Abstract
Objective justification requires the recognition and accommodation of sources of experimental error. Examples illustrating perceptual error, the import of appropriate and inappropriate expectations, taking systematic error into account and the articulation of random error are discussed. The notions of experimental precision and accuracy are distinguished, and the approximation associated with the articulation of degree of precision is contrasted with vagueness. The interpretation of experiment is compared with the interpretation of human action and its cultural products. The need for precautions when relying on epistemic authority is discussed in the light of the need to rely on the judgements of others. Acquiring confidence in arriving at inductive conclusions cautiously emphasises their fallibility. Finally, the interplay of epistemic and ethical value judgements is illustrated and discussed in the assessment of inductive risk.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See Naylor’s comments on Galileo’s pendulum experiments in Sect. 4.1.
- 2.
There are 1560 yards to a mile.
References
Boring, E. G. (1957). A history of experimental psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Appleton-Century Crofts.
Chang, H. (2012b). Joseph Priestley (1722–1804). In R. F. Hendry, P. Needham, & A. J. Woody (Eds.), Handbook of the philosophy of science (Vol. 6, Philosophy of chemistry, pp. 55–62). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Chomsky, N. (1959), Review of B. F. Skinner. Verbal Behavior, Language, 35, 26–58.
Cranor, C. F. (1993). Regulating toxic substances: A philosophy of science and the law. New York: Oxford University Press.
Douglas, H. (2000). Inductive risk and values in science. Philosophy of Science, 67, 559–579.
Douglas, H. (2004). Prediction, explanation, and dioxin biochemistry: Science in public policy. Foundations of Chemistry, 6, 49–63.
Drake, S. (1978). Galileo at work: His scientific biography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Drake, S., & Kowal, C. T. (1980). Galileo’s sighting of Neptune. Scientific American, 243, 52–59.
Duhem, P. (1906b). La théorie physique: Son objet – sa structure. Paris: Chevalier et Rivière; 2nd ed. (text unchanged, two appendices added) 1914; Reprinted Vrin, Paris, 1981. Translated in Duhem (1954).
Frank, S. T. (1973). Aural sign of coronary-artery disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 289, 327–328.
Franklin. A. (1986). The neglect of experiment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Galileo, G. (1613 [1957]). Letters on sunspots, trans.: Drake, S., and C. D. O’Malley, Ed., The Controversy on the Comets of 1618. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1960. Extracts in Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo, Ed. and trans. S. Drake. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.
Hempel, C. G. (1965). Science and human values. In Aspects of scientific explanation (pp. 81–96). Toronto: Free Press, Collier-Macmillan.
Hughes, I., & Hase, T. (2010). Measurements and their uncertainties: A practical guide to modern error analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kant, I. (1783 [1966]). Prolegomena. Riga: Hartknoch; Eng. trans. by Peter G. Lucas, Manchester University Press.
Klotz, I. M. (1980). The N-ray affair. Scientific American, 242, 122–131.
Kociba, R., Keyes, D. G., Beyer, J. E., Carreon, R. M., Wade, C. E., Dittenber, D. A., Kalnins, R. P., Frauson, L. E., Park, C. N., Barnard, S. D., Hummel, R. A., & Humiston, C. G. (1978). Results of a two-year chronic toxicity and oncogenicity study of 2,3,7,8-tetracholorodibenzo-p-dioxin in rats. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 46, 279–303.
McMullin, E. (1983). Values in science. In P. D. Asquith & T. Nickles (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1982 biennial meeting of the philosophy of science association (Vol. 2, pp. 3–28). East Lansing: Philosophy of Science Association.
Naylor, R. (1974). Galileo’s simple pendulum. Physis, 16(1974), 32–46.
Quine, W. V. (1960). Word and object. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.
Quine, W. V., & Ullian, J. S. (1978). The web of belief (2nd ed.). New York: Random House.
Sobel, D. (1995). Longitude: The true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time. New York: Walker & Company.
Wood, R. W. (1904). The n-rays. Nature, 70, 530–531.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Needham, P. (2020). Objectivity. In: Getting to Know the World Scientifically. Synthese Library, vol 423. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40216-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40216-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-40215-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-40216-7
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)