Scientific Objectivity
A Scientific Objectivity is a product objectivity and a process objectivity that are associated with a Scientific Learning Method.
- See: Theory of Relativity, Scientific Method, Testability, Reproducibility, Consensus Reality, Objectivity (Philosophy), Subjectivity, Scientific Consensus, Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, Astronomical Object.
References
2019a
- (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivity_(science) Retrieved:2019-3-24.
- Objectivity in science is an attempt to uncover truths about the natural world by eliminating personal biases, emotions, and false beliefs.[1] It is often linked to observation as part of the scientific method. It is thus intimately related to the aim of testability and reproducibility. To be considered objective, the results of measurement must be communicated from person to person, and then for third parties, as an advance in a collective understanding of the world. Such demonstrable knowledge has ordinarily conferred demonstrable powers of prediction or technology.
The problem of philosophical objectivity is contrasted with personal subjectivity, sometimes exacerbated by the overgeneralization of a hypothesis to the whole. E.g. Newton's law of universal gravitation appears to be the norm for the attraction between celestial bodies, but it was later superseded by the more general theory of relativity.
- Objectivity in science is an attempt to uncover truths about the natural world by eliminating personal biases, emotions, and false beliefs.[1] It is often linked to observation as part of the scientific method. It is thus intimately related to the aim of testability and reproducibility. To be considered objective, the results of measurement must be communicated from person to person, and then for third parties, as an advance in a collective understanding of the world. Such demonstrable knowledge has ordinarily conferred demonstrable powers of prediction or technology.
- ↑ Daston, Lorraine; Galison, Peter (2010). Objectivity. Zone Books. ISBN 9781890951795.
2019b
- (Rational Wiki, 2019) ⇒ https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Scientific_objectivity Retrieved:2019-3-24.
- QUOTE: Scientific objectivity is an ideal goal that scientists strive to achieve. Unfortunately, because science is a human enterprise, complete objectivity can never be attained. However, the scientific method is designed to safeguard against bias as much as is possible.
2017
- (Reiss & Sprenger, 2017) ⇒ Julian Reiss, and Jan Sprenger (2017). "Scientific Objectivity". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
- QUOTE: Objectivity is a value. To call a thing objective implies that it has a certain importance to us and that we approve of it. Objectivity comes in degrees. Claims, methods and results can be more or less objective, and, other things being equal, the more objective, the better. Using the term “objective” to describe something often carries a special rhetorical force with it. The admiration of science among the general public and the authority science enjoys in public life stems to a large extent from the view that science is objective or at least more objective than other modes of inquiry. Understanding scientific objectivity is therefore central to understanding the nature of science and the role it plays in society.
Given the centrality of the concept for science and everyday life, it is not surprising that attempts to find ready characterizations are bound to fail. For one thing, there are two fundamentally different ways to understand the term: product objectivity and process objectivity. According to the first understanding, science is objective in that, or to the extent that, its products — theories, laws, experimental results and observations — constitute accurate representations of the external world. The products of science are not tainted by human desires, goals, capabilities or experience. According to the second understanding, science is objective in that, or to the extent that, the processes and methods that characterize it neither depend on contingent social and ethical values, nor on the individual bias of a scientist. Especially this second understanding is itself multi-faceted; it contains, inter alia, explications in terms of measurement procedures, individual reasoning processes, or the social and institutional dimension of science. The semantic richness of scientific objectivity is also reflected in the multitude of categorizations and subdivisions of the concept (e.g., Megill 1994 [1]; Douglas 2004 [2]).
- QUOTE: Objectivity is a value. To call a thing objective implies that it has a certain importance to us and that we approve of it. Objectivity comes in degrees. Claims, methods and results can be more or less objective, and, other things being equal, the more objective, the better. Using the term “objective” to describe something often carries a special rhetorical force with it. The admiration of science among the general public and the authority science enjoys in public life stems to a large extent from the view that science is objective or at least more objective than other modes of inquiry. Understanding scientific objectivity is therefore central to understanding the nature of science and the role it plays in society.
- ↑ Megill, A., 1994, “Introduction: Four Senses of Objectivity”, in Rethinking Objectivity, A. Megill (ed.), Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1–20.
- ↑ Douglas, Heather. "The irreducible complexity of objectivity". Synthese 138.3 (2004): 453-473. 10.1023/B:SYNT.0000016451.18182.91
2004
- (Douglas, 2004) ⇒ Heather Douglas (2004). “The irreducible complexity of objectivity", Synthese 138, no. 3 (2004): 453-473. 10.1023/B:SYNT.0000016451.18182.91
- QUOTE: The terms “objectivity” and “objective” are among the most used yet ill-defined terms in the philosophy of science and epistemology. Philosophers discuss such diverse entities as objective knowledge, objective methods, objective observations, objective criteria, objective measures, and objective evaluations, and in some sense, we know what is meant by these terms.