If u cn rd ths u r jst lke vryne lse. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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If u cn rd ths u r jst lke vryne lse.
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Yet we may not be seeing the same thing in the sense of our visual experiences. Hanson ... But what we 'see' in the sense of visual experience does change. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
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Title: If u cn rd ths u r jst lke vryne lse.
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If u cn rd ths u r jst lke vryne lse.
- Aoccdring to a rscheerarhat an Elingsh
uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oderr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihing
is taht frist and lsat ltteer are at the rghit
pclae. Youcan sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs
is bcuseae we donot raed ervey lteter by itslef
but the wrod as a wlohe. - Cehiro!
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Observation ordinary and scientific
- Its role in accounts of scientific reasoning
- Hansons arguments that observations are
theory-laden - The implications of Hansons arguments for
accounts of scientific reasoning and of
scientific objectivity
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Observation
- In philosophy, it was long accepted that
- Facts are directly given through observation to
unprejudiced observers with normal sensory
receptors. - Observations are (logically) prior to and
independent of theory. - Observations constitute a firm and reliable
foundation for science. - Assumed by both those who claimed scientists use
The Inductive Method as well as by those who
offered alternative accounts of scientific
reasoning/logic.
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Just how obvious are the observations
scientists and the rest of us engage in?
- Models of scientific reasoning
- For those advocating The Inductive Method,
observation came first and generalizations and
hypotheses only later. - For those advocating Sophisticated Inductivism
or Falsificationism, observations were the
foundation by which theories can be confirmed or
falsified. - In our reading by Duhem, he does not discuss
observation in detail when arguing for Holism but
he does in a quote in Hansons article.
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Just how obvious are the observations
scientists and the rest of us engage in?
- Enter a laboratory, approach the table crowded
with an assortment of apparatus - The experimenter is inserting into small
openings the metal ends of ebony-headed pins the
iron oscillates, and the mirror attached to it
throws a luminous band on a celluloid scale the
forward backward motion of this spot enables the
physicist to observe the minute oscillations of
the iron bar. - But ask him what is he doing.
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Just how obvious are the observations
scientists and the rest of us engage in?
- Will he answer I am studying the oscillations
of an iron bar that carries a mirror? - No, he will say that he is measuring the
electric resistance of the spools. If you are
astonished, if you ask him what his words mean,
what relation they have with the phenomena you
both have just observed - He will answer that your question requires a long
explanation and that you should take a course in
electricity.
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Observation
- What is the nature of observation?
- Is it raw? (the unvarnished news?)
- Will 2 observers with normal sensory receptors
always see the same thing when looking at the
same thing? - Are observations, whether in science or common
sense, prior to or independent of theory? - Do observations provide a firm and reliable
foundation for science?
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Hanson on observation
- The general argument
- There are two senses of seeing
- The physical processes involved that result in 2
tiny inverted images on each retina (which we do
not see) - The visual experience of seeing what we see.
- Observation, which is seeing in the second sense
of visual experience, is not solely determined by
the physical processes involved in the first
sense of seeing.
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Observation
- The physical process of seeing
- Light traveling from an object etches 4 inverted
images on our retinas - That information is sent, via the optic nerves,
to our brains. - So, if two of us are looking at the same object,
from the same perspective, and similar lighting,
etc the images on our retinas are the same as is
the information sent via the optic nerves. - Yet we may not be seeing the same thing in the
sense of our visual experiences.
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Hanson
- Important to keep in mind
- The interlocutor her purpose and her formula
- That Hanson never denies that there is a world
full of objects that exist independently of us
and constrain what it is possible to observe. - Hanson offers layers of arguments and evidence to
support his general argument that theres more
to seeing than meets the eyeball.
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Observation
- The interlocutor its purpose and its formula
- The purpose of the voice is to respond to what
Hanson sees as the most obvious and significant
challenge to his argument - Namely, that observers in all of his examples
(and generally) do see the same thing, but
interpret it differently. - This is an attempt to save the philosophical
assumptions earlier outlined.
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Observation
- Hansons response
- When observation is involved, we dont first see
and then interpret we just see - The act of interpreting does involve two steps
- Normal seeing does not
- If there wasnt a world independent of us that
constrains what it is possible to observe, what I
am arguing about the nature of observation would
not be startling or surprising or a big deal.
Its because there is such a world that my
argument is significant because that world has
been used to advance an overly naïve view of
observations.
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Hanson on observation
- Gestalt experiences/experiments and Hansons
general argument that - There are two senses of seeing
- The physical processes involved that result in 2
tiny inverted images on each retina (which we do
not see) - The visual experience of seeing what we see.
- That the second is not solely determined by the
first.
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Hanson on observation
- Gestalt experiences/experiments and Hansons
general argument - In each case, the object being observed does
not change so the physical processes involved are
the same (light rays, retinal images, etc.) - But what we see in the sense of visual
experience does change. - We can learn to flip our image of the Necker
cube we can learn to see the card deck includes
anomalous cards. - Prior experience, expectations, and learning to
see
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Observation
- Concepts, background knowledge, and general
theories also help to shape what we see
(observe). - Perhaps obvious (or at least should be) when
were discussing scientific observations
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Observations in science
- Examples of the role of concepts and theories
- Debris tracks as evidence of subatomic particles
- Galileo and Jupiters moons, and the moons
mountains and craters - Archaeologists and anthropologists on beads,
caves, burial sites, tools, etc. - Psychologists on childrens development of a
theory of mind (and relative lack thereof among
other primates) - Perfection vs. evidence of history and of
jury-rigging - Learning to see using scientific instruments
- Observing sexual behaviors of species
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Observation
- Another layer conceptual schemes (or frameworks)
help shape what we see - Cross cultural differences
- Color schemes
- Red, white and black
- Mathematical systems
- 1, 2, 3, many
- Two dimensional representations of three
dimensional objects
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Conceptual schemes and language
- What do you see?
- What does an infant see?
- What does a three year old see?
- What does an adult who has never been introduced
to apples see?
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Conceptual schemes, language, and what we observe
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Conceptual schemes, language, and what we observe
- Why doesnt the 3 year old (or we) see
- A puddle of apple stuff
- An apple-ing event
- A bunch of undetached apple parts
- An instantiation of the Platonic form Applehood
- Because of the conceptual scheme our language
embodies and we learn as we learn the language
individual physical objects, for the most part,
as well as notions of individuation -- this is
the same X I observed yesterday
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Observation
- The interlocutors formula
- In each of Hansons examples (and mine), two
people do see the same thing they just interpret
it differently. - Interpretation has a perfectly precise meaning.
It sometimes involves figuring out what we are
looking it when it isnt clear or looking for
the meaning of a text. It does not belong here,
in the case of ordinary seeing which just
happens.
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Observation
- The formula In each of Hansons examples, two
people do see the same thing they just interpret
it differently. - It happens instantaneously, so were unaware we
are doing it - Hanson instantaneous interpretation, like some
other ideas in the history of philosophy, is just
spooky (without warrant, stranger than fiction
and so forth).
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Observation
- What are the implications of Hansons arguments
for - Models of scientific reasoning we have
considered? - The notion of scientific objectivity?
- The veracity of our own observations?
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