HU3700: Study Questions for Exam 1



HU3700: Study Questions for Exam 1

Define, Explain, Describe, Identify

|accidental generalization | | |requirement of |

|ad hoc hypothesis |empirical science |natural science |testability |

|annular parallax |epicycle |Newton, Isaac |scientific explanation |

|Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system |experiment |non-empirical science |scientific method |

|Aristotle |explicit definition |observable |simplicity |

|auxiliary hypothesis |extension |observation |statistical hypothesis |

|Brahe, Tycho |Galileo Galilei |operational definition |stipulative definition |

|bridge principle |hypothesis |operationism |subjunctive conditional |

|celestial sphere |inductive argument |partial interpretation |sublunar sphere |

|confirmation |intension |pretheoretical term |systematic import |

|contextual definition |internal principle |probabilistic |test implication |

|Copernican revolution |interpretative |explanation |testability |

|Copernicus, Nicolaus |sentence |probability |testable in principle |

|counterfactual |invalid |pseudo-hypothesis |theoretical entity |

|conditional |Kepler, Johannes |pseudo-science |theoretical principle |

|crucial test/experiment |law (for a D-N |Ptolemy |theoretical term |

|deductive argument |    explanation) |relative frequency |theory |

|deductive-nomological |law of probabilistic |    conception of |valid |

|    explanation |form |    probability |wider inductivist |

|descriptive definition |narrow inductivist |requirement of  |    conception |

|determinism |conception of |    consistency |    of scientific inquiry |

|disconfirmation |scientific |requirement of  | |

|empirical |    inquiry |    explanatory | |

| | |relevance | |

II. Discussion

1. What does Hempel mean by “empirical science” and “natural science”? Give an example of a natural science. Give an example of an empirical science that is not a natural science. Give an example of a non-empirical science.

2. What does Hempel mean by “scientific hypothesis”? In what ways is deductive reasoning involved in the testing of scientific hypotheses? In what ways is inductive reasoning involved? Give examples of each.

3. What does Hempel mean by the distinction between deriving hypotheses from facts and inventing hypotheses to account for the facts? Illustrate the difference. Which method of arriving at hypotheses does Hempel believe more accurately describes how scientists carry out their research? On what grounds?

4. What is an “auxiliary hypothesis”? Give an example. What is a “crucial experiment”? Why does Hempel believe that “strictly construed, a crucial experiment is impossible in science”? (p. 28)

5. According to Hempel, what are the three factors that affect the acceptability of scientific hypotheses? Explain. What are the three factors that affect the degree to which a scientific hypothesis is confirmed by empirical evidence? Explain.

6. Compare and contrast deductive-nomological explanations with probabilistic explanations in science. Give an example of each. What forms of reasoning do they involve? How do the two forms differ from each other?

7. What are laws in science? What are the two main types of scientific laws? How do they differ from each other? Give an example of each. What are “accidental generalizations”? Give an example. How do scientific laws differ from accidental generalizations, according to Hempel? Explain.

8. What are statistical hypotheses? What special problems arise in confirming and disconfirming statistical hypotheses? What forms of reasoning are involved in confirming and disconfirming statistical hypotheses?

9. What is a scientific theory? How is the relationship between scientific theories and scientific laws, according to Hempel? Why, according to Hempel, do we need theories as well as laws in science? (Why couldn’t science get along just with laws and without theories?) What are the two types of principles that scientific theories include? What are the differences between the two? Why are bridge principles necessary in order to have a satisfactory scientific theory?

10. What are theoretical entities? What are theoretical terms? Does Hempel believe that theoretical entities are real? How does he support his answer to this question?

11. What is operationism? Why does Hempel believe that operationism is inadequate as a view about the meaning of scientific terms?

12. According to Hempel, “In scientific inquiry, concept formation and theory formation must go hand in hand.” (p. 97) What does this statement mean? What are Hempel’s reasons for asserting it?

13. What was the Copernican Revolution? What was revolutionary about it? In what major ways did the Copernican system differ from the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system? In what ways was the Copernican system modified by the later work of Brahe and Kepler?

14. What were Galileo’s criticisms of the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system? Against what elements of that system were his criticisms directed? Be specific.

15. Give a brief summary of Newton’s scientific method. What were his views about (1) the uniformity of nature, (2) determinism, (3) experimentation, (4) the reporting of research results, and (5) scientific hypotheses? Be specific.

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