Philosophy of science Petr Ocelík ESS401 Social Science Methodology 22nd September 2015 Outline • Philosophy of science: what is it and why do we need it? • Main debates in ontology and epistemology • Positivism • Interpretativism • Realism Philosophy of science • Philosophy explores fundamental basis of a given field. • Philosophy of science: (1) Questions which science cannot yet or perhaps cannot never answer. (2) Why science cannot answer the first type questions? Philosophy of science: do we need it? • Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists that ornithology is to birds. (Richard Feynman) • There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken to board without examination. (Daniel Dennett) Science: some definitions • “The use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through this process.” (Charles Darwin) • “The net of science covers the empirical universe: what is it made of (fact) and why does it work this way (theory).” (Stephen J. Gould) • “Science alone of all the subjects contains within itself the lesson of the danger of belief in the infallibility of the greatest teachers in the preceding generation . . . As a matter of fact I can also define science another way: Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.” (Richard Feynman) Science: problem of demarcation • How does science differ from other knowledge systems? How science works? • Karl Popper • Falsification • Scientific progress as a truth-approximation How science works? • Thomas Kuhn • Scientific revolution / paradigm (normal science) • Scientific progress as a problem-solving How science works? • Paul Feyerabend • Epistemological / methodological anarchism • Scientific progress as opportunistic “anything goes” strategy King, Keohane, Verba (1995) • The goal is inference. • The procedures are public. • The conclusions are uncertain. • The content is method. Philosophical basis of science • Ontology • Epistemology • Axiology • (Methodology) Ontology: main discussions • Foundationalists vs. anti-foundationalists • Materialists vs. idealists • The agent vs. structure discussion Foundationalists vs. anti-foundationalists • Foundationalists: • There is a real world “out there”, independent on our knowledge. • Anti-foundationalists: • We live in multiple socially constructed worlds. Materialists vs. idealists • Materialists: • All phenomena is ultimately made of matter. • Social world is driven by material forces. • Idealists: • Reality is mentally/socially constructed. • Social world is driven by ideational forces. The agent vs. structure debate • To what extent we are able to shape our lives against to what extent our lives are determined by external forces? • Individualism: • Complex social phenomena can be explained on the basis of individual behavior. • Structuralism (holism): • Social phenomena cannot be reduced to actor interactions, actors are determined by structures. Epistemology: main questions / discussions • Can we identify real or objective relationships between social phenomena? • Can we do this by direct observation or are there some relationships that exist but are not directly observable? • Explanation vs. understanding? Positivism • Foundationalism • Naturalism • Empiricism • Objectivism • Weaknesses? Interpretativism • Anti-foundationalism • Constructivism • Rejection of objectivism • Rejection of naturalism • Weaknesses? Realism • Foundationalism • Dichotomy between reality and observed world • Causal mechanisms vs. causal effects • Weaknesses? Literature • Hollis, M. and Smith, S. (1992). Explaining and Understanding International Relations. Clarendon. • King, G., Keohane, R., Verba, S. (1995). Designing Social Inquiry. Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 3rd Edition. • Marsh, D. and Stoker, G. (2002). Theory and Methods in Political Science. Palgrave MacMillan. • Okasha, S. (2002). Philosophy of Science. Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. • Rosenberg, A. (2005). Philosophy of Science. Contemporary Introduction. New York and London: Routledge; 2nd Edition. • Wendt, A. (1999). Social Theory of International Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.