Philosophy Of Science

From Conservapedia

Philosophy of science describes the fundamental doctrines which underlie scientific approaches to understanding the world.

Science as philosophy[edit]

Science itself is ultimately philosophical. Proof:

Assumptions of science[edit]

Philosophy of science depends on several philosophical beliefs:

Materialism and science[edit]

Some argue that materialism—or the belief that nothing can be proven to exist except matter—is an essential assumption of science. However, this assumption is false for two reasons:

What is science?[edit]

The demarcation problem is the question, "What is science, and what is non-science?"

Schools of thought[edit]

There are several schools of thought regarding the demarcation problem:

Science as objective or subjective[edit]

The schools of thought identified above can be grouped into two broad categories: those which demarcate science in objective terms (positivism and falsificationism), and those which demarcate science in subjective terms (the remaining schools of thought). The objective schools of thought conceptualize science as something which can be objectively identified based on independent criteria—essentially, an idea is scientific or unscientific regardless of what anybody thinks of the matter. The subjective schools of thought conceptualize science as what scientists think or what scientists do—thus an idea is "scientific" if it is accepted by the "scientific community," and ceases to be scientific if it is rejected by the same community.

This issue becomes important in the evolutionism vs. creationism and plate tectonics vs. expanding earth controversies. Typically, evolutionists use arguments which assume a subjective definition of science—creationism is unscientific because it is rejected by most scientists, or because it (supposedly) does not have peer-reviewed journals, or because it is "advanced for religious purposes." Creationists, on the other hand, typically use arguments that assume an objective definition of science—for example, common descent is not science, because it cannot be experimentally tested.

What is science good for?[edit]

There are two schools of thought on the purpose of science.


Categories: [Science] [Philosophy]


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