POS week 1

5 features of scientific knowledge

generalisability, controllability, objectivity, use of valid methods of research, parsimony

controllability

research hast to be transparent and repeatable

objectivity

scientific research should strive for independence; it is important for trustworthiness of the results

parsimony

the simplest explanation that explains the greatest number of observations is preferred to more complex explanations

good reason model of truth

a claim is true if it is supported by the balance of reasons, a claim is supported by the balance of reasons if the reasons in favour of the claim outweigh the reasons against the claim

argumentum ad ignorentiam

one claims that sth is true cuz there is no proof for the opposite of what one claims

fallacious reasoning

from the fact that one cannot prove that something is the case, one cannot conclude that the opposite is the case

petitio principii

the claim that one has to prove is secretly taken for granted in one of the premises

false dilemma fallacy

when an argument offers a false range of choices and requires that you pick one of them

"what is reasonable" as methodological question

the correct methods of research and argumentation

representative heuristics

the more person or situation seems to represent the features of a particular type, the higher the chances that the person is of such type, without looking at the statistical distribution of chances

what is reasonable as an epistemological question

the status of acquired knowledge, when do we speak of knowledge, distinguished from opinion, faith or suspicion?

what is reasonable as an ontological question

the nature of social reality; how real is the money concept?

idealism

all natural phenomena are nothing more than mental representations. Trees, are just ideas of us, not objects that exist own reality. One never sees the rock as a whole, it is only a mental image

realism

our observation of reality is in some sense preshaped; 12 types of snow exist only for Inuits - this is something they can experience

ontology

study of being or existence and its basic categories and relationships; what entities can be said to exist or whether we can group these entities according to similarities and differences

epistemology

what is scientific knowledge and how it is obtained; how we know what we know

causality

explaining an outcome Y in terms of the necessary or sufficient conditions for Y to take place

Types of explanation

causal, functional, intentional

Ontological questions - examples

arę natural and social reality the same or are they different?; is money as real as water is?

epistemological questions - examples

how can we acquire reliable knowledge about social reality? can theories in social science be based on facts alone?

Positive theory

ambition to explain the world as it is; makes explicit positive expectations towards the world; theory-to-world direction of fit

Normative theory

ambition to justify the world as it ought to be; makes explicit normative expectations towards the world; world-to-theory direction of fit

truth preservation

with a logically valid arguments, true premises always lead to true conclusions; if not all premises are true, we don't know if conclusion is true; even with false premises, the argument can be valid an logical

logical argument

a process of creating new statement from one or more existing statements

causal explanation

based on assumption that by finding and explaining the cause of a phenomenon we explain the phenomenon