Questions tagged [philosophy-of-science]
for applied philosophical questions about the study of science, the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and the scientific method
1,702
questions
0
votes
2
answers
88
views
Would the existence of an absolute mean not everything is in motion?
I have no idea if/how the two concepts are linked, that of everything being in motion and there being no absolute motion. I believe both are claimed by contemporary physics, and e.g. Descartes, and ...
- 551
0
votes
0
answers
26
views
Deja Vu The brain and its functions between space and time of reality [closed]
Ive been having many Deja Vu moments 20 to 30 bsometimes 10 times a day. Ive noticed it starting a fews years back and them increasing. It seems to be affecting my short term memory but ive linked it ...
-1
votes
0
answers
70
views
The Glove Fits (Philosophical Implications) [closed]
So I was randomly surfing the net when I came across this question: Why 3 dimensions?
I recall reading a short article on the subject - something to do with life being possible only in a world with ...
- 2,860
6
votes
2
answers
644
views
Does the incomputability of kolmogorov complexity imply that we will never have a final theory of everything?
The Kolmogorov Complexity is the size of the simplest program that produces a specific output. By the Curry-Howard Correspondence, "programs" are isomorphic to "axiomatic systems" ...
- 163
14
votes
11
answers
4k
views
Are we at the end of scientific paradigm shifts?
Thomas Kuhn’s theory of Paradigm shifts state that a paradigm shift is a massive change in scientific belief and understanding in a specific field e.g. the switch from the geocentric universe to ...
- 289
0
votes
0
answers
32
views
What are the best resources for learning about theory choice?
There’s a small Wikipedia article describing how philosophers have throughout history come up with criteria to decide between theories that attempt to explain certain observations. What I am ...
-5
votes
3
answers
166
views
Would a reformulation of Sherlock Holmes’s statement on impossibility be valid?
Sherlock Holmes said, “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" Although the statement may be valid, ...
2
votes
2
answers
55
views
What philosophers have touched upon the inability to qualify data as being representative of evidence in support of a scientific theory?
As a scientist and philosopher, I've increasingly noticed a failure in my learnings related to how data may be qualified as evidence in support of a theory. It appears that in any effort to qualify ...
0
votes
3
answers
66
views
Are evolution and reinforcement learning related?
Are evolution and reinforcement learning related?
Evolution and reinforcement learning are related in that they both involve a process of learning and adaptation over time.
Evolution is a biological ...
- 139
2
votes
1
answer
62
views
Books on the philosophy of quantum mechanics
As the title says, I am looking for books on the philosophy of quantum mechanics; more specifically on ontology and or epistemolgy. So far I've found Tim Maudlin's Philosophy of Physics: Quantum ...
- 45
10
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Is scientific method entirely based on statistics (statistical inference)?
If I am correct the scientific method is an application of induction to science.
Is the scientific method entirely based on statistics (statistical inference)? (I guess so, because it makes use of ...
- 445
4
votes
2
answers
349
views
Is there any “stability metric” for scientific fields?
Is there any attempt to gauge how quickly a scientific field overturns its own claims/findings; ie an evaluation of if the fields’ findings have what degree of longevity?
It could compare fields as ...
- 116
-1
votes
1
answer
86
views
Is the existence of God a question within the purview of science?
Some people, including perhaps most philosophers, believe that the existence of God is a philosophical question, not a scientific one. But is it really? It seems to me that while the existence of a ...
- 4,912
1
vote
0
answers
43
views
Can an event that has a beginning be metaphysically necessary?
Suppose an extremely complex event occurs that is meaningful but extremely improbable under current physical laws.
Suppose then, that a theist says, “God explains this better for otherwise it is very ...
3
votes
1
answer
57
views
Are there different forms of rigor, and if so, are some forms of rigor more rigorous than others?
Is there only one kind of rigor? Or does rigor come in different forms, like mathematical rigor, philosophical rigor, and scientific rigor? And if it does, are some forms of rigor more rigorous than ...
- 4,912
7
votes
11
answers
4k
views
Are there questions that science can't answer, but philosophy can?
Are there questions that science can't answer, but philosophy can? I can't think of any such questions. But, perhaps there are such questions. I would like some examples. Note, such questions have to ...
- 4,912
5
votes
11
answers
4k
views
Does Bayesianism give an out for pseudoscience that it shouldn’t deserve?
In Bayesianism, every belief in a hypothesis is updated in the same way. You have a prior probability P (H). You have the probability of an observation under a hypothesis P (E|H). And then you update ...
0
votes
4
answers
226
views
Why is Time Cube wrong?
Time Cube was a pseudoscientific theory from a crank. It is generally believed by the scientific community that there is no meaningful theory which can be isolated from the Time Cube corpus.
In debate,...
- 500
4
votes
8
answers
428
views
Why care about scientific realism?
What is the significance of the debate on scientific realism?
There is a certain tendency to link it to the question "why trust science?", but that science is to be trusted seems undisputed ...
- 242
3
votes
3
answers
130
views
Does significance testing contain a logical flaw or not?
This question was sparked from a comment Conifold had made. Link to comment here: Is probabilistic modus tollens a fallacy?
He says, and I quote, “The valid form used in significance testing is: If P ...
3
votes
4
answers
107
views
Early Modern Science vs Aristotelianism
Peter Thiel said in a podcast:
Early Modern Science wanted to resist the aristotelianism of the Catholic church
This confused me because I thought that aristotelianism was the precursor to science.
...
- 133
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Has Scientism drastically declined as a worldview in the last 100 years?
I have recently had fellow posters here question my understating that scientism is on the decline. I also have recently seen several members here assert themselves to be advocates of scientism, so I ...
- 9,769
2
votes
0
answers
51
views
The naive, formal, and critical phases of a scientific theory
A long time ago, I read something about three stages in the development of a scientific or mathematical theory, namely the naive, the formal, and the critical phase. This appeared very natural to me, ...
- 121
2
votes
2
answers
113
views
Lakatos's influence on contemporary philosophy of science
Lakatos introduced the notion of scientific research programmes, consisting of a hard core (basic assumptions of a theory) and a protective belt (auxiliary hypotheses that can be modified to protect ...
- 242
0
votes
0
answers
20
views
Can Kuhn's theory outlined in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions be applied to sociology? If not, what are the implications of this for sociology
Can Kuhn's theory outlined in 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' be applied to sociology? If not, what are the implications of this for sociology?
2
votes
3
answers
397
views
Is seeking truth always preferred?
I’ll start off with moral values as an example. I think it is pretty obvious that moral values are socially constructed and don’t have any sort of ontological basis to them. Nature is full of examples ...
4
votes
3
answers
124
views
Positivism in search for truth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism
The notion that scientific theories must be tested experimentally is fundamental to the doctrine of positivism, which also requires that theories must always ...
- 997
0
votes
0
answers
33
views
Are simulation based tests / experiments also just types of augmented hyper-reality?
Questions: Are simulation based-tests / experiments just types of augmented hyper-reality?
Background: What I mean here is that the types of tests / experiments here are simulation based so this is ...
- 1
4
votes
5
answers
656
views
What criteria determines if a proposition is mathematical or empirical?
It seems that there is a distinction between mathematical vs empirical statements.
For example, consider the proposition “All even numbers greater than two are a sum of two prime numbers.” This ...
1
vote
1
answer
55
views
Question about equivalence and equality [closed]
What is it that equality and equivalence have in common, and how are they distinct.
Please give detailed answer
- 997
2
votes
1
answer
289
views
Are there any arguments that show the genus-species distinction does not work?
I would be grateful if someone tried to answer the question above. What are some arguments that show that genus-species relation does not correctly describe the world, that it is not a correct ...
- 656
4
votes
5
answers
191
views
Order/disorder and complexity
What is the relation between order/disorder and complexity ? Sometimes I found the terms confusing and ambiguous.
And higher entropy implies low complexity, does not implies low entropy implies higher ...
- 997
8
votes
7
answers
2k
views
A testable hypothesis where its negation is not testable?
I am reading Popper's "Conjectures and Refutations" (2002 edition) where he writes on page 54 in the footnote:
Thus the negation of any nonsense will be nonsense, and that of a
meaningful ...
- 181
3
votes
1
answer
256
views
Causation in physics
Electromagnetic radiation phenomena exhibit a temporal asymmetry: we observe radiation coherently diverging from a radiating source, such the light emitted by a star, but we do not observe radiation ...
- 997
0
votes
1
answer
30
views
How to rescue modal scientific definitions from necessitarianism?
Many definitions in the sciences are modal, meaning, they deal with possibility. Let me give some examples. In physics, there is the definition of energy as the ability to do work. In chemistry, there ...
- 4,912
2
votes
2
answers
72
views
Are there any sources linking Schopenhauerian metaphysics (will as thing-in-itself) with our contemporary understanding of physics?
I'm especially interested if there are any attempts at reconciling Schopenhauer's metaphysical will with the seeming indeterministic nature of quantum physics. Thank you.
- 21
2
votes
3
answers
93
views
Does astrophysical anti-realism solve the fermi paradox?
This is called Astrophysical Antirealism, and it centers around the
idea that everything that humanity has observed in deep space is
inaccurate or a downright lie.
https://medium.com/@wjackfield/the-...
user66760
1
vote
1
answer
49
views
Relative to Quine's indeterminacy of translation thesis, was it ever resolved for a person to deduce what a scientific theory states?
In science, if I want to falsify someone's theory, then before embarking on a venture to do such, I need to be able to correctly interpret what the theory states. From what I have read about Quine's ...
0
votes
1
answer
67
views
Who likely to "win the race" is changing in physics?
It was "the physicist who would win the race (as opposed to the mathematicians) to making discoveries about mathematical structures relevant to our universe" However, that trend seems to be ...
- 1,694
1
vote
1
answer
47
views
Neither Presentism nor Eternalism by Carlo Rovelli
The paper in question
Rovelli argues against both presentism and eternalism. Later he proposes third option in which the concept of "local present" is central.
The problem is I cannot ...
- 773
2
votes
2
answers
188
views
Are the concepts of reductionism and first principles the same?
Are reductionism and foundationalism(first principle)the same thing, or at least highly similar even if different? The first-principles approach is the same as deducing all knowledge claims from ...
- 997
0
votes
2
answers
124
views
All we know is that we know nothing? Can we know anything?
Many great philosophers doubted their knowledge. The Paradox of Induction touches on this skepticism
Skeptics say that all knowledge and scientific progress is based on inductive logic, which is ...
- 1,893
0
votes
5
answers
117
views
Causation vs. correlation
Neither causation can say they are correlated, nor correlation can say they are causation. Am I right ? Suppose there is no correlation between A and B. Does it mean there is no causal relation ...
- 997
2
votes
2
answers
91
views
On thermodynamics being fundamental?
Are there philosophers who argue that thermodynamics (where time does have a direction) is the more fundamental theory as opposed to normal Newtonian mechanics and it's extensions?
For example, I can ...
- 1,694
0
votes
0
answers
32
views
Has any work been done applying Baysian epistemology to the "no miracles" argument for scientific realism?
Specifically, I'm very curious about whether any attempts have been made to quantify the probability that our scientific theories are, in some sense, "approaching the truth". I've read a ...
0
votes
0
answers
34
views
Is there a philosophical take on how to come up with metadimensions that characterize complex systems?
In short: I am looking for a philosophical take/theory/way of finding abstract-level metadimensions of complex systems (or any "real" system in general at this stage, if that helps).
Details:...
1
vote
4
answers
178
views
Is it legitimate in science to use two contradictory axiomatic systems?
For example, in Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory (ZF), the addition of the axiom of determinacy(AD) is inconsistent with the addition of the axiom of choice(AC). Is it legitimate to adopt ZFC (ZF+AC) as ...
- 119
2
votes
6
answers
180
views
Which kinds of philosophical arguments are more than subjective opinions? [closed]
"There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it" - Cicero.
Is it possible to express opinions about other opinions, without expressing oneself philosophically? For example, if I ...
- 39
1
vote
4
answers
179
views
Could the universe or any event within it have occurred otherwise, even if determinism was false?
Could any event have happened differently? Even if the universe was “inherently stochastic”, does this imply that events could have occurred differently? It seems to me that even inherent randomness ...
3
votes
3
answers
83
views
Is the principle of indifference invalid?
The principle of indifference (also called principle of insufficient reason) is a rule for assigning epistemic probabilities. The principle of indifference states that in the absence of any relevant ...