Criteria of Adequacy - lecture 10 PDF

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Criteria of Adequacy
Tom Cochrane...

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PHIL1060

21st May

Problem: (CHAPTER 6&7) Almost every fact can be explained by more than one hypothesis, if we are creative enough in coming up with a hypothesis This means that the facts won’t always help us decide between theories What makes one theory more preferable?

Criteria of Adequacy: A theory is ‘good’ if it fits/satisfies various criteria of adequacy: All the criteria are important, but there is no rule for how they are used/when they apply. 1. Testability: - A testable hypothesis makes predictions about what we should observe in a given situation - Essential to science in general (test-retest) - Must be falsifiable 2. -

Fruitfulness: Predicts new things that we haven’t thought of before Opens up new areas of research A fruitful research program is able to generate new questions and successfully predict new phenomena that nobody even dreamed of before e.g. Einstein’s theory of relativity: Eddington confirmed this by looking at the curve stars take during an eclipse, but we would not have even thought to check for this under Newton’s mechanic

3. Scope: - A theory that can explain lots of things, is better than a theory that only explains a few things - Deep, fundamental, broad principles - If our theory is true, the broad testing means we have a strong reason to believe it’s true - Less likely to be falsifiable e.g. Theory of evolution applies to every living thing (broad scope).  has been connected to evolution of the mind in PSYC (even broader). 4. -

Simplicity: A hypothesis is simpler than another if it makes fewer assumptions Do not assume the existence of more things than you have to People will try to defend their theory by adding things to it. Ad hoc theory: a hypothesis added to a theory in order to save it from being falsified. e.g. Heliocentrism vs Geocentrism (sun is centre vs earth is centre) e.g. Flat earth theory

5. Conservatism: - Fits with other things we have good reason to believe - Relates to tree of knowledge (lec 5)

PHIL1060

21st May

6. Synthesis - Major theoretical debates that have persisted for centuries are still around because either side is holding onto a fundamental fact. Synthesis, is the act of combining these ideas and making a better theory. e.g. nature vs nurture. You need both! - Doesn’t always work e.g. atheist vs Christian

Intractable debates: sometimes there is no room for compromise. One side is dead wrong should we compromise with someone who thinks we should be able to torture kids for pleasure? No....