Questions tagged [scientific-method]
The Scientific Method is meant to answer questions based on observation and experimentation.
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Are there promising scientific research avenues that could ultimately help resolve the debate on the nature of the mind? [closed]
The nature of the mind and its relationship to the body remains a central topic of debate in the philosophy of mind, as evidenced by overview articles such as:
Wikipedia: Mind–body problem
Britannica:...
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Does "non-physicalism" as a philosophical position have a scientifically meaningful foundation/explanation?
In ontology and the philosophy of mind, a non-physical entity is an
object that exists outside physical reality. The philosophical schools
of idealism and dualism assert that such entities exist, ...
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What does it mean for science if the universe isn't designed in a way that we can prove our theories correct? [closed]
[Complete rewrite of an earlier question. The system wouldn't let me submit it as an edit; I don't know why. Specific question at end.]
Before astrophysics, my first major was physical anthropology. ...
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Is epiphenomenalism falsifiable?
In the debate on the nature of consciousness, especially concerning views like epiphenomenalism, can we design experiments to test whether consciousness, regardless of its underlying nature, has ...
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Is the anthropic principle a "cop-out"?
Forgive me in advance for the provocative title. It's likely I only have a pop-science understanding of the AP and there is something important I'm missing. That's why I'm asking the question!
My ...
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Would a scientific theory of everything be falsifiable?
Would you have to redefine "scientific theory" if we had theory of everything?
What would that definition become?
On a side note to include another question to reduce the number of questions ...
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How can illusionists about phenomenology think consciousness is explainable through science when science seemingly inquires into phenomonology?
I think I understand that the SEP has Dennett denying the existence of qualia (1) as phenomenal character. "According to illusionists (Dennett 2019, 2020; Frankish 2016; Kammerer 2021), conscious ...
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Hypothesis and Scientific Method
Imagine if there is a layman observing a pond and a sea in the mild winter. He sees that the pond freezes while the sea remains liquid. He comes up with a hypothesis that 'Pond is smaller than the sea,...
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Is there a unified scientific method, anything in addition to its demarcation from pseudo science?
Is there a unified scientific method, anything in addition to its demarcation from pseudo science? I would assume that demarcation from pseudo science does not suffice to define science, there also ...
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Is it epistemologically self-consistent to use the scientific method to justify some beliefs and non-scientific justifications for others?
Let’s call B(p) the set of all beliefs a person p holds. We can denote S(B(p)) as the subset of beliefs held by p for which they can provide a scientific justification, and NS(B(p)) as the set B(p) ...
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Sheldrake's Fields as Formal Causes
Why do we not consider fields as formal causes, especially in light of Rupert Sheldrake's analysis of morphogenetic fields? How does Sheldrake's hypothesis of formative causation challenge our ...
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What sorts of beliefs can be justified non-scientifically?
Can I be justified in believing in a proposition X through a justification that doesn't meet the standards of the scientific method? What sorts of beliefs would be justifiable in this way (non-...
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What were the reactions to Hume's problem of induction from scientists practicing in the field?
I'm well aware of all the discussion in the field of philosophy of science spurred by Hume's formulation of the problem of induction:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/induction-problem/
My question ...
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Are there versions of theism or supernaturalism that offer testable predictions?
Theism and supernaturalism often draw criticism for their perceived lack of a practical framework capable of generating testable predictions. In contrast, physical theories like general relativity and ...
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Are there cases where psychology has offered successful scientific explanations for phenomena that neuroscience hasn't?
Firstly, is there a distinction between a psychological explanation and a neuroscientific one for the same phenomenon?
Imagine if I posed a question to the entire field of psychology, seeking the best ...
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How small can we measure space? [closed]
I got this question after looking into transcendental numbers and I noticed how there are some distinctions that should be made from numbers and reality especially in measurement of length for example ...
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Is entropy physical or idealistic?
I came across the question after watching a video (Heat Death) regarding the heat death of the universe and my question serves as such:
I understand this universe is constantly going from a state of ...
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Is atheism religion with all attributes? [closed]
To people who are believers, that science proved that God doesn’t exists, I want to remind that science tell that consciousness doesn’t exist too, however obviously consciousness exists.
I guess ...
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What Would Be the state of philosophy of Science if There were no patterns in nature
Scientific observations so far have given us similarities and patterns almost in every field, Be it physics or chemistry, The second step of scientific method is to propose a hypothesis based on all ...
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Is the Skeptic's Prayer a valid scientific experiment?
The "Skeptic's Prayer" is introduced on page 411 of Handbook of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith, by Peter Kreeft & Fr. Ronald Tacelli.
The Skeptic's Prayer
...
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Is there an objective in science that only has one method to accomplish it? [closed]
I sometimes look at various scientific processes and there always seems that most of the objectives we humans look for; have more than one means to achieve it. Heating something, cooling something off,...
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Is science fundamentally based on the binary testing of hypotheses? (according to the scientific method)
I'm intrigued by the conventional portrayal of the scientific method involving binary testing of hypotheses: accepted or rejected. Is this binary framework an inherent part of scientific inquiry, or ...
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Is it "unscientific" to be sceptical without offering alternative explanations?
Alice has made some anecdotal observations. Through a process of elimination, she proposes a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon, as well as an experiment to validate (or otherwise) her hypothesis. ...
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What constitutes evidence in philosophy?
I have noticed an apparent confusion when posing and answering questions as to what constitutes evidence in philosophy. Especially in scientifically-related areas, I often cite scientific evidence ...
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Is Christianity testable?
In a debate between John Lennox and Peter Atkins on the topic "Can science explain everything?", at minute 44:47 John Lennox claims:
Lennox: "And the major reason why I believe that ...
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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 ...
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Does falsificationism claim that all reasoning should be scientific?
Does falsificationism claim that all reasoning should be scientific? I don't think much of philosophy is falsifiable. Does that mean we should abandon it? Should we believe that 'love' doesn't exist, ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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My scales has been accurate for the past year. I weigh something today. Should I assume that the measurement is accurate? If so, why?
My scales has been accurate for the past year. I weigh something today using my scales and it says that it weighs 1kg. Should I assume that the measurement is accurate? If so, why?
Here is the ...
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Does Intelligent Design fulfill the necessary criteria to be recognized as a scientific theory?
I am seeking a comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the concept of Intelligent Design (ID) in order to determine whether it meets the essential requirements to be considered a scientific theory. I ...
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How is scientific realism not an example of the fallacy of the converse?
Firstly, to be clear, I'm not trying to say that science is all nonsense or not useful or anything of the sort, since that's obviously not the case. If nothing else, it's incredibly useful for making ...
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A Theory That Explains Everything Explains Nothing
The title of the question - A Theory That Explains Everything Explains Nothing - is said to be a quotation attributed to philosopher of science Karl Popper, but there's no consensus on whether he ...
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Is the implication that making consistently bad decisions must be intentional a logical fallacy?
This is the argument:
If someone makes consistently bad decisions, then it must be intentional, because if you were to make decisions at random, some of them would be good.
At first, I found this ...
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Loops in logic and reasoning
While studying science I have come across many times loops in logic.for example in survival of the fittest who is fit~who survives and who survives~who is fit.
My question is how to deal with these ...
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Is there a way to tell if something is science versus pseudoscience?
Is there a litmus test to know whether something is science or pseudoscience?
There are many things which is quite ambiguous like ayurveda, homeopathy, psychology, biology, etc...
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speculative deductive reasoning
Is hypothetico-deductive reasoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetico-deductive_model and speculative deductive reasoning same ?
(speculative deductive reasoning- WE arrive at the explanans ...
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When do we need an alternative explanation for statistically unlikely events?
When do we need an alternative explanation for statistically unlikely events?
I ask because I am interested in miracles: is an extremely unlikely event enough to warrant the claim that something is ...
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Is finding data to fit a hypothesis unscientific? [closed]
It seems to me that many people find observations/data in order to fit the hypothesis or to prove the conclusion of their arguments. In one example, one might regard taking a set of lab data and going ...
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Is there a biological description of "chakras" or is the concept of "chakras" mere pseudoscience?
It is widely claimed that we have many chakras(7 major chakras) situated at different locations along the spinal cord. Each of the chakras is said to be associated with certain energy channels, the ...
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Is the observer (a person) embedded in the physical model?
During my studies of physics, I noticed that the discussion of a physical theory includes the discussion of the interaction between the observer (the person who makes the experiments) and the observed ...
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Does Foucault's "power-knowledge" contradict the scientific method?
I am trying to understand Foucault’s power-knowledge concept.
It seems that Foucault viewed knowledge not as an understanding of an objective reality but a way to exert power? (1)
It seems that one ...
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Science, where is the difference between law and principle?
Theories contain laws, definitions, explain and predict aspects of nature.
A law in itself does not explain, but only reflects cause-effect relationships of empirical data (usually in the form of a ...
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How philosophers reason about closeness of one theory to the other theory (approximation, learnability, discovery of theory)?
Some theory is tuple of set of axioms (including ones that are statements about data), set of inference rules and set of already deduced theorems (statements) in it. Theory can be discovered by human ...
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Is there a proof that we can't prove a physical theory?
I am thinking of physical theories (e.g. Newtonian Mechanics) as axiomatic systems. We have a list of axioms and from there we can derive theorems, make predictions etc. If the prediction don't agree ...
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How should Feyerabend's "Anything goes" be interpreted?
Paul Feyerabend, in his response to supposed methodologies used in science (falsification, research programs, normal science and paradigm revolutions, etc.) in general and of Imre Lakatos' research ...
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How does science treat supernatural claims?
The following claim X,
Something had a round trip from the Earth to the Mars within 1 second
might be treated by science as a supernatural claim because it violates the natural law (i.e. speed limit ...
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Inhowfar is scientific inquiry modeled on the interrogation of witches?
(Carolyn) Merchant sees proof in the link between persecution of witches and development of modern science in the work of Francis Bacon, one of the reputed father of the new scientific method, showing ...
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What is the name of the idea that knowledge is dependent on past experience?
What would you call the idea that theories and knowledge more generally is merely the product of our past interactions with their associated elements? For example, if I were to let go of a ball, one ...
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