The Scientific Attitude

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The Scientific Attitude Page 36

by Lee McIntyre


  Data manipulation

  cherry picking, 49, 82, 111, 153–154, 162–163, 173, 188, 218n5, 240n7

  data fabrication/falsification, 82–85, 133–138

  data sharing and replication, 105–112, 189

  scientific attitude and, 133–138

  Deception

  intentional deception, 82–83, 237n29

  self-deception, 83–84, 141–142, 150, 237n22

  Decision procedure, 62, 211n26

  Deductive logic, 14–16, 30

  Deer, Brian, 145–146

  Defending science, 2, 51, 202–205

  Degrees of freedom, 83–84, 93, 96, 108, 112, 137, 188

  DeLaplante, Kevin, 91, 113

  Demarcation criterion

  behavior and, 221n39

  Boudry on, 24, 26–28, 208n7, 213n45, 224n28, 224n32

  demarcation debate, 26–27, 71–73, 77–79, 210n11, 212n27, 220n28, 222n14

  falsifiability and, 210n18

  family resemblance concept, 24–26, 77–79

  fertility and, 224n23

  Kuhn on, 18–19, 211n20

  Laudan on, 11, 20–21, 21–23, 75, 76

  necessary and sufficient conditions and, 21–23, 25–28, 65–70, 222n6, 224n23, 224n26

  nonmethodological criteria and, 210n18

  nonscience and, 70–73

  pseudoscience and, 70–73

  science and, 70–73, 223nn18–19

  scientific attitude and, 50, 65–70, 76–79

  scientific method and, 10–11, 210n18

  territorial problem, the, 26–27, 213n45, 224n28

  values of science and, 48, 58–59, 90, 220n28

  Denialism. See also Climate change

  AIDS denial, 239n3, 241n21

  conspiracy theories, 151, 154–155, 158

  doubt and, 242n41

  gullibility and, 155–159, 174–175

  moon landing and, 154–155

  openness and, 158–159

  pseudoscience and, 150, 155–159

  Sagan’s matrix and, 152–155

  scientific theory and, 149–150

  skepticism and, 155–159, 240n17, 242n41

  use of term, 149–150, 238n1

  Descarte, René, 45, 156–157, 217n38

  Discovery Institute, 178

  Dobzhansky, Theodosius, 40

  Duhem–Quine thesis, 19, 31, 216n36

  Dupree, Cydney, 194–196, 198–199

  Durkheim, Emile, 75–76, 190

  Eddington, Arthur, 15, 213n3

  Einstein, Albert

  Popper on, 15

  scientific attitude and, 57–58, 213n3

  on scientific philosophy, 207n5

  theory of general relativity, 15–16, 19, 31–32, 38, 213n3

  Error

  cold fusion debacle, 56–57, 100–105, 111, 141, 229n62

  critical community and, 85–91

  data sharing, 105–112, 189

  degrees of freedom and, 83–84, 93, 96, 108, 112, 137, 188

  fraud and, 107–108, 134–136

  intentionality and, 82, 236nn11–12, 237n29

  irreproducibility, 108–111

  peer review and, 56, 62, 85–91, 98–105, 112–113, 229n55

  p-hacking, 83, 93–98, 99, 108–112, 137, 182, 227n33, 228n47, 231n97, 235n5

  quantitative methods and, 91–98

  replicability and, 105–112

  retraction, 98–99, 143, 230n77

  scientific theory and, 134

  self-deception and, 83–84, 141–142, 150, 237n22

  statcheck, 228n54

  unintentional error, 82–83

  Evidence

  ambiguity of, 217n3

  backfire effect, 187–190, 240n27

  Bayesian, 50, 96, 218n7, 218nn7–8, 227n31

  conspiracy theories and, 155

  explanation and, 201–203, 218n7

  falsifiability and, 218n7

  frequentist approach, 50, 218nn8–9, 227n31

  ideology and, 20, 170–171

  induction, 218n7

  justification and, 48, 150–151, 157–158, 165, 215n28

  Kuhn on, 48, 58–59, 208n9, 214n14, 215n20, 244n66

  Popper on, 15–16, 35

  proof, 34, 46, 156, 158, 163

  pseudoscience and, 175

  reasoning and, 218n5

  scientific attitude and, 46, 48–50, 56–57

  scientific medicine and, 117

  scientific theory and, 34–35, 54, 188, 207n6

  social science and, 187–190, 194–199

  statistical approaches, 218n8, 227n29, 227n31, 229n31

  subjectivist evidence, 3–4, 18, 33, 50, 186, 193–194, 209n9, 218n9, 228n49

  theory choice and, 18–19, 48, 208n9, 244n66

  trustworthiness/warmth study, 194–196, 198–199

  truth and, 21–22, 29

  warranted belief and, 46, 217n37

  Evolutionary theory. See also Intelligent design theory (ID)

  evolutionary biology and, 22, 208n8, 212n31, 221n4, 222n8

  natural selection and, 16, 37, 40–41, 54, 164, 166, 168, 175, 179–180, 208n8, 210n14, 745

  Experimentation, 55, 116, 123, 188, 194–199

  Fact and Fraud (Goodstein), 235n1, 235n6, 236n16, 236nn10–11

  Fallibilism doctrine, 42–43, 157, 216n30, 216n32

  Falsifiability. See also Evidence

  creation science and, 16–17

  demarcation criterion and, 210n18

  evidence and, 218n7

  fraud and, 135–138, 138–140

  inductive reasoning and, 12

  intentionality and, 135–138

  Kuhn on, 32–33

  as logical, 214n10

  Popper on, 3, 12–13, 15–16, 17, 22–23, 31–35, 57–58, 213n1, 214n10, 219n23

  scientific method and, 21–22

  scientific misconduct and, 82–85, 133–138

  scientific theory and, 29–34

  social science as, 186–187

  use of term, 214n10

  Feleppa, Robert, 221n3

  Feyerabend, Paul, 4, 20, 23, 211n22

  Feynman, Richard, 35, 46, 48, 207n5, 217n2

  Fiske, Susan, 194–196, 198–199

  Flat Earth example, 164–165, 180, 215n28, 242n47

  Fleming, Alexander, 128–130

  Flexner, Abraham, 124–125

  Florey, Howard, 128–129, 130

  Folly of Fools (Trivers), 150, 236n14

  Fraud

  accountability for, 140–143

  consequences of, 145–147

  error and, 107–108, 134–136

  fabrication and, 135–138

  fabrication of data and, 82–85, 135–138

  fakes vs. frauds, 244n69

  falsifiability and, 135–138, 138–140

  fraud vs. error, 134–135

  intentionality and, 134–135, 138–140, 236nn11–12

  irreproducibility and, 91, 93, 106–112, 114, 189, 230n77

  research misconduct and, 140–143

  scientific attitude and, 133–138

  scientific community and, 140–147

  scientific error vs., 134–135

  use of term, 133–134, 235n6, 244n69

  vaccine-autism debacle and, 5, 82, 143–147, 238nn42–43, 240n20

  willful ignorance and, 134–138

  “Gaining Trust as Well as Respect” (Fiske and Dupree), 194–196, 198–199

  Galen, 117, 128

  Galileo, 36, 55, 71, 113, 165, 171, 219n19, 222n13, 242n47

  Geertz, Clifford, 190

  Germ theory of disease, 53, 55, 120–123, 233n38

  Giere, Ron, 94

  Gleick, James, 123

  Goodman, Nelson, 45, 217n38

  Goodstein, David, 138, 141, 235n1, 235n8, 236n16, 236nn10–11

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 243n65

  Gravity, 36–38, 41, 168

  Hansson, Sven Ove, 26, 71, 77, 89, 211n20, 220n28

  Hauser, Marc, 140

  Head, Megan, 95–96, 228
n47

  Hempel, Carl, 52

  Hicks, Daniel, 220n35, 221n37

  History of Medicine (Bynum), 116–117

  Huizenga, John, 101, 105

  Hume, David, 12

  Huxley, Thomas Henry, 178

  Hwang Woo-suk, 237n17

  Ideology. See also Denialism

  belief systems and, 115–116, 131–132, 149–151, 151–155, 179–180, 240n22

  conspiracy theories and, 151, 154–155, 158

  critical communities and, 172–173

  error and, 172–173

  evidence and, 20, 170–171

  ideological infection, 188

  social science and, 179–180, 187–191, 191–194

  willful ignorance and, 151–155

  Imanishi-Kari, Thereza, 237n18

  Immigration costs, 188

  Inductive reasoning

  affirming the consequent, 14

  certainty and, 12

  counterinduction, 216n29

  evidence and, 218n7

  falsifiability and, 12

  inductive inference, 11–12, 14

  Kuhn on, 30

  modus ponens, 12–13

  modus tollens, 14–16, 30

  pessimistic induction, 134, 216n29

  Popper on, 14, 16, 29–31

  pragmatic vindication, 43–44, 44–45, 217n37

  probability and, 33, 42–43, 209n8, 217n37

  problem of induction, 12, 16, 20, 30, 33, 42–44, 209n6, 209n8

  scientific method and, 11–12, 14–15, 33–34

  scientific theory and, 30–31

  warrant of induction, 45, 217n38, 217n40

  Intelligent design theory (ID), 5–6, 24, 132, 150, 175–180, 244n76. See also Creationism; Evolutionary theory

  Intentionality

  error and, 82–83, 236nn11–12, 237n29

  falsifiability and, 135–138

  fraud and, 134–135, 138–140, 236nn11–12

  intentional deception, 82–83, 237n29

  scientific attitude and, 221n39

  willful ignorance and, 82–83, 237n29

  Interpretation of Cultures (Geertz), 190

  Ioannidis, John, 108

  Iyengar, Sheena, 196, 197–198

  Jahn, Robert, 180, 183

  Jenner, Edward, 232n14

  Justification

  evidence and, 48, 150–151, 157–158, 165, 215n28

  logical justification and, 9–10, 62–63

  rational justification, 51, 62–63

  of science, 150–151, 202, 203, 215n28

  scientific attitude and, 202, 203

  scientific method and, 9–10, 18–19, 202

  scientific theory and, 62–63, 215n28

  Kahneman, Daniel, 84, 158

  Karl, Thomas, 160, 162

  Kepler’s theory, 31, 36–37

  Kitcher, Phillip, 224n30

  Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 24, 176–180, 245n79, 245n85, 245n87

  Koch, Robert, 55, 115, 121, 123, 131

  Koertge, Noretta, 60, 89, 219n15, 219n20

  Kuhn, Thomas

  criterion of demarcation and, 18–19, 211n20

  empirical evidence and, 48, 58–59, 208n9, 214n14, 215n20, 244n66

  falsifiability and, 32–33

  induction and, 30

  on Merton, 220n28

  negative outcomes and, 22

  normal science and, 3–4, 19–20, 32–33, 211nn20–21

  paradigm shifts, 3–4, 19–20, 32–33, 124, 204, 208n9

  on Popper, 18–20, 211n20

  science and nonscience, 18–19, 211n20

  on science as special, 18–19, 59

  scientific attitude and, 57, 58–59

  scientific explanation and, 4, 41

  scientific method and, 18, 211n19

  social science and, 4, 58–59

  theory choice and, 3–4, 18–19, 33, 48, 208n9, 244n66

  values of science, 48, 58–59, 90, 220n28

  Kurtz, Paul, 18–19, 48, 208n9, 244n66

  Langmuir, Irving, 141

  Laudan, Larry

  on creationism, 23–24

  meta-argument, 25–26, 212n27, 224n26

  on necessary and sufficient conditions, 11, 20–21, 65–66, 77, 79, 212n27, 222n6, 224n26

  Pigliucci on, 25–26

  on Popper, 23–24, 66

  on problem of demarcation, 11, 20–21, 21–23, 75, 76

  pseudoscience and, 27, 70–71

  Le Fanu, James, 129

  Lepper, Mark, 197–198

  Le Verrier, Urbain, 31, 32

  Lister, Joseph, 55, 115, 121, 232n3

  Logic

  necessary and sufficient conditions and, 65–70, 71–73, 221nn2–3

  Popper on, 3, 14–15, 19, 31–32, 59, 214n10

  Logical Empiricism, 20, 52

  Logical Positivism, 11, 12, 20, 70–71, 186, 190–191, 209n5, 210n18

  Logic of Scientific Discovery (Popper), 3, 27, 70–71, 214n8

  Longino, Helen, 89–90, 226n26

  Lyne, Andres, 147–148

  Maddox, John, 103–104

  March for Science (2017), 2

  Marcus, Adam, 99

  Matzke, Nicholas, 245n79

  Mayo, Deborah, 50, 218nn8–9, 227n31

  Medicine as a science

  childbed fever exemplar, 52–57, 120, 155, 169, 171, 191, 198, 224n34, 247n13

  clinical practice and, 121–122, 122–131

  evidence and, 117

  experimentation and, 55, 115–116, 123

  germ theory of disease, 53, 55, 120–123, 233n38

  medical education, 120, 123–128, 131

  nonscientific outlook of, 116–117

  science of human behavior and, 192–194

  scientific attitude and, 52–57, 115–116, 128–131

  social science and, 191–194

  willingness to change theory and, 116

  Megaflood theory, 166–173, 175, 243n62, 243nn52–53

  Meigs, Charles, 123

  Merton, Robert, 219n22, 220n28, 240n23

  Misconduct. See also Deception; Fraud

  confidentiality and, 236n16

  critical communities and, 85–91

  data fabrication, 82–85, 133–138

  quantitative methods and, 91–98

  use of term, 235n1

  Modus ponens, 12–13

  Modus tollens, 14–16, 30

  Morgenbesser, Sidney, 223n18

  Motivated reasoning, 112, 163, 169

  Necessary and sufficient conditions

  Laudan on, 11, 20–21, 65–66, 77, 79, 212n27, 222n6, 224n26

  logic and, 65–70, 71–73, 221nn2–3

  meta-arguments of, 25, 212n27, 224n26

  nonscience and, 222n14

  Pigliucci on, 222n11

  Popper on, 66, 221n3, 224n24

  problem of demarcation and, 21–23, 25–28, 65–70, 222n6, 222n11, 224n23, 224n26

  scientific attitude and, 65–70, 73–76, 223n20

  New Atlantis (Bacon), 60

  New Organon (Bacon), 59–60

  Newtonian theory, 3, 31–32, 186, 203

  Nickles, Thomas, 211n20, 214n9, 224n23

  Nonscience

  Boudry on, 26–27, 71, 213n45, 224n28, 224n32

  demarcation and, 70–73

  everyday inquiry and, 73–75

  evolutionary biology and, 22, 208n8, 212n31, 221n4, 222n8

  Kuhn on, 18–19, 211n20

  necessary and sufficient conditions and, 222n14

  Popper on, 12, 27, 70–71, 208n8, 210n11, 212n30, 213n45

  the territorial problem and, 26–27, 213n45, 224n28

  Nonsense on Stilts (Pigliucci), 169, 182

  Nosek, Brian, 108–111

  Novella, Steven, 97–98

  Nuitjen, Michèle B., 228n54

  Null hypothesis, 92–93, 96, 181–182

  Nyhan, Brendan, 240n27

  Objectivity, 51, 59, 89–90, 193, 211n24

  Okasha, Samor, 31

  Oransky, Ivan, 9
9

  Oreskes, Naomi, 159, 241n31

  Paradigm shifts, 3–4, 19–20, 32–33, 124, 204, 208n9

  Park, Robert, 141

  Pastafarianism, 180

  Pasteur, Louis, 55, 115, 120–121, 123–124, 128, 130, 131, 198

  Pathological science, 141–142, 151

  Peer review, 56, 62, 85–91, 98–105, 112–113, 229n55

  Peirce, Charles S, 216n30

  Penicillin discovery, 128–131

  P-hacking, 83, 93–98, 99, 108–112, 137, 182, 227n33, 228n47, 231n97, 235n5

  Philosophy of Pseudoscience (Pigliucci and Boudry), 24–27, 208n7, 221n39, 222n11

  Pigliucci, Massimo

  family resemblance concept, 24–26, 77–79

  on Laudan, 25–26

  necessary and sufficient conditions and, 222n11

  PEAR lab research and, 181–182, 246n93

  on problem of demarcation, 24–26, 77–79, 222n11, 223n19, 224n28, 224n32

  scientism and, 224n28

  on skepticism, 159

  Pons, B. Stanley, 56, 100–105, 229n67

  Popper, Karl

  corroboration and, 33, 42, 214nn8–9

  on Einstein, 15, 31–32

  empirical evidence, 15–16, 35

  on evolutionary biology, 22, 208n8, 212n31, 221n4, 222n8

  falsifiability, 3, 12–13, 15–16, 17, 22–23, 31–35, 57–58, 213n1, 214n10, 219n23

  induction and, 14, 16, 29–31

  Kuhn on, 18–20, 211n20

  Laudan on, 23–24, 66

  logic of science and, 3, 14–15, 19, 31–32, 59, 214n10

  methodology of science and, 3, 12, 186

  necessary and sufficient conditions and, 66, 221n3, 224n24

  Nickles on, 214n9

  positive instances and, 42, 94

  science, nonscience, and pseudoscience, 12, 27, 70–71, 208n8, 210n11, 212n30, 213n45

  on science as special, 58–59

  on science of human behavior, 208n11

  the scientific attitude and, 57–58, 219n23

  on the scientific method, 3, 17–18

  skepticism and, 157

  on social science, 5, 186–187

  values of science, 58–59

  verification and, 11–12, 16, 33

  Porter, Roy, 117, 131, 232n13, 233n22, 233n30

  Positive instances, 42, 43–44, 46, 94

  Pragmatic vindication of warranted belief, 44–45, 217n37

  Princeton Engineering Anomolies Research (PEAR) lab, 180–184

  Probability

  frequentist interpretation, 50, 218n9

  problem of induction and, 12, 16, 20, 30, 33, 42–44, 209n6, 209n8

  p-values and, 92–95, 181

  subjectivist interpretation, 50, 218n9

  Proof, 34, 46, 150–151, 156, 158, 163, 202, 203, 215n28. See also Certainty; Truth

 

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