Belief Systems

• Science is a belief system and has revolutionised many parts of life - such as medicine
• However, science may not be beneficial as it can lead to negative consequences such as eugenics
• Science can be an open-belief system
• Karl Popper argues science exists on a principle of falsification - so the knowledge is cumulative and can be challenged
• Falsification means when parts of science are proven false it can grow and build up new knowledge
• Merton theorised CUDOS norms
• Merton argues science can only thrive as a major institution if it receives support from other institutions
• The CUDOS norms are;

  • Communism
  • Universalism
  • Disinterestedness
  • Organised Scepticism
• Communism means all scientific findings must be shared, and not private so it can be allowed to grow
• Organised Skepticism means no discovery is sacred truth can is subject to falsification
• Disinterestedness means science is committed to growth and even failed research will be published
• Universalism means science is judged by universal objectives such as testing instead of scientists’ race, gender or class
• Science is an open-belief system as;

  • Objective
  • Provides worldly knowledge
  • Cumulative
  • Empirical
  • Open-knowledge
• Religion is a closed belief system as;

  • Subjective
  • Other worldly knowledge
  • Supernatural
  • Closed knowledge
  • Absolute truth
• Religion is a closed belief system
• Horton argues that knowledge claims can’t be successfully overturned as they have a ”get out clause”
• Evans-Pritchard studied the Azande people in Sudan
• The Azande tribe believes that natural events have natural causes - so witchcraft can be blamed for the bad parts of life
• Evans-Pritchard found that witchcraft preformed an important social function for the Azande Tribe - so can create conformity
• Polanyi says all belief systems reject fundamental challenges to knowledge - such as Dr Velikovsky
• Dr Velikovsky challenged the origins of the world in his book and was rejected from science
• Kuhn found most natural sciences existed on a shared set of assumptions called a ”paradigm”
• Kuhn said if any scientist challenged a ”paradigm” - they may be ridiculed or forced out of the profession
• A Paradigm-shift is when a shared set of assumptions change after being falsified
• An example of a paradigm shift is the change from belief that the world is flat to round
• Science can be a social construct that is created by social groups using resources available to them
• Knorr-Cetina said the invention of new tools would ”fabricate new facts” and the labratory is highly constructed
• Woolgar found scientists engage in the same process of making sense/interpreting the world by constructing theories by data
• Woolgar did the study of the Little ’Green Men’
• The LGM study found pulsar signals, which they wanted to call Little Green Men - but knew they wouldn’t be accepted in science
• Lyotard said that science is one of many meta-narratives
• Lyotard says knowledge is relative and it is just one more discourse used to dominate people
• Marxists argue that science serves the capitalist interest - such as pharmacies
• Feminists argue that science benefits men - such as through ”facts” about gender differences