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Exercises in Philosophy of Science: Chapter 2 (Scientific Explanation)

History of Science & Scholarship2006.04.07
Exercises in Philosophy of Science: Chapter 2 (Scientific Explanation)
Exercises for Chapter 2: 1. Defend or criticize: “The D-N model, or covering-law model, does not elucidate the nature of explanation. If someone wants to know why x occurs under condition y, being told what always occurs under condition y does not elucidate anything.” Science begins in wonder, and science seeks explanation in order to satisfy that wonder. (See textbook, p. 26.) The difference between scientific explanation and the explanations found in “the other trades” of human beings lies in method and norms, not in the object explained. What is called scientific explanation is directed toward “wonder,” that is, the quest for an answer to “why.” So we may as…
philosophy science philosophy of science scientific method
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2006年4月7日
Constructing a DN Account of Leopold’s Essay (Thinking Like a Mountain);

History of Science & Scholarship2006.04.06
Constructing a DN Account of Leopold’s Essay (Thinking Like a Mountain);
1. Constructing a DN explanation for Leopold’s article “Thinking Like a Mountain”; For the original text, see http://www.pep.com.cn/200406/ca429154.htm 1) Any animal’s survival requires enough food. —— universal law 2) Any animal can obtain food only within its own range of activity. —— universal law 3) If there is not enough food within its range of activity, then that animal cannot obtain enough food. —— corollary of 2 4) If there is not enough food source within its range of activity, then that animal cannot maintain survival. —— corollary of 1 and 3 5) If a group of animals remains stable in a certain place, then there must be a stable…
book reading notes ecology biology
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2006年4月6日
What Does Scientific Explanation Explain?

History of Science & Scholarship2006.03.27
What Does Scientific Explanation Explain?
Some people say that the purpose of science is to provide explanations; this is probably right, because science arises from the pursuit of knowledge, and the pursuit of knowledge arises from “wonder.” The common origin of science and philosophy is humanity’s “curiosity” about this world. It is because we ask “what?” that science came into being, and the original purpose of science was indeed to try to explain how various phenomena can be understood. The object of scientific explanation is the “explained sentence” — the “Why is it that…?” sentence. So what different types of explained sentences are there? One distinction divides explained sentences into necessary events and probable events,…
science philosophy of science causality determinism
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2006年3月27日
Causality and Scientific Explanation

History of Science & Scholarship2006.03.23
Causality and Scientific Explanation
In discussing “causality,” people often consciously or unconsciously confuse it with the “principle of sufficient reason.” The principle of sufficient reason is the belief that for every event there exists a “sufficient reason” that makes it be thus rather than otherwise. This is actually a rather strong claim, and to take it as the basis of scientific explanation seems to set the starting point too high. Then what is “causality”? I think a weaker formulation is “connectedness among events,” that is, the belief that “the occurrence of any event is always associated with other events.” Of course, causality should not be conflated with mere connectedness either. When we speak of…
philosophy science philosophy of science causality
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2006年3月23日
Causality, Premonition, Free Will, Paranormal Powers, Scientific Explanation

History of Science & Scholarship2006.03.19
Causality, Premonition, Free Will, Paranormal Powers, Scientific Explanation
Watching the film Final Destination, I think about what causality is? Can “premonition” be given a “scientific explanation”? Can “supernormal abilities” be justified within scientific epistemology? 1.Laws, causality, time Hume pointed out that causality is only a “habit,” and he was not wrong. When we see “2, 4, 6, 8, ___, …,” even the dullest primary school student knows how to do this kind of “find the pattern and fill in the number” problem; they will unhesitatingly write “10” in the blank, while slightly cleverer students will sum it up into a universal “rule” — “the nth number is 2n.” This problem is far too simple, but its basic principle…
science philosophy of science Aristotle Kant
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2006年3月19日
A Scientific Explanation of Rainbows

History of Science & Scholarship2006.03.15
A Scientific Explanation of Rainbows
A Simple Explanation Excerpted from Baidu Zhidao: http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/4311857.html A rainbow is formed because sunlight strikes small nearly spherical water droplets in the air, causing dispersion and reflection. When sunlight enters a water droplet, it simultaneously enters at different angles and is also reflected within the droplet at different angles. Of these, reflection at angles of 40 to 42 degrees is the strongest, producing the rainbow we see. In producing this reflection, sunlight first undergoes one refraction as it enters the droplet, then reflects off the back of the droplet, and finally undergoes another refraction as it leaves the droplet. Because water disperses light, the refractive indices for light of…
science pluralism scientific explanation
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2006年3月15日