an ugly fact he'd take the theory every-time. Dirac remarked that he always followed beauty.
It seems to me that aesthetic ...
3
votes
0answers
119 views
The Indispensability Argument and Impure Set Theory
Assume for the sake of this question that mathematics is reducible to set theory in such a way that the only mathematical objects there really are, are sets.
Suppose further that the Indispensability ...
2
votes
5answers
265 views
Any philosophy to the equality of zero and infinity
I know math tells a different story, but it occurred to me that if zero were equal to infinity, than nothing would be equal to everything and that would explain how the universe and everything came to ...
10
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1answer
155 views
Materialism and magnetism
Going by its Wikipedia page, materialism has been largely discredited due to advances in physics as it cannot explain phenomena such as gravity which apparently exist without the connivance of matter. ...
