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    25 views6 pages

    BungePaper PDF

    Uploaded by

    Emanuel Peralta

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 6
    What Is Pseudoscience? Pseudoscience can be clearly distinguished from science only if a number of features are checked Mario Bunge This article and Professor Toulmin’, which follows, are Based on papers presented in the sexsion “Parascience and the Philosophy of Science” at CCSICOPYs international conference on “Selene, Skepucim. and the Pare normal,” October 28-29, 1983, 1 SUNY-Buffelo. ‘OST PHILOSOPHERS have atempled to characterize scene, and correspondingly pseudoscence, by a single feature. Some have chosen consensus asthe mark of science, others empirical content, oF Success, oF refutability, or the use ofthe siemifc method, oF ‘what have you. Every one ofthese simplistic atemps has filed. Science far too complex an object to be charactrizable by a single trait ~and the same holds for pseudotcence, Just ar we must check a numberof proper: lies in addition to color and biliance in order to make sre that & chunk (of metals not fake gold, so we must examine a numberof features of Field of knowiedge to ascertain whether it is scene We shal characterize a science, as well a pseudoscence, at 4 cognitive ed, genuine o fake. A cognitive fed may be characterized asa Sector of human activity aiming at guning, dilfusing, or uring know. ‘edge of some kind, whether this knowledge be tre or fake, There are hundreds of cognitive feds in contemporary culture: logic and theology. mathematics ané numerology. astronomy and astrology, chemistry and Alchemy. psychology and parapsychology, socal scence and humanistic sociology. and s0 on, Marto Bunge s Protingham Profesor of Loge and Metaphyls. and head of the Foundations and Philosophy of Science Unt. at MeGill Universy. Montreal Cenade. He isthe author of more than 300 publications In pis and philosophy, Including the Books Exploring the World and Understanding ie Worl % ‘Tue Skérnicl tq Volo (Cam Gfiteienhhe} Ger 26 sete Fonte “ee P18) Bre(sumt) 9 Cognitive False Whether oF nota given cognitive field is successful in ataning truth or over uadetanding or popularity it she» amr of cua with other cognitive fields. (See Bunge I9Kia) These characterise ae neapsulated in the ten-tuple EVGSD.GEBRKAML here at any given time, ntvecommunly S=Secay honing & = General uk woven or plsopy ofthe or worden or pilotopy ofthe C+ = Domain or unineae of dca of Ete seca is shot 1 Fal Scena tal tn mate oo eye 28 Spc bacground oo presupposition shut D boron pees noted ec han bow + Probioat, oo probs Ey bale = Spec fd of knowlege scutes 99 4+ dint orga ofthe Ce calving E 1 Medes ot oecton of mths abe E Fat 1 » ‘The family of fields of knowledge isnot homogenous, Infact it may ‘be spit into two disjoint set: the family of research fields and that of Dele flelds, Whereas a research fed changes all the ime at a result of research. a belie eld changes, as a result of controversy, brote force, or revelation. This the, the great divide Pike tr ideologies Pseudoscienes & poewotec: Comitv kts nologies Humanities Mathematics esearch fields tase science | "pli ence | ectnloy(ieleing medicine andiew) | Science We now proceed to define the concept of seience, (For detail see Bunge 1983b,) We stipulate that a particular science, such as physics, biology or sociology. isa cognitive fed £ = (C, 5, D. G. FB P. K.A, M) such that, 1. Everyone ofthe ten components of F changes, however slowly. a5 result of inquiry in the same field as well sin related fields (prtcuary those supplying the formal background F and the specified background B and 6) 2. C. the research community of Eis a sysem composed of persons who have received a specialized training. Hold strong information Tinks among themselves, and inate or continve a tradition of inquiry. 3. The society S, which hosts C encourages or atleast tolerates the activities ofthe components of C. 4. The domain Ds composed exclusively of (erified or putatively) ‘real eniies eather than say rely floating ideas) pas, presen, or fture. '5. The general outlook oF philosophical background consists of a) fn ontology according 10 which the real world is composed of lawful ‘hanging concrete things (ather than, say of unchanging, or lwes, of shostly things: (6) a realistic sheor of knowledge (rather than sy. an ‘deaistic oF & conventionalist one; (c) a value system ensrising clarity, xacnes. depth, conistency, and tut (the eros ofthe ie sarc oe ‘rath (rather than, say that ofthe bound quest for willy or for conser ‘oF for conformity with dogma). 6 The formal background F is mathematical theories (rather than being emply or formed by coro formal theories. 7 The specific background Bis «collection of up-to-date and re sonably well confirmed (yet not incorrigible) data hrporeses ond theories obtnined in other fields of inquiry relevant to 8. The problematics P consists exclusively of cognitive problems concerning the nature (in particular the laws) ofthe members of By ay eel as problems concerning other components of 9. The fund of knowledge Ki «coletion of up-to-date and resable (Ghough nt final theories, hypotheses, and data compaible wth those of ‘Band obtained in Eat previous times, 40, The sims 4 include discovering or using the laws of the DS, ‘psematzing Gato ther) hypotheses about D', and relining methods fone other (contiguous) tesarch field such that (a) the general cutlocke, formal backgrounds, specific backgrounds, funds af knowledge sing ‘methods of the two fields have nonempty overlaps, and (0) ether We domain of one Fld i included in hat ofthe other reach member of te domain of one of them isa component ofa system belonging vo the et domain, ‘Any cognitive (eld that fails 0 satisfy all twelve of the conditions above will be sai to be nonsiemfic. Casical examples theclowy and lcraty criticism. And any cognitive field that, though nonseenttsr sdventsed as scenic wil be said to be pseudoscemtic The wesdes ‘xcouraged to check for himseif whether his of her favorite scence oo Picudosience satisties the definition above. Pseudoscience {nase our definition of pseudoscence is found as unsatisfactory as define ing “fake art” as “not genuine at” let ws propose an ltrnaive chances ECS, {he following conditions |. The ten components of £ change but litle in the course of time ‘nd, if they do happen to change, they do 40 in limited respects and see ‘esult of controversy or external pressures rather than of siete research 2. Cis a community of believers who call themseives scientist, although they do not conduct any slemific research or they engage in ‘esearch practices that are defective by sienife standards 3. The host society S supports C for practical reasons (., because is good busines) or tolerates C while relegating it beyond the border of its oficial cute 4. The domain D teems with unreal or a least not certfably rea ‘emtties, such a8 astral influences, disembodied though, supereger, the ike. 5. The general outlook G includes cher (o) an ontology countenane- ing immaterial entities or processes, such as disembodied sir, or (8) an epistemology making room for arguments from at ‘normal modes of cognition accessible only to the intats or to those trained to interpret certain canonical texts or (ea value system that does ‘ot ensbrine larity, exactness, depth, consistency or truth, o (an ethox ‘tha, far from facitating the free Search fr truth recommends the staunch ‘defense of dogma, including deception i need be 6 The formal background F is usally modest, Logic is not always ‘espected and mathematical modeling i the exception rather than the rule The few mathematical models that have been proposed (efor psi ‘henomens are not experimentally testable, s0 they are phony, 1. The specific background B is small or nia pseudostience learns lite or nothing from other cognitive Meds. Likewise i contibates ite ‘nothing tothe development of ether cognitive fields 8. The problematcs P includes many more practical problems con cerning human fife (in particular how to fel better and influence other ‘eople) than cognitive problems, 9. The fund of knowledge X is practically stagnant and contains humerous untestable or even false hypotheses in conflict with well confirmed scientific hypotheses. And it contains no universal and wel confirmed hypotheses 10, The aims A of the members of C are often practical rather than cognitive, in consonance with its prablematies P. And they do not include ‘the typical goals of scientific research, namely the finding of laws or thet ‘we to understand and predict facts 1. The methodics Mf contains procedures that are nithercheckable by alternative (in particular scientife) procedures nor justifiable by wel confirmed theories. In particular, eric isnot welcomed by prewdo- 12. There is no field of knowledge, except possibly another prewdo- Science, that overlaps wth E-and is thus in a postion fo control or enrich That is, every preudoscence is practically jolted: There is no such ‘thing a8 the sytem of pseudosciences paralleling that of the genuine “This general picture i supplemented by Table |, which exhibits typical tudes and activities of siemists and pseudoscienists (Admittedly tome ‘cients do not behave scientifically om occasion. But this is beside the Poin; we are concerned with norm or Weal behavior) TABLET Comparison of Auitudes and Activites of Scientists and Paeudoscientits Sse Pendant ‘Admits om nora, bce ed or ind oval iia al of oes ‘Acc ping nd nn Welcmes ew hypotheses Proposer andi oot ew bypereee ‘Cherish nye Leaks for euntereampes isting pedo Sete putes by experimen rcempunion Sep or itor nvr ta Update wn infretion ies pages tac be der Sanyo eyo aceite ety Yes Ko Optional Yer Ne Optio! Parapeychology: Science or Pseudoscience? Pseudoscience isa body of beliefs and practices but seldom a feld of sive inquiry; itis tadition-bound and dogmatic tether than forces ‘ooking and exploratory. (In this respect i resembles idcology aod oy Particular, religion) For example, have never heard of paychoanalyti, hiropractc, or homeopathic laboratories: only parapsychology. which cals with so-aledspritulistic. psychic. or extrasensory phenomena research-oriented. However it fails to meet all the conditions listed pre, viously fora cognitive fed to be sciemific Let us chek them, leaving the

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