theoretical issues in psychology
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Theoretical Issues in Psychology. Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Mind for Psychologists. Aims of the book. Review of basic ideas and problems in philosophy of science and philosophy of mind, relevant for psychologists. Psychology as science of mind: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Theoretical Issues in Psychology
Philosophy of Scienceand
Philosophy of Mindfor
Psychologists
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Aims of the book
Review of basic ideas and problems in philosophy of science and philosophy of mind, relevant for psychologists.
Psychology as science of mind:• what is science? Chapters 1–5.• what is mind? Chapters 6–10.
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Chapter 1Science: why and how?
• Why science?• Knowledge• Arguments• Laws, theories, models and causes
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Why and how?
Demarcating science:• science as arbiter of objectivity and truth;• demarcating science from pseudoscience;• science as safeguard against propaganda and superstition.
Objectivity vs subjectivity or human construction:• realism, foundationalism, objectivism (positivism Ch. 3).• relativism (social constructionism, sociology of science
Ch. 4 and 5).
But what defines science?
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What defines science?
• Reduction: underlying causal structure explains macro-phenomena; this research produces …• Unification; and promotes …• Systematicity.
• Critical attitude: against authority and dogma; inspires freedom of thought, advances enlightenment and …• Open-mindedness.
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Theories of truth
Traditional theories of truth:
Correspondence theory of truth
Coherence theory of truth
‘Recent’ theories of truth:
Consensus theory of truth
Pragmatic theory of truth
Correspondence theory: a statement or belief is ‘true’ if it corresponds with a situation,
an event or an object in reality, or in the world(realism – objectivism)
‘There is a cat on the mat!’
=>
correspondence
Coherence theory: a statement or belief is called ‘true’ if it is coherent with other beliefs
(knowledge) that one has (idealism / relativism)
‘There is a cat!’‘A cat is a mammal of
the genus Felix;a pet animal,
with a soft skin,that likes to be carressed
etc., etc.’
coherent with
• Consensus theory: ‘truth’ is a social
or cultural consent or approval
(relativism / social-constructionism)
• Pragmatic theory: a belief or theory is ‘true’ or reliable if it has success in practice; if it can be established by experience (experiments)
‘Recent’ theories of truth
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Realism:Realism:• world exists knower-independent;world exists knower-independent;• world is primary;world is primary;• knowledge pictures the objective world (representing);knowledge pictures the objective world (representing);• truth is correspondence between knowledge and world.truth is correspondence between knowledge and world.
Relativism (Relativism (an extreme version:an extreme version: Idealism): Idealism):• world is (partly) constructed by the knower (subject);world is (partly) constructed by the knower (subject);• subject is primary;subject is primary;• knowing is constructing;knowing is constructing;• truth is coherence with the rest of knowledge, or consensus.truth is coherence with the rest of knowledge, or consensus.
Pragmatism:Pragmatism:
• knowledge is functional and active, coping with the world;knowledge is functional and active, coping with the world;• truth is practically, experientially successful.truth is practically, experientially successful.
Views on world & knowledgeViews on world & knowledge
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A problem for realism: ‘God’s eye view’
How to compare the world with a theory, since one can never get outside one’s theory (opinion)? Irony: only in ‘God’s eye’ can correspondence be assessed.
World Theory
OK!
correspondence
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Pragmatic realism
Hillary Putnam (‘pragmatic realism’): ‘the mind and the world jointly make up the mind and the
world’ (cf. Kant)
World features
Categories,interests
‘World’
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Everyday knowledge and science
Conclusion: different perspectives, both real
Eddington’s ‘Two Tables’:
• molecules, empty, weightless, colorless;• visible, solid, colored everyday object.
What is the real table? Everyday world as illusion?
Everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge:• ‘manifest’ vs ‘scientific image’ (Sellars);i.e. visible vs underlying, explanatory image
(bv. water – H2O; depression – dopamine)
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Characteristics of science
1. Systematicity: a coherent system of theories, statements, formulae etc.
2. Well-defined methods: methods specify what counts as legitimate problems, facts, solutions, etc.
3. Reduction: phenomena (or theories) are explained by underlying lower-level mechanisms (or laws).
4. Objectivity: in the sense of being controllable, reliable and inter-subjectively observable.
5. Clarity: scientific statements are phrased unambiguously, in principle addressed to the public domain.
6. Revisability: scientific knowledge is open, revisable at all times and never definitive.
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Induction, deduction, abduction
Induction: from individual observations to general statements.No logical certainty, but new knowledge.
Example: Lots of swans were observed; all were white.Maybe all swans are white.
Deduction: from general statements to individual.Logical certainty: conclusion contained in premises, but no new knowledge.
Example: All humans are mortal.Socrates is human.Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Abduction: inference to the best explanation.No logical certainty, new hypothetical knowledge about causes
Example: All CJD patients ate beef. Beef may be the cause of CJD.
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The problem of induction
• Every generalisation can be disconfirmed by an unexpected observation (‘black swan’).
• Confirmation cannot, unlike deduction, be formalised; no logical certainty.
• Inducing requires classification; one has to start with concepts and criteria (e.g. for similarity).
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Facts and theories
• Facts: no such thing as pure observation; theory influences observation – ‘theory-ladenness’
• Theory (coherent set of statements) indispensable:• standard terms for description;• coherent, unifying;• ‘unobservable’ scientific concepts (e.g., energy,
IQ) connected to observations by theory.• Strict distinction between fact and theory
impossible; hierarchy from factual to theoretical.
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‘Justification’ vs ‘discovery’
Context of justification: normative, focus on method; prescribing criteria for holding a theory true, acceptable or justified, logically or empirically ( positivism).
Context of discovery: description of the historical, social and psychological circumstances and influences that were relevant to the invention or discovery of scientific theories: who, where and when? ( more or less relativistic views of science).