Chapter 14: Science and Values
Can scientific problems in the social sciences be divorced from questions of value?
Value Statement: any type of command, or assertion that something is good or desirable, or bad or undesirable.
Meaningful Statements
1. Of Logic and Mathematics (analytic and a priori)
2. Of Science (synthetic and a posteriori)
3. Value Statements
“It is certainly true that pre-occupation with right or wrong is characteristic of the human race, and we are all called upon a thousand times each day to exercise the mysterious gift of making such decisions.”
It is generally accepted that it’s impossible to establish value statements by the scientific method.
“We may summarize by saying that value judgments enable us to choose among ends. On the other hand, Science tells us which ends are feasible and how we can achieve these various ends.”
Value Statement: any type of command, or assertion that something is good or desirable, or bad or undesirable.
Meaningful Statements
1. Of Logic and Mathematics (analytic and a priori)
2. Of Science (synthetic and a posteriori)
3. Value Statements
“It is certainly true that pre-occupation with right or wrong is characteristic of the human race, and we are all called upon a thousand times each day to exercise the mysterious gift of making such decisions.”
It is generally accepted that it’s impossible to establish value statements by the scientific method.
“We may summarize by saying that value judgments enable us to choose among ends. On the other hand, Science tells us which ends are feasible and how we can achieve these various ends.”
Chapter 15: The Social Sciences
We can conclude that the scientific method can be applied to the social sciences.
“The difficulty in the social sciences is that the pressure to arrive at “desirable” results comes not from the outside but from within the scientist. He himself would like to believe that certain kinds of actions will produce desired results. He cannot help but search for laws that will enable him to make these predictions.”
To summarize, we find that laws are harder to form because of the tradition of vagueness, ambiguity, and emotive overtones in the subject matter, and because of the inherent complexity of human beings.”
“Ideally the progress of all of Science should reach a stage where the nonscientist would be relieved of all considerations of technical questions, and the sole decisions left up to him would be questions of right and wrong.”
“The difficulty in the social sciences is that the pressure to arrive at “desirable” results comes not from the outside but from within the scientist. He himself would like to believe that certain kinds of actions will produce desired results. He cannot help but search for laws that will enable him to make these predictions.”
To summarize, we find that laws are harder to form because of the tradition of vagueness, ambiguity, and emotive overtones in the subject matter, and because of the inherent complexity of human beings.”
“Ideally the progress of all of Science should reach a stage where the nonscientist would be relieved of all considerations of technical questions, and the sole decisions left up to him would be questions of right and wrong.”
Chapter 16: Quo Vadis?
(Where are you going?)
“Begin at the beginning, and go till you come to the end: then stop.”
“I hope that you have learned one lesson from this book: No scientific theory is final. Tomorrow we may find a new, better theory, which shows us that the present theories are only approximately right…
I firmly believe that there are some questions, including those I am now discussing, whose answers we shall never attain. Perhaps we were not meant to know the answers…
Let me instead reaffirm the philosopher’s faith that an increase in knowledge is intrinsically good, and hope that philosophers will continue in their role as critics and as question-raisers to stimulate the unending progress of Science.”
“Begin at the beginning, and go till you come to the end: then stop.”
“I hope that you have learned one lesson from this book: No scientific theory is final. Tomorrow we may find a new, better theory, which shows us that the present theories are only approximately right…
I firmly believe that there are some questions, including those I am now discussing, whose answers we shall never attain. Perhaps we were not meant to know the answers…
Let me instead reaffirm the philosopher’s faith that an increase in knowledge is intrinsically good, and hope that philosophers will continue in their role as critics and as question-raisers to stimulate the unending progress of Science.”