In this paper I evaluate several realist understandings of science and scientific laws. In my eva... more In this paper I evaluate several realist understandings of science and scientific laws. In my evaluation I raise several criticisms against each realist position. In the second half of the paper, I direct my attention toward an analysis of Constructive Empiricism. I ultimately suggest that the constructive empiricist approach to understanding the nature of science as science is actually practiced is a far better approach than the more popular realist approach.
In this essay I summarise Duhem's and Quine's individual holism underdetermination theses. I revi... more In this essay I summarise Duhem's and Quine's individual holism underdetermination theses. I review Donald Gillies's version of the Duhem-Quine thesis, and evaluate Larry Laudan's criticisms of Quine's thesis in "Demystifying Underdetermination". I conclude by presenting a fuller interpretation of Quine as a means of responding to Laudan's criticisms.
The distinction between science and pseudoscience has continued to be a subject of heated debate ... more The distinction between science and pseudoscience has continued to be a subject of heated debate among philosophers of science. Most have focused on the development of a demarcation principle that allows for a distinction to be made, while others have rejected the concept of a demarcation principle altogether. In either case, there does seem to be a consensus among philosophers of science that distinguishing between science and pseudoscience is a fundamental obstacle, and that such a distinction holds substantial political and ethical implications. In what follows, I will present several formulations of the demarcation principle and critically analyse the proponents and limitations of these various formulations. From the discussion that follows, I hope to evince the proposition that there does not exist necessary and sufficient criteria by which one can definitively distinguish all of science from all of pseudoscience.
In this paper I presume that Justice and Care (and to a certain degree virtue) are the common con... more In this paper I presume that Justice and Care (and to a certain degree virtue) are the common concepts through which an ethic is formulated. Deontological and utilitarian ethics are founded in an ethic of justice that is rational, universal and ideally impartial. In contrast, an ethic of care is founded in an ethic that is emotional, individualised and partial. Each form, justice and care, is typically defined as the ideal form of ethics and as contradictory to the other. Yet, I intend to suggest that rather than contradicting, they in fact compliment one another; neither is more important to the social interactions of individuals - whether partial or impartial - and neither is technically greater, nor lesser, than the other. Nevertheless, I will suggest that justice develops out of a form of caring, and that justice is then universalised through an impartial frame of reference. Through this process of universalisation, justice extends beyond caring - beyond the individual - and into an ethical system of its own. Using a form of confucian ethics, I will contend that justice and care can operate in unison and that neither is oriented in gender
Uploads
Papers by Spencer Allen