Thinking hard about science! - Philosophy of Science lecture 1
Today´s program
- Philosophy of science - what is it?
- The demarcation problem
- Course overview & organization
Key problem in the philosophy in science: the demarcation problem.
What is the philosophy of science?
-> handy to begin what is philosophy?
Philosophy-> thinking very long and hard about things.
At its core, philosophy is the practice of thinking deeply and carefully about the biggest,
most fundamental questions — the kind you can’t answer just by Googling a fact.
-> it is about thinking way longer than normal about something.
Philosophy of social science: thinking hard about social science
- For example: What is science, what´s so special about it?
- How does it work? What assumptions do we make when we study (groups of) people
and their thinking, behavior, organzaitions, cultures, etc.?
- How does social science relate to the broader social world?
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that asks:
How do we know what we know — and when are we justified in believing something? It’s not
about what is true (like science asks), but about how truth, belief, evidence, and certainty
work.
Epistemology is the study of knowledge — what it is, where it comes from, and how we can
tell the difference between being right and just being lucky.
In doing Philosophy in Science you take a conversation in the meta level
-> Taking the conversation to a meta-level means stepping back from directly studying the
social world itself and instead focusing on how we study it.
,In philosophy of science (and specifically philosophy of social science), this meta-
level view involves:
● Reflecting on the methods, assumptions, and concepts used in social science
research.
● Asking questions like:
● What counts as good scientific knowledge?
● What are the limits or scope of social scientific inquiry?
● How do our values or definitions shape what we consider scientific?
● Instead of studying the social world directly (e.g., observing behavior, groups,
institutions), you're analyzing the frameworks and foundations underlying those
studies.
A useful analogy from the lecture was talking about a conversation about weekend plans
(the "first level") versus talking about how you communicate during that conversation and
why it causes fights (the "meta-level").
So, philosophy of social science is studying and questioning the practice of social science
itself rather than social phenomena directly. You are actually looking at the research itself,
rather than just the results of it. This is called thinking at a meta-level: it is thinking about the
thinking or the investigation.
(Shows three levels related to studying society)
,The slide explains three levels related to studying society.
1. The social world
This is everyday social reality: how people behave, interact, form groups, build institutions,
and create cultures.
This is what we ultimately want to understand.
2. Social science
Disciplines like sociology, psychology, economics, and political science.
They study the social world using theories, methods, and data.
Their main question is: How does the social world work?
3. Philosophy of social science
This operates at a higher level. It does not directly study society, but instead examines how
social scientists do their work.
It asks questions such as:
● What counts as good evidence in social research?
● Can research about humans be objective?
● Are explanations in social science similar to those in natural science?
Core idea in one sentence: Philosophy of social science studies how social scientists
produce knowledge about the social world.
Bottom → Middle
The social world → Social science
This arrow means:
- Social scientists study the social world.
- Society is the object of research, and social science tries to describe, explain, or
understand it.
So the direction goes from reality to the science that investigates it.
Middle → Top
Social science → Philosophy of social science
This arrow shows a second step back.
Philosophers of social science do not directly study society — they study how social
scientists study society.
Here, social science itself becomes the object of analysis.
So the direction goes from a science to reflection on that science.
, Why this structure matters
The arrows point upward because each level is more abstract and reflective:
Level Focus
Social world What is happening in society
Social science How we study what is happening
Philosophy of social How we evaluate and interpret that
science study
Each step moves further away from direct observation and closer to thinking about
how knowledge is produced.
You have a conversation with friends about the weekend. But the conversation isn´t going
smoothly. You might want to go more to a meta level, and have a conversation about the
conversation.
-> Hey, I noticed it always ends up in I fight? What´s going on?
-> You go to a higher level (meta level)
-> Same with philosophy of social science, you are no longer doing social science, but you
are thinking about how, why and what assumptions about social science?
Philosophy of social science
- What distinguishes science from non-science?
- How does one get from observations to theories, models, explanations?
- What is a (good) scientific theory, explanation, model?
- Is scientific knowledge objective? What is objectivity?
- What role is there for values in science, if any? (next thursday)
- Are there ethical or other limits to science?
- What goals should science serve?
Philosophy of social science is about reflecting on social science itself, in order to
understand it better.
The demarcation problem
The demarcation problem is the challenge of figuring out:
How do we distinguish science from non-science (or pseudoscience)?
In other words, what makes something scientific rather than just a belief, opinion, or fake
science?
-> “Demarcation” just means drawing a boundary.
Today´s program
- Philosophy of science - what is it?
- The demarcation problem
- Course overview & organization
Key problem in the philosophy in science: the demarcation problem.
What is the philosophy of science?
-> handy to begin what is philosophy?
Philosophy-> thinking very long and hard about things.
At its core, philosophy is the practice of thinking deeply and carefully about the biggest,
most fundamental questions — the kind you can’t answer just by Googling a fact.
-> it is about thinking way longer than normal about something.
Philosophy of social science: thinking hard about social science
- For example: What is science, what´s so special about it?
- How does it work? What assumptions do we make when we study (groups of) people
and their thinking, behavior, organzaitions, cultures, etc.?
- How does social science relate to the broader social world?
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that asks:
How do we know what we know — and when are we justified in believing something? It’s not
about what is true (like science asks), but about how truth, belief, evidence, and certainty
work.
Epistemology is the study of knowledge — what it is, where it comes from, and how we can
tell the difference between being right and just being lucky.
In doing Philosophy in Science you take a conversation in the meta level
-> Taking the conversation to a meta-level means stepping back from directly studying the
social world itself and instead focusing on how we study it.
,In philosophy of science (and specifically philosophy of social science), this meta-
level view involves:
● Reflecting on the methods, assumptions, and concepts used in social science
research.
● Asking questions like:
● What counts as good scientific knowledge?
● What are the limits or scope of social scientific inquiry?
● How do our values or definitions shape what we consider scientific?
● Instead of studying the social world directly (e.g., observing behavior, groups,
institutions), you're analyzing the frameworks and foundations underlying those
studies.
A useful analogy from the lecture was talking about a conversation about weekend plans
(the "first level") versus talking about how you communicate during that conversation and
why it causes fights (the "meta-level").
So, philosophy of social science is studying and questioning the practice of social science
itself rather than social phenomena directly. You are actually looking at the research itself,
rather than just the results of it. This is called thinking at a meta-level: it is thinking about the
thinking or the investigation.
(Shows three levels related to studying society)
,The slide explains three levels related to studying society.
1. The social world
This is everyday social reality: how people behave, interact, form groups, build institutions,
and create cultures.
This is what we ultimately want to understand.
2. Social science
Disciplines like sociology, psychology, economics, and political science.
They study the social world using theories, methods, and data.
Their main question is: How does the social world work?
3. Philosophy of social science
This operates at a higher level. It does not directly study society, but instead examines how
social scientists do their work.
It asks questions such as:
● What counts as good evidence in social research?
● Can research about humans be objective?
● Are explanations in social science similar to those in natural science?
Core idea in one sentence: Philosophy of social science studies how social scientists
produce knowledge about the social world.
Bottom → Middle
The social world → Social science
This arrow means:
- Social scientists study the social world.
- Society is the object of research, and social science tries to describe, explain, or
understand it.
So the direction goes from reality to the science that investigates it.
Middle → Top
Social science → Philosophy of social science
This arrow shows a second step back.
Philosophers of social science do not directly study society — they study how social
scientists study society.
Here, social science itself becomes the object of analysis.
So the direction goes from a science to reflection on that science.
, Why this structure matters
The arrows point upward because each level is more abstract and reflective:
Level Focus
Social world What is happening in society
Social science How we study what is happening
Philosophy of social How we evaluate and interpret that
science study
Each step moves further away from direct observation and closer to thinking about
how knowledge is produced.
You have a conversation with friends about the weekend. But the conversation isn´t going
smoothly. You might want to go more to a meta level, and have a conversation about the
conversation.
-> Hey, I noticed it always ends up in I fight? What´s going on?
-> You go to a higher level (meta level)
-> Same with philosophy of social science, you are no longer doing social science, but you
are thinking about how, why and what assumptions about social science?
Philosophy of social science
- What distinguishes science from non-science?
- How does one get from observations to theories, models, explanations?
- What is a (good) scientific theory, explanation, model?
- Is scientific knowledge objective? What is objectivity?
- What role is there for values in science, if any? (next thursday)
- Are there ethical or other limits to science?
- What goals should science serve?
Philosophy of social science is about reflecting on social science itself, in order to
understand it better.
The demarcation problem
The demarcation problem is the challenge of figuring out:
How do we distinguish science from non-science (or pseudoscience)?
In other words, what makes something scientific rather than just a belief, opinion, or fake
science?
-> “Demarcation” just means drawing a boundary.
