STS200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Philosophy Of Science, Christian Contemplation, Episteme
29 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Science is etymologically derived from the word scientia (latin) or episteme (greek) meaning knowledge. Gnosis: the knowledge you obtain if you are part of a secret club . Episteme: acquired knowledge by study and mastery of learning. Wissenschaft: systematic, theoretical inquiry (into the material world). Scientist (1833) referring to the natural sciences and not the social sciences . Technology: science gives us leverage over the material world. A skill that you can obtain by habit. Theory (reasons for how things work): deep understanding of elementary principles. (greek: theoria = distance, spectatorship). Not always a clear connection between theory and technology. Law-like explanation: orderly, predictable universal statements ( laws of nature ). Can be articulated in terms of numbers (mathematical expression). Method: rigorous, systematic observations organized around experimentation. Epistemological status: the status of the kind of knowledge you have. It is evidentially warranted (justification of scientific beliefs; empiricist).
