8 Knowledge, Reason, and Science Free Online FlashCards

What does epistemology study?

Epistemology is the study of what knowledge is, how it is acquired, and what justifies belief.

What three conditions are commonly proposed for knowledge?

A familiar starting point is that knowledge requires truth, belief, and adequate justification. Philosophers disagree about what counts as adequate justification and whether these conditions are sufficient.

What is a priori knowledge?

A priori knowledge is justified independently of sensory experience, as when understanding that a triangle has three sides.

How do rationalism and empiricism differ?

Rationalism gives reason a central role, often emphasizing a priori insight or deduction; empiricism stresses experience as a source or test of knowledge about the world.

What does deductive reasoning aim to establish?

Deduction aims to make a conclusion follow necessarily from its premises. If the premises are true and the argument is valid, the conclusion cannot be false.

What is Hume’s problem of induction?

Hume asks what justifies using past patterns to predict unobserved cases: deduction cannot guarantee that the future will resemble the past, and justifying induction by its past success relies on induction itself.

What are the main steps in a simplified scientific inquiry?

A simplified inquiry develops a hypothesis or model, derives observable consequences, gathers relevant data, and compares the results with those expectations.

What is inference to the best explanation?

Inference to the best explanation favors a hypothesis that explains the evidence well, while considering factors such as simplicity, coherence, and scope.

What strengthens scientific claims?

Scientific claims gain strength when evidence is reliable, methods are transparent, results withstand repeated testing, and independent approaches converge.

What does it mean for a theory to be falsifiable?

Falsifiability means a theory rules out some possible observations, so evidence could count against it. It encourages risky tests but is not a universally accepted complete definition of science.

What is underdetermination?

Underdetermination occurs when the same evidence can fit more than one explanation, making it difficult to choose between rival accounts.

How should we respond to the possibility that scientific knowledge may change?

Scientific conclusions can be highly reliable yet open to correction. Confidence should reflect the quality, amount, and independence of evidence, not assume absolute certainty or blanket doubt.