The Demarcation Problem

" Demarcation " is the fancy term used by philosophers of science for making the distinction between science and basically every other kind of belief or kind of statement. Since science claims to be about distinguishing what is true, it also comes down to what is basically another word for epistemology, the branch of philosophy which deals with how we decide what is true. But by reframing epistemology as the effort to define science, philosophers have essentially made the word " science " a synonym for epistemological validity. I ' m going to be very careful not to get too deep into the weeds here. Philosophers pulp whole forests to inscribe their multi-page wranglings with the smallest of points. What matters is that people with scientific training in accredited universities have come to a very strong consensus about a vast body of knowledge in innumerable categories, and also agree on a very large body of methods for determining truth. They are also very well aware of their vast areas of ignorance and uncertainty. After all, it is their job to do research and generate new knowledge and understanding, so it is what we don ' t know that fuels science, not what we do know. However, " science, " as a profession practiced by people with fancy degrees, mostly in universities, is obviously not the only example of people seeking truth. Journalists are supposed to do that also, so the demarcation problem is analogous, or even equivalent, to the problem of distinguishing re...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs