Scientific Theories and the Nature of Truth: An In-Depth Analysis

Posted on Dec 15, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

Definition of Science

Science is a specific type of knowledge. While ordinary knowledge is concerned with the “what,” scientific knowledge seeks to answer the “why.” By connecting concepts, we can formulate laws.

Definition of Knowledge

Let S be a subject and p a proposition. S knows p if and only if:

S believes that p.
S‘s belief in p is rationally justified.
p is true.

All three conditions are necessary and sufficient.

Definition of Scientific Knowledge

Let C be a scientific community and T a theory. C knows T if and only if:

C believes that T.
The belief in T by C is rationally justified.

An important contribution to modern philosophy of science comes from Thomas S. Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Kuhn highlights the role of institutional power relations, competition between research groups, the influence of funding, and societal pressure on scientific communities.

Demarcation Criteria

Demarcation criteria distinguish science from pseudoscience. Originating with the Vienna Circle, which aimed to develop a scientific philosophy, these criteria are also known as the characteristics of science. They include:

Rigorous language: Terms must be precise, with unambiguous references.
Systematization: Issues are addressed in an orderly manner, distinguishing between primary and secondary aspects, without gaps.
Inclusion of laws and theories: Science must provide accurate, well-defined, and systematic relationships.
Coherence: Science should be free of contradictions.
Verifiability or testability: What is scientific can be demonstrated through experience.

Classification of Sciences

Formal Sciences
- Logic
- Mathematics
Empirical Sciences
- Human Sciences
  - Theoretical: Sociology, Psychology, History, Economics
  - Applied: Psychotherapy, Applied Economics, Politics, Applied Sociology
- Natural Sciences
  - Theoretical: Physics, Biology, Chemistry
  - Applied: Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering

The Classical Conception of Scientific Theories

There are three basic stages:

First stage (Classical): The epistemology of the Vienna Circle philosophers. This stage distinguishes between theoretical and observational concepts in any scientific theory, conceived as a set of propositions. Hilary Putnam termed this the “received view.”
Second stage (Historicist): Beginning with Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this stage reacts against classical philosophy of science, which focuses on what science *should* be rather than what it *is*.
Third stage (Synthesis): This period reuses the formalities of the classical period, applying them to concrete and relevant examples from real science.

All three stages agree that the most important element in science is the theory. A theory is a set of laws arranged hierarchically, explaining a portion of reality or a set of phenomena and predicting future events. Theories contain both observational concepts and theoretical concepts. While classical philosophers emphasized the empirical, contemporary thinkers argue against the existence of pure observation. Rudolf Carnap, a member of the Vienna Circle, adopted a middle position, suggesting a gradual distinction between the theoretical and observational.

The Structural Design of Scientific Theories

This approach emerged to address the inadequacies of the classical conception. Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions introduced several innovative ideas:

The idea of a paradigm, meaning a shared grand theory and research methods within a scientific community. This serves as a criterion for demarcating science from non-science.
The distinction between normal and revolutionary periods in the development of scientific theories. The classical conception is only valid for revolutionary concepts.
The irrelevance of crucial experiments. Theories are immune to experimental falsification because discrepancies are attributed to experimental error or attempts are made to reconcile the theory with the data.
Science progresses through revolutions that transform the way of thinking.
Different paradigms are inconsistent or incommensurable with each other.
Theories are complex and deep structures of a logical nature.

These ideas revolutionized the philosophy of science, leading logical analysts to accuse Kuhn of eliminating the concept of progress in science.

Lakatos, building on Kuhn’s work, proposed that theories have a core and a periphery. Experiments contradicting the theory are addressed in the periphery through reinterpretations, while the core remains protected.

According to classical Kuhnian philosophy, there would be gaps in rationality. A breakthrough was made with the structuralist view of scientific theories, championed by Balzer, Moulines, and Sneed, with Stegmüller as a major proponent and P. Suppes as a forerunner. This approach uses formal or semi-formal languages to clarify the concepts used by Kuhn and Lakatos, revealing the hidden structure of theories.

Methods of Science

The term “method” refers to a path. Thus, the methods of science are the paths taken to gain knowledge. These paths include:

Induction: An inference from specific cases to all cases (generalization). This process is unreliable and rests on metaphysical assumptions. It is often irrelevant for formulating relevant knowledge.
Abduction: The creative process of moving from observed facts to a law or theory. There are no rules for this process. Logicians have attempted to create a logic of discovery or a heuristic logic, even developing computer programs for this purpose. Pierce also called it a hypothetical assumption or inference to the best explanation. There are two modes: one where abduction provides a new theory or law, and another where it uses existing laws to explain a fact.
Deduction: An inference from the general to the particular, the inverse of induction. It is a unique process of science and is quite reliable if the initial generalization is sound. It is limited to extracting knowledge already contained in the initial premise and is not used to develop new knowledge.
Hypothetical-deductive method: A synthesis of abduction and deduction. It involves formulating hypotheses based on experience, deducing consequences, and testing these predictions against empirical data. If the predictions align with the data, the hypothesis is confirmed and may become a law. This approach aligns with Einstein’s conception of the emergence of a scientific theory.
Modeling of empirical reality: Scientists investigate an extremely complex reality. Different sciences result from simplifying this complexity by focusing on specific aspects (chemical, physical, biological, etc.). Even these simplified aspects are complex, requiring further simplification. A model is an object, concept, or set of relationships used to represent and study a simplified portion of empirical reality. Modeling facilitates research.
- Analog model: Proceeds by analogy, relying on similarity between the represented reality and the representation. Used when direct access to the represented reality is not possible.
- Iconic model: A type of analog model. These are thumbnails or large-scale representations of objects (models) on which tests can be performed.
- Intuitive model: Used to represent realities that are difficult or impossible to represent mathematically.
- Mathematical model: Translates a part of reality into precise and synthetic formal mathematical language. According to the structural design, all theories are mathematical models.

The Definition of Truth

Greek philosophers conceived of truth as a disclosure or unconcealment of something hidden behind appearances. The pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus expressed this idea with his aphorism, “The (true) nature (of things) loves to hide.” This conception objectifies truth as something concealed.

Medieval philosophers understood truth as the result of a match between human intelligence or intellect and the world. This correspondence between intellect and world is closer to common sense. This concept has undergone numerous reforms, with the relationship of fitness being called correspondence, conformity, harmony, or assimilation. Related items include thought-being, subject-object, knowledge-reality, and language-world.

In analytic philosophy, there is a shift from the “philosophy of knowing” to the “philosophy of that,” considering truth as a property of certain statements.

Types of Truth

The question of types of truth is conceptually independent of the definition of truth. Focusing on validity, we can distinguish between necessary truths and contingent truths:

Necessary or final truths: Valid forever and necessarily so; they cannot be otherwise. Kant called them analytic truths, as they can be formulated through conceptual analysis alone. The problem with necessary truths is that they are empty; they do not provide new knowledge.
Contingent or provisional truths: Provide new information but are always subject to revision; their opposite is always possible. The vast majority of scientific knowledge falls into this category. Kant called them synthetic truths, as they require using experience to extract a property to apply to a given concept.

Criteria of Truth

These are used to decide whether a proposition is true or not. The main ones are:

Evidence: Knowing a proposition is true when we “see” it. This presupposes a direct relationship. We can distinguish between sensitive evidence and intellectual evidence. A key feature is its relational character; things are evident *in relation to someone*.
Authority: Something is true if determined by a competent authority on the matter. This approach is fundamental in science, where the accepted theory or paradigm is decided by scientific authority.
Consensus: What the majority decides through rational dialogue. Not to be confused with the “ad populum fallacy.” It has certain criteria and gradations. Consensus can be reached through evidence in rational dialogue or through authority if a few persuade the majority. There is also overwhelming consensus and total or unanimous consensus.
Consistency: A type of theory of truth. It applies to systems of propositions and requires the absence of contradiction. It is a necessary but not sufficient condition. For a system to be true, it must be coherent or consistent.
Practical consequences: Assumes something is true if it has a positive impact on practices.

The Theory of Truth as Redundancy (Ramsey and Ayer)

According to this theory, the predicates “true” and “false” are redundant or superfluous and can be removed without loss of content. Its main advocate, F. P. Ramsey, argued that there is no particular problem of truth, only linguistic confusion. Alfred Jules Ayer supported this view, stating that all propositions of the form “p is true” are logically superfluous. Ramsey and Ayer concluded that a correct analysis of language solves the problem of truth, revealing it as a pseudo-problem of language.

The Theory of Truth as a Figure or Image (Wittgenstein)

This theory posits that the relationship between a true proposition and the piece of reality it refers to is the same as that between an image and what it depicts—a relationship of similarity. Wittgenstein advocates for a theory of correspondence between language and the world, where this correspondence is a coincidence between an object and its image. He considers language a mirror image, a reflection of the world. The novelty of this theory is that it is possible to explain this relationship, and language can reflect the world because both language and the world share the same structure. The world consists of facts and states of affairs, the latter being connections of objects. The specific interaction of objects in a state of affairs is the structure of that state of affairs. Language consists of statements that can be decomposed into simpler or elementary statements and substantives.

Semantic Theory of Truth (Tarski)

This theory builds upon the classical theory, aiming to clarify it. For Tarski, a true statement affirms that things behave in a certain way, and things do indeed behave in that way. He distinguishes between object language and metalanguage. Object language is the basic language used to talk about the world, while metalanguage is the language used to talk about object language. This establishes a hierarchy of languages that is more aligned with reality and avoids semantic paradoxes.

The Theory of Consistency as Truth

This theory argues that when we say truth is a relation between language and the world, and that a true statement corresponds with the facts, we fail to recognize that the world is nothing outside of language. The relationship being discussed is merely a relation between languages. Truth can no longer be correspondence or appropriateness but must be consistency. A statement is true if it can be inserted into the totality of language without contradiction, being consistent with the rest. Consistency becomes both a criterion of truth and an expression of the essence of truth. The world is reduced to language; all we can say is more predictable, as there is nothing else. Schlick believed this eliminated the world and replaced it with a system of statements, and that the criterion of consistency was insufficient. Consistency has three main features: comprehensibility, consistency, and cohesion/unity. This theory is optimally suited to the concept of scientific truth used in contemporary philosophy of science.

Abduction: An inference that leads from an event or set of facts to the best explanation for them. It presupposes the existence of theories under which unexplained phenomena are subsumed. Truly interesting and creative abduction in science is the driving force from facts to a new law or theory to explain them.

Axiom: A proposition so clear and evident that it does not require proof to be accepted. Axioms are the starting points of demonstrations, from which other propositions are deduced.

Scientific community: A term popularized by the philosopher of science Thomas Samuel Kuhn. It refers to all scientists worldwide in a given field of knowledge who are responsible for deciding the acceptance or rejection of new theories or theoretical innovations. Scientific communities tend to be strongly hierarchical, based on the concept of scientific prestige.

Contingency: The property of things that exist but might not have existed; it is not impossible for them to exist. For example, the sun rising tomorrow is contingent; it probably will, as usual, but it might not. Its opposite is necessity.

Contradiction: To affirm and deny something simultaneously and in the same sense.

Demarcation criterion: A trait or set of traits used to determine what constitutes science and distinguish it from pseudoscience.

Deduction: A logical inference from a universal claim to a particular one; used to extract implicit truths from universal truths.

Dogmatic (philosopher): In a popular sense, a dogmatic person is someone who rigidly adheres to their own statements, giving no value to or not taking seriously the statements of others. In a technical sense, a dogmatic philosopher, as opposed to a skeptic, argues that reality is knowable in its entirety.

Evidence: Synonymous with clearly evident. Something is evident when it is so clear that no one in their right mind can doubt it.

Fallacy: An argument that seeks to deceive. Despite its falsity, a fallacy often appears correct; it seems true even though it is false.

Philosophy: Literally, the love of wisdom. Today, it is an academic discipline widely taught in secondary and higher education, with many different specialties. There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers. We propose one more: a rigorous examination, without limits on the subject matter, of the rationality that characterizes human beings.

Induction: A logical inference from the particular to the universal. It is not formally reliable. One cannot move from some known elements to the entire set. No matter how many elements of a set are known empirically, there is always the possibility of a counterexample.

Logic: A branch of philosophy that analyzes the correctness of rational arguments.

Metatheory: A theory about theories. It is the result of converting theories into objects of study. The findings of epistemological research, arranged systematically, are metatheories of scientific theories.

Paradigm: A concept coined by Thomas Samuel Kuhn to designate the shared grand theory and research methods within a scientific community at a given historical moment. In essence, it is the shared understanding of the discipline and field of study. For Kuhn, the existence of a paradigm is a criterion for demarcating science from pseudoscience. A paradigm shift involves a scientific revolution.

Object: A term derived from Latin, meaning literally “what is in front.” An object is, therefore, anything that stands in our way in reality, anything that opposes us and is different from ourselves. Objects can be material things but also spiritual entities that exist independently of us. Things that exist independently of us are also objective and object-based.

Prejudice: Any opinion, argument, or belief held uncritically, without prior analysis or justification of its validity. It is synonymous with an unfounded opinion and, in most cases, an invalid one.

Principle: The first proposition from which others are derived or deduced. Principles are unprovable and must be evident.

Pseudo-problem: A false problem. In philosophy, this term is often used to refer to problems arising from the misuse of language. Behind them, there is nothing but nonsense—statements that seem to say something but, upon analysis, say nothing.

Meaning: A polysemous word. In a topological sense, each direction in space has two meanings. Sometimes it refers to utility. Radical questioning of meaning leads us to ask for the ultimate reason for being. This term can also be synonymous with meanings.

Subjectivism: Seeing everything from the point of view of the subject, which is, by definition, always partial and often biased. It is opposed to objectivism, impartiality, and neutrality.

Subject: A correlative term to object; there are no objects without subjects. It comes from the Latin, meaning “what lies below.” Without subjects, we could not speak of objects.

Theory: Derived from the Greek, meaning observation and contemplation. Now used as a synonym for conception. Theories arise from experience through observation and serve to explain and predict portions of reality. They generally contain causal relations and express regularities as laws. The concept is normally associated with science, and we often speak of scientific theories, but there are also theories in everyday life.

Consistency: The property of a system being free of contradiction. This term often also includes ideas of cohesion and unity. For a system to be consistent, it is not enough that its statements are not contradictory; they must also imply each other, forming a unified whole without any isolated elements.

Consensus: Literally, the shared assent of most or all persons in a group or community. We can speak of majority or unanimous consensus. As a criterion of truth, it indicates that only what is considered true by most people is real.

Holism: Derived from the Greek word “holos,” meaning “all” or “whole.” In epistemology, it is often said that consistency is holistic because the truth of each proposition depends on its being able to be integrated into the totality of all propositions without contradiction. In a general definition, holism can be said to mean that the properties of elements depend on the whole, that the whole has preeminence over its elements, or even that the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts.

Isomorphism: Meaning “equal form.” Two realities are isomorphic when they have the same form, that is, the same structure.

Reductionism: The tendency to eliminate elements of reality by identifying them with others or reducing them to others. All monism is reductionist. We can distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate reductionism, the latter leaving out aspects or facets of reality.

Truth: Based on the advice given on this issue, we can say that truth is a property of certain statements that either correspond to the world, are accepted as valid by a community, or can be inserted into a system without causing any contradiction.