Questions tagged [philosophy-of-science]
for applied philosophical questions about the study of science, the pursuit of scientific knowledge, and the scientific method
0
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0answers
10 views
Probabilistic, indeterministic and random in QM
This is a question about terminology used in QM since I need to clarify this aspect. Is “probabilistic” a synonym of “indeterministic”? And in case they are not synonyms, what do they exactly mean? ...
-2
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0answers
19 views
Can one material thing have a different impact into two different beings?
People (A) From another dimension (B)
We're talking about one place
(A) Seeing the sun they are round
(B) Seeing the sun they are square
The question is. Can something material (Something that can ...
-2
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0answers
33 views
Souls & god & worthless [on hold]
A man can produce more than 70 millions of children in just 1 ejaculation. So many children & crowds of people can exist in the world if man decides to.
How is it possible for billions of ...
4
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2answers
85 views
Testing scientific theories inside a simulated universe
The background of my question relies on the following points.
Quine-Duhem thesis: it is difficult to test a theory with an experiment,
because the test would rely on other theories.
The discussion of ...
-4
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0answers
53 views
Should only philosophy students study logic, ethics, axiology, phenomenology, epistemology, and aesthetics? [on hold]
E.g a physician. Should they not start in any univeristy studying these modules?
Actually a lawyer most law schools teach philosophy of law as an elective module.
And no social philosophy or ...
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1answer
38 views
A physical thing to see [on hold]
I mean, can our reality have a different effect? For example, we see the sun as balls and someone else from another dimension as a square.
0
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1answer
75 views
Why subjective probability cannot explain probability in Quantum Mechanics?
Is there a subjectivist account of probability that is able to explain probability in QM or at least in deterministic interpretations of QM?
0
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2answers
87 views
Probability calculus and Quantum Mechanics
I am not an expert and probably this question highlights this. Anyway, is the probability calculus used in Quantum Mechanics? Does the concept of probability adopted in Quantum Mechanics satisfy the ...
0
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0answers
73 views
Distributions of outcomes in Quantum Mechanics
I have read an answer here about the probabilistic nature of QM and I am curious about why QM is able to predict only distributions of outcomes of an experiment. To be clearer, is QM’s inability of ...
1
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1answer
73 views
What is Wittgenstein referring to in 4.113
Philosophy limits the disputable sphere of natural science
Does this refer to the demarcation problem (what is natural science) or occam's razor (what is the best explanation)? Or is it meant ...
9
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4answers
2k views
What does this Jacques Hadamard quote mean?
What does this Jacques Hadamard quote mean?
The shortest path between two truths in the real domain passes through the complex domain.
Is this a philosophical statement?
what is its mathematical ...
0
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1answer
73 views
What justified consciousness is an experience and not an thing? [closed]
No philosophers has justified that consciousnesses can be measured. Many philosophers have tried to describe the mind, but are there any specific scholars who describe justified methods to describe ...
2
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2answers
115 views
Is skepticism a contentious issue? [closed]
I haven’t thought much about the application of the idea ‘skepticism’ since the first year of my philosophy program, because it had already been sorted out to my satisfaction and the satisfaction of ...
0
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0answers
49 views
How is justification related to truth?
We all learned to believe in true belief; some of us don’t anymore. I’ve found that better ideas are available to us if we don’t. Some ideas are better (better justified by evidence and logic) than ...
3
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1answer
49 views
Ontology of space/time
Are space and/or time considered abstract objects or concrete objects? They seem causally inert yet more real than the typical abstract objects we think of.
3
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2answers
60 views
Does natural science assume indirect realism?
The wiki on Direct and Indirect Realism seems to claim that indirect realism is part of natural science. The wiki defines indirect realism as follows:
indirect or representative realism [is] the ...
0
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1answer
136 views
Why Quantum Mechanics states that nature is probabilistic? [duplicate]
I am new here and I am studying the philosophical implications of Quantum Mechanics. I read somewhere that QM and determinism are mutually exclusive and that QM involve a number of philosophers to ...
3
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4answers
123 views
What's the role of certainty in discussions about philosophical positions?
Karl Popper was one of the twentieth century’s preeminent philosophers of science. He was an avowed realist who was dedicated to the correspondence theory of truth. In his seventh decade of life, ...
3
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3answers
123 views
Is fallibilism a better option than absolute certainty?
Fallibilism is the epistemological thesis that no belief (theory, view, thesis, and so on) can ever be rationally supported or justified in a conclusive way. Always, there remains a possible doubt as ...
20
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6answers
6k views
Falsification in Math vs Science
In the beginning it was thought that the statement 1+1=0 is false, and necessarily so.
However, with the birth of modular arithmetic, it was found that indeed, 1+1 does indeed equal to 0 (in the mod 2 ...
0
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1answer
116 views
How should “knowledgeability” be defined? Is it merely w.r.t. to best scientific knowledge? [closed]
How should "knowledgeability" be defined?
Is it merely w.r.t. to best scientific knowledge? What about things that science cannot measure?
Or are there other "reasonable" forms of knowledge? Why ...
3
votes
3answers
155 views
The tree of knowledge
A group of scientists come into a hostel and start studying people's behaviour. They create subgroups sorting by countries, jobs, habits, and so on; build models to predict whether someone is up to ...
2
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4answers
156 views
Does evolution always entail progress?
It was Darwin who first introduced the concept of Evolution in his Evolution Theory. However, whenever he and in general people speak about Evolution, I always have the feeling that they connote it ...
1
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2answers
88 views
Does linguistic idealism imply scientific anti-realism, and are any existentialists committed to anti-realism for that reason?
Does linguistic idealism imply scientific anti-realism?
By scientific anti-realism I mean the opinion that the unobservable world we study with science is not real, not mind independent. By ...
3
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1answer
99 views
Is there a world behind you when you do not look behind your back? [closed]
There is a very famous philosophical question that almost all of us have heard before:
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
My question is a little ...
1
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0answers
49 views
What were Hegel's criticisms of Newton?
I recently read this thread THREAD describing the relationship between Hegel and Newton. Apparently, Hegel misread Newton's principia, and criticized a specific point of science on Newton. This is ...
1
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0answers
124 views
Which kinds of academic revolutions has philosophy of science indentified so far and when?
Recently, I had an interdisciplinary discussion with some friends about Industry 4.0, internet of things,...which brought up the question, which kind of academic revolutions apart from industrial ...
0
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0answers
52 views
Why do there exist “logical fallacies” that are not really consistent logical fallacies?
Why do there exist "logical fallacies" that are not really consistent logical fallacies?
By logical fallacy, consider e.g. ad hominem.
By consistent logical fallacy I refer to a type of logical ...
2
votes
1answer
75 views
Could generalization of scientific theories be possible by just adding an ad hoc hypothesis?
In a seventeenth century world the Newtonian model did mostly very well to describe how gravity works in the universe and did well with most empirical evidence of that time. Of course now we know that ...
1
vote
2answers
63 views
Is “Societal Science” impossible?
Is "Societal Science" impossible?
Social science one can understand as dealing with more concrete groups, but to suggest that someone can study and predict societies sounds absurd. Also, it seems ...
3
votes
2answers
66 views
Is the idea of potential energy (from physics) influenced by the idea of potentiality found in Aristotelian metaphysics?
Aside from the common usage of the term 'potential,' was the development of the idea of potential energy influenced by the Aristotelian idea of potentiality and actuality, at least historically?
...
0
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3answers
163 views
Are we seeing useless physics today [closed]
Are we seeing useless physics today?
By useless physics I refer to for example the study of multiverse(s): it is useless because there is no use for it to mankind - except that there are physicists ...
5
votes
1answer
298 views
What is the relevance of applicability to the natural sciences in pure mathematics?
I think I am coming to a good, new understanding of the relationship of pure mathematics to the natural sciences. A major concern of mine is just how reliable is rigorous (characteristically "pure") ...
1
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6answers
134 views
Can a theory that is now wrong be right in the future?
For example we take as granted that energy is conserved (Energy conservation Principle). Imagine someone “build” a theory where the energy conservation doesnt apply. Scientific community should reject ...
1
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4answers
130 views
Would philosophy still exist if there was no life? [closed]
Would philosophy still exist without life? For example, for us humans, philosophy answers big questions and sort of governs society. But is philosophy something that would exist without life? On this ...
0
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1answer
180 views
Can our universe be a pocket in a bigger unseen eternal universe?
Taking time as a fourth dimension is due to Einstein because of the speed of light being fixed. But why should such a finding have so important consequence on our philosophical contemplation of ...
0
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1answer
59 views
Are paradigms still the driving force of scientific revolution?
I read long time ago about Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn's demonstrate that scientific paradigms are the driving force that makes science go on, but more for social reasons than ...
1
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0answers
27 views
Is there a philosophical position for and against the idea that every causal entity contributes to every effect?
Is there a philosophical position for and against the idea that every causal entity can in principle contribute to every effect?
So do some e.g. physical explanations claim that entities of type X ...
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3answers
95 views
If the universe is flat, how can the Earth be round? [closed]
Just another silly question that may deserve a wise answer.
6
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2answers
250 views
Are the “laws” of deductive logic empirically verifiable?
"Is Logic Empirical?" strongly suggests a question that I would like very much to get a handle on.
That phrase is a title of an article by Hilary Putnam, and, according to synopses/reviews, the ...
4
votes
6answers
250 views
What are examples of causes that do not require energy to produce an effect?
As a comment to an answer Conifold mentioned that "Causes may not require any energy to produce the effect".
After thinking about that, I couldn't come up with any such causes outside of metaphysical ...
3
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0answers
191 views
Philosophy of Physics/Mathematics PhD with Mathematics/Physics undergrad (no philosophy undergrad)
I've found that I'm really interested in some research in the philosophy of mathematics and physics that's currently happening at various institutions. However, I don't have much experience in ...
1
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4answers
262 views
Where is the line between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity?
I've asked the question below on Physics SE but it seems an answer may not be straight forward...
Question: Is there any answers from Epistemology or philosophy-of-science?
Its often said QM is ...
2
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1answer
43 views
Null Hypothesis Appearing in Everyday Life [closed]
What are examples of a Null Hypothesis we use in everyday life but do not recognize?
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2answers
40 views
What are the two common sense ideas that seem to conflict and thus give rise to the free will problem? [closed]
What is free will? How does that relate to human?
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1answer
57 views
Why or How? Which one do we prefer more in philosophy? [closed]
Why or How?
Which one of them do we use in Philosophy to understand and describe the world around us? More simply, which one do we prefer more and why? In physics, more likely, we use HOW to know how ...
2
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2answers
142 views
How is philosophy of science essential? [closed]
How is philosophy of science still one of the most essential fields after it broke from classical philosophy and established its own discipline?
1
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0answers
44 views
About the advantages of the propensity perspective on probability
I am wandering what are the advantages of the propensity perspective on probability. Why would it be better to explain probability in physics? Except for the fact that it solves various problems of ...
5
votes
3answers
138 views
underdetermination in the engineering world
Newbie here- please go easy on me.
Now that I am retired from the world of physics and engineering, I am struggling to come to terms with my career failings. The most spectacular of these occurred ...
5
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3answers
307 views
According to Popper, what is logical positivism's role in scientific ethics?
What are the arguments for and against this? Any resources that are easy to read would help
