Empirical+Evidence+and+its+Role+in+the+Scientific+Method

Back to Home>Back to Evidence and Certainty = = = __The Fundamentals of the Scientific Method: Cartesian Doubt, Deduction and Induction__ = // Read the below selections from //** René Descartes **//__ Selections from Meditations __//// and attempt to dissect his argument. What is he doubting? What is the demon that plagues him? How does he know that he exists? When you are finished reading, flip it over and review the discussion points. //
 * Instructions: **

SEVERAL years have now elapsed since I first became aware that I had accepted, even from my youth, many false opinions for true, and that consequently what I afterward based on such principles was highly doubtful… But it may be said, perhaps, that, although the senses occasionally mislead us respecting minute objects, and such as are so far removed from us as to be beyond the reach of close observation, there are yet many other of their information (presentations), of the truth of which it is manifestly impossible to doubt; as for example, that I am in this place, seated by the fire, clothed in a winter dressing gown, that I hold in my hands this piece of paper, with other intimations of the same nature. But how could I deny that I possess these hands and this body,.. I must nevertheless here consider that I am a man, and that, consequently, I am in the habit of sleeping, and representing to myself in dreams those same things, or even sometimes others less probable, which the insane think are presented to them in their waking moments. How often have I dreamt that I was in these familiar circumstances, that I was dressed, and occupied this place by the fire, when I was lying undressed in bed? At the present moment, however, I certainly look upon this paper with eyes wide awake; the head which I now move is not asleep; I extend this hand consciously and with express purpose, and I perceive it; the occurrences in sleep are not so distinct as all this. But I cannot forget that, at other times I have been deceived in sleep by similar illusions; and, attentively considering those cases, I perceive so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can ever be distinguished from sleep, that I feel greatly astonished; and in amazement I almost persuade myself that I am now dreaming. ....

I will suppose, then, not that Deity, who is sovereignty good and the fountain of truth, but that some malignant demon, who is at once exceedingly potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me; I will suppose that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, figures, sounds, and all external things, are nothing better than the illusions of dreams, by means of which this being has laid snares for my credulity; I will consider myself as without hands, eyes, flesh, blood, or any of the senses, and as falsely believing that I am possessed of these; I will continue resolutely fixed in this belief, and if indeed by this means it be not in my power to arrive at the knowledge of truth, .. I suppose, accordingly, that all the things which I see are false (fictitious); I believe that none of those objects which my fallacious memory represents ever existed; I suppose that I possess no senses; I believe that body, figure, extension, motion, and place are merely fictions of my mind. What is there, then, that can be esteemed true? Perhaps this only, that there is absolutely nothing certain.

Am I so dependent on the body and the senses that without these I cannot exist? But I had the persuasion that there was absolutely nothing in the world, that there was no sky and no earth, neither minds nor bodies; was I not, therefore, at the same time, persuaded that I did not exist? Far from it; I assuredly existed, since I was persuaded. But there is I know not what being, who is possessed at once of the highest power and the deepest cunning, who is constantly employing all his ingenuity in deceiving me. Doubtless, then, I exist, since I am deceived; . I am--I exist: this is certain; but how often? As often as I think; for perhaps it would even happen, if I should wholly cease to think, that I should at the same time altogether cease to be. I now admit nothing that is not necessarily true. I am therefore, precisely speaking, only a thinking thing, that is, a mind (//mens sive animus//), understanding, or reason, terms whose signification was before unknown to me. I am, however, a real thing, and really existent; but what thing? The answer was, a thinking thing. .... But what, then, am I? A thinking thing, it has been said. But what is a thinking thing? It is a thing that doubts, understands, [conceives], affirms, denies, wills, refuses; that imagines also, and perceives.

__Talking Points__
__ Doubt and Science __ Rene Descartes was a scientist and philosopher from a period in history referred to as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was seen as scientific revolution of thought and discovery and one of Descartes biggest contributions was his articulation of the empirical approach to questions about the natural world. From his //__Meditations__// he developed his understanding of his own identity and role in the world through the fact that he asked questions and challenged the world around him in an attempt to explain the //why// of natural phenomenon occurred. It is this doubt that would inspire Descartes and all that followed him to systematically attempt to search for scientific truth through what would later be called the **scientific method.**

__ Logic and the Scientific Method __ As we discussed in our unit of logic, there are two major structures of logical inquiry, induction and deduction.

1. Induction: The act or process of reasoning from a part to a whole, from particulars to generals, or from the individual to the universal; also, the result or inference so reached.

2. Deduction: the deriving of a conclusion by reasoning; // specifically // : inference in which the conclusion about particulars follows necessarily from general or universal premises

When we approach any natural science empirically through the scientific method, we apply both of these structures to help to quantify and explain the natural world. Here is the common format that we have all come to know and love throughout our sciences courses. Where do you feel we utilize each structure.


 * Research Question**


 * Background Information**


 * Hypothesis (or Null Hypothesis)**


 * Method**


 * Results and Data Analysis**


 * Conclusion (Confirm or Deny Hypothesis and Discuss Sources of Error)**